In “The White Lotus”, Mike White takes you on vacation



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About 10 years ago, White purchased a writers retreat on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. He often spends half the year there. He learned about the history of Hawaii, especially the wounds inflicted by US imperialism. And he thought about how people like him keep these wounds from healing. As a child, he loved luau night, when hotel workers donned traditional clothes and danced for guests. He thinks about this experience differently now.

“There is something about vacationing in other people’s realities,” he said.

So when Orsi made the call, he knew almost immediately that he wanted to put on a show there. “I was just thinking I should just do a show about people on vacation who have money and the impact that money has on all of their relationships,” he said.

Because his work always combines imagination and self-questioning, he drew on his own positive experiences with the hula to create the tortured feel of “The White Lotus”. Here’s Connie Britton’s oblivious wife Nicole, at luau party: “I think it’s just a way for them to honor their culture and they seem to be having a really good time.” As Nicole’s daughter says: “Mom! Grimace! “

White wrote the first episode in late August and completed the other five in late September. In late October, filming began, with the entire cast – Coolidge, Britton, Steve Zahn, Natasha Rothwell and Jake Lacy among them – quarantined together at the Maui Hotel. Sometimes during prep, White would look out his bedroom window and see some of the actors splashing out below. (A casual actor, White did not write a role for himself in the script.)

“I felt like I was the host throwing a cool party, but I had to work in the kitchen. But it still felt good, “he said.” It was a pleasure to feel that people had been kicked out of their pandemic prisons to come and party at the Four Seasons. “

While White’s stories typically focus on a single protagonist, “The White Lotus” is a set piece, with multiple subplots exploring perversions of power against a backdrop of stunning natural beauty. The actors signed up quickly, even though the salaries weren’t spectacular.

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