Few tv exhibits have had the type of cultural influence as HBO’s darkish comedy, “The White Lotus.” Whereas the first season was set within the titular White Lotus luxurious resort in Hawaii, the subsequent two seasons demonstrated the sequence to be an anthology, with a distinct locale and a complete new solid in every season. Whereas the primary two instalments resurrected the profession of comedic star Jennifer Coolidge, sending it into the stratosphere, the arrival of the third season in early 2025 proved the sequence’ success was no fluke. With a solid together with rising star Walton Goggins, nepo baby-turned-actor Patrick Schwarzenegger, one-time “queen of the indies” Parker Posey, and British actor Aimee Lee Wooden, the third instalment of “The White Lotus” continued to seize the zeitgeist.

Behind all that expertise is the sequence’ creator, Mike White. An occasional actor, White’s main gig has all the time been as a screenwriter. Along with “The White Lotus,” White has written a surprisingly numerous array of movie and tv tasks, though it is all the time been clear that darkish comedy is his forte. So how a lot do followers of the present know in regards to the man who created it? Learn additional to discover the untold reality of “The White Lotus” creator Mike White.

Mike White broke into Hollywood as a author, co-writing the script for the 1998 big-screen comedy “Useless Man on Campus.” His entry into the tv milieu was writing for the beloved teen drama, “Dawson’s Creek,” within the late Nineties. “My first job was with ‘Dawson’s Creek’ the place all people appeared good they usually spoke higher than you. It was type of a want achievement, fantasy-type present,” he stated in an interview with Vulture. Whereas White loved the status of engaged on successful present, he grew bored making an attempt to keep up the will-they-or-won’t-they romance parts between the sequence’ lead characters. “I shortly could not maintain ,” he instructed The New Yorker. “I all the time, whether or not deliberately or not, began burning down the home.”

He discovered way more achievement along with his subsequent TV writing gig, “Freaks and Geeks,” a short-lived sequence that launched the careers of its solid; a staggering array of future stars similar to Seth Rogen, Linda Cardellini, James Franco, Martin Starr, Jason Segel, and Busy Philipps. Whereas the present went on to turn into a cult favourite, the present struggled to attract viewers. For White, writing for the present provided a brand new sense of goal, and allowed him to push the envelope. “With ‘Freaks and Geeks,’ I noticed you may even have a present that appears like your individual sensibility with a number of the absurdities of what your life really is,” he instructed Vulture.

A screenplay that Mike White had written discovered its means into the fingers of his faculty pal, director Miguel Arteta. Arteta determined to make the movie, a darkish comedy a few man named Buck changing into obsessed along with his childhood greatest pal, Charlie, once they reunite at a funeral as adults. Arteta felt that White ought to play childlike stalker Buck, regardless of the author’s lack of performing expertise. “With ‘Chuck and Buck,’ the director actually needed me to do it,” White stated when interviewed for The Believer. That position subsequently led White to take pleasure in a facet hustle as an actor, significantly in tasks that he’d written. “I do not come at it as an actor who’s writing his means into his films,” he stated of his performing profession. “I am actually coming as a author who ended up performing in sure issues — type of like I backed into it a little bit bit.”

He adamantly believes that showing onscreen has enhanced his expertise at as a author, giving him an understanding of what actors undergo when reciting his dialogue in entrance of a digital camera. “It is solely once you really begin placing your self on the market that you simply respect the anxiousness that comes with having to attempt to promote a line, or with making an attempt to personal a personality,” he defined.

Mike White grew up in a family the place faith was on the heart of the whole lot. “I used to be a minister’s child,” White instructed The Guardian of his father, an evangelical Christian minister who related to the likes of televangelists Billy Graham and Jerry Fallwell. Regardless of being within the midst of a extremely religious neighborhood, White by no means actually embraced faith. “I by no means purchased in; I used to be type of skeptical. It made me very alienated,” he recalled.

