Walton Goggins and his White Lotus character, Rick, share a common experience: They both traveled to Thailand to cope with the loss of a loved one. (Obviously, Walton is not a murderer nor is he currently dead, so his trip was very different than Rick’s.) The Django Unchained actor took a trip to Thailand after his first wife, Leanne Knight, tragically died by suicide more than 20 years ago. In recent interviews, the actor’s reflected on her devastating death and what it was like to return to Thailand and have those difficult memories come flooding back. Here’s everything Walton Goggins has shared about his late wife, Leanne Knight.

All About Walton Goggins’ First Wife, Leanne Knight

What Happened To Walton Goggins’ Wife, Leanne Knight?

Leanne tragically took her own life back in 2004. She was a dog-walking business owner, per USA Today, and she and Walton were married for three years before she disappeared and died. “I had someone in my life that committed suicide,” Walton said quietly during a February interview with GQ, “and she was my wife.” The actor called the story of his first wife’s death “complicated” and reflected: “Ultimately it was revealed the decision that she’d made. I thought it was really unrecoverable for me. Life on the other side of that.”

Following her death, he traveled to several countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and India. At the time, he was coping in unhealthy ways. “I spent the next three years looking for an excuse – not to end it, but certainly putting myself in situations that were questionable, not with drugs or anything like that, just life experiences and traveling,” he shared.

20 years later, Walton wound up back in Thailand to shoot The White Lotus and realized that several of the locations were familiar. On the last night of shooting, he even recognized a hotel that he stayed in all those years ago. “All of the equipment was literally right in front of the hotel that I’d picked 20 years ago on the internet,” he recalled. “I think I haven’t had the time to fully unpack the symmetry between those two people showing up at the same place, separated by 20 years. And a wife and a kid and peace and all the rest of it.” Walton has been married to filmmaker Nadia Connors since 2011 and they share a son, Augustus.

During an interview with Vulture, Walton explained that he went to Thailand “looking for peace, looking for some resolution that was not so dissimilar from what Rick was looking for.” Of course, he noted that the circumstances were “dramatically different.”