‘The White Lotus‘ Creator Reveals Orchestral Approach to Casting Season Three
A party of the show’s 23 Emmy nominations offered a rare glimpse into the creative process behind HBO’s hit series, The White lotus. Creator Mike White,alongside cast members and key production staff,detailed his unique beliefs on assembling the ensemble for Season Three.
White explained that his ideal cast functions “like an orchestra, and you want different voices and you want a whole variety.” He further elaborated that he actively seeks actors with contrasting approaches to their craft, viewing the resulting interplay as a source of creative energy.
“It’s fun to have actors who have different processes and different kinds of different vibes,” White said. “It’s like if you’re a connoisseur of taste, you want a little a taste of this, a little taste of that.”
A Study in Contrasts: Posey and Isaacs
The creator highlighted the pairing of Parker Posey and Jason Isaacs as a prime example of this philosophy. According to White, the two actors represent distinctly different methods. “They are so different in their approach,” he noted. “On the first day, I was like, OK, this is gonna be fun as they bring so many different kinds of methods to how they work. I don’t need to tell them anything, they just do it and it’s fun to just watch the chemistry.”
Posey playfully confirmed the contrast, revealing her meticulous planning style. “I learn my lines front, back, left, right, up and down,” she quipped, “and then Jason doesn’t learn his lines at all. so it really was two different ways of working.”
Family Resemblance: A Key Casting Consideration
Casting director Meredith Tucker added that while customary chemistry reads are not part of their process,physical appearance does play a role,particularly when assembling on-screen families. “We don’t do chemistry reads during the casting process but, when putting together the Ratliff family, did consider physical appearance to a degree,” Tucker stated.
White emphasized the importance of believability in familial relationships, recalling a successful casting choice from the first season. “The first season, we did this family with Sydney Sweeney and Fred Hechinger and then Steve Zahn and we put them all together for the camera test and I was like, ‘Oh, these people look exactly alike. This looks like a family.’ And then I was like, ‘We’ve got to do this with this Ratliff family.’ I was like, ‘We’ve got to make them look alike, maybe the brunette version of that family.’ I don’t know if they’re as perfectly dwarfy cute blondes like that season, but they’re amazing, I think they do [look related]. You want to buy it.”
A Unique Bond Forged on ‘The White Lotus’
The cast members themselves reflected on the singular experience of working on The White Lotus. Carrie Coon, participating virtually, described the shared experience as akin to space travel. “It’s like being an astronaut,” Coon said. “like you’ve seen Earth from space and the only other people who’ve seen Earth from space are other astronauts. And so forever, the people who did these seasons will be like, ‘I see you over there.'”
The conversation culminated in a heartfelt expression of gratitude from White, who became visibly emotional while addressing his cast. “Can I just say, because I don’t know if I’ll ever get a chance to say this again with all y’all here – thank you so much for being so amazing. I was thinking about who’s on this panel and how much you brought to this show and how much I learned from each one of you guys. I’m so grateful and I love you all, thank you so much.”
