Nicholas Duvernay, an actor from Long Island, New York, plays Zion Lindsey, the son of Belinda, the spa manager at The White Lotus in Maui, played by Natasha Rothwell.
Zion is first seen in the opening scene of season 3 and formally introduced in episode 6.
The character is a student traveling to Thailand after his exams to relax and spend time with his mom.
Highlights
- Ava DuVernay and her brother Nicholas visited Alabama every summer as their father’s family worked the land in Lowndes County for many years.
- Nicholas DuVernay’s mother, Darlene Sexton, is a retired Area Education Manager based in Selma, Alabama.
- Worried that his mother, Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), the spa manager from season 1, might be in danger, Nicholas makes his way through the water to find her.
Off-screen, Nicholas Duvernay is one of the siblings of Ava DuVernay, an accomplished filmmaker who has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, a BAFTA Film Award, and a BAFTA TV Award.
Ava once mentioned that she saw her brother Nicholas recently while he was jogging in their neighborhood.
Nicholas was wearing a black mask and hoodie, and she expressed concern. She reminded him that he knew their area well and the implications of his appearance.
Nicholas Duvernay Grew Up With Four Siblings In Long Island
As children, Ava DuVernay, her brothers Nicholas and Anthony, and sisters Jina and Terra visited Alabama every summer.
Their father’s family has worked the land in Count Lowndes County for many years, an area not far from Selma, where the Klan once had a strong presence.
Ava DuVernay mentioned that these summers had a significant impact on the creation of Selma, as her father had seen the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches firsthand.
The duo and other siblings were raised by their teacher mother, Darlene Sexton, and their stepfather, Murray Maye.
Darlene Sexton is a retired Area Education Manager based in Selma, Alabama.
She studied at California State University, Long Beach, and attended Manuel Dominguez High School.
Darlene Sexton often shares posts celebrating her daughter Ava’s success, expressing her pride in being a mom.
She is originally from Compton, California, and resides in Long Beach, California.
Their biological father, Joseph Marcel DuVernay III, has a surname that traces back to Louisiana Creole roots.
However, off the screen, in season 3, episode 6 of The White Lotus, rising actor Nicholas Duvernay returns to the cast after his intense debut in the opening flash-forward scene.
In that key moment, he was in a therapy session with Amrita, a staff member at The White Lotus (played by Shalini Peiris), when gunsh*ts suddenly echoed from somewhere on the resort grounds.
Worried that his mother, Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), the spa manager from season 1, might be in danger, he makes his way through the water to find her. Instead, he comes across a dead body, still unidentified.
Additional Information
- Nicholas Duvernay’s first screen role came in the Netflix original romantic drama Purple Hearts, where he starred alongside Nicholas Galitzine, known for The Idea of You and Red, White & Royal Blue.
- He later landed the recurring role of Drew in Bel-Air, a dramatic reboot of Will Smith’s iconic sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on Peacock.
- Duvernay also portrayed Lindor in the BET sitcom Tyler Perry’s Assisted Living and has made guest appearances on shows like The Rookie, All-American: Homecoming, SWAT, Magnum PI, and the Supernatural prequel The Winchesters.