White was simply 11 years previous when he discovered his father was homosexual, a revelation that despatched shockwaves via their household — and made the teen much more doubtful about fundamentalist Christianity. “I grew up on this faith the place no person was trustworthy about who they had been and what was actually happening,” he defined. At such a younger age, watching his father wrestle along with his sexuality proved traumatic. “It was in all probability the worst time in my life,” White recalled in an interview on “The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan” podcast. “It was not on his agenda to be homosexual. It was a really lengthy, drawn-out course of.”

For White, that have has coloured his life in a really profound means that’s continuously mirrored in his movie and TV work. “This expertise [of discovering his father’s sexuality] is the important thing to the whole lot I write,” he instructed The Washington Publish. “It was traumatic however not unfavourable. It opened the door to a extra dimensional means of experiencing life. I discovered that everybody has a secret reality, that there is greater than meets the attention.”

The vital popularity of “Chuck and Buck” landed Mike White a TV deal, which resulted in “Pasadena,” a prime-time cleaning soap airing on Fox. The present earned raves from critics, however had the misfortune of premiering weeks after the September 11 terror assaults in 2001. The darkish tone of the present was at odds with the zeitgeist, and rankings had been tough; “Pasadena” was pulled off the air after simply 4 episodes.

White tried once more a number of years later with the 2004 Fox sitcom “Cracking Up” a few seemingly excellent household who, behind the scenes, is wildly eccentric. That present was likewise on the mercy the whims of community executives and was additionally canceled after only a handful of episodes aired.

Talking with Interview, White took a dim view of his monitor document creating exhibits for community tv. “Many of the exhibits I’ve labored on have aired thrice and are within the dustbin of historical past,” he stated. “I did two exhibits for Fox, they usually’re notoriously fickle and people exhibits did not go anyplace.”

Mike White lived subsequent door to comedic actor Jack Black — which is not really his actual identify — for a number of years within the early Nineties. White obtained to know him even higher when the latter appeared in “Orange County,” which White wrote. When White subsequently got here up with the concept for “Faculty of Rock,” he developed the screenplay particularly for Black. “I simply saved considering there’s so many alternative colours to his comedy than folks have seen, no less than when it comes to the flicks he is headlined,” White recalled in an interview with Leisure Weekly. “I simply had this picture in my head of him jamming with a bunch of little youngsters … I could not shake the concept. So I simply wrote it.” He additionally created a task for himself: Ned Schneebly, mild-mannered sidekick to Black’s Dewey Finn.

The end result was a vital and industrial smash that took Black’s profession to the subsequent degree whereas shifting White from the quirky indie lane into the center of the mainstream. In the meantime, the 2 loved working collectively a lot that White wrote one other film for Black, the wrestling comedy “Nacho Libre.”

In a 2024 interview with JOE, Black confirmed he’d like to return for a “Faculty of Rock” sequel — however provided that White was concerned. “You realize Mike White wrote the primary one and he is a genius,” Black declared. “We would need to have Mike White again within the saddle, however he is actual busy proper now with ‘White Lotus,’ one of the best present on TV.”

Mike White has lengthy professed his love of actuality TV, and in 2009, he took it to the subsequent degree when he enlisted his father to affix him to compete in “The Superb Race,” during which two-person groups tackle numerous challenges whereas criss-crossing the globe. Talking with The New Yorker in 2021, White recalled encountering “Associates” star Jennifer Aniston – who starred in a movie he’d written, “The Good Woman” — at a celebration, the place he excitedly shared the information. “I used to be, like, ‘I am happening ‘Superb Race’ with my dad!’ I may see Jennifer Aniston’s eyes being, like, Why the f***?”

White has been enmeshed in Hollywood lengthy sufficient to appreciate that showing in a actuality present is not on the bucket checklist of A-list stars — although it is all the time been a dream of his. “That is not something that anybody aspires to, to be a actuality contestant,” he mused. “I really simply auditioned with my boyfriend to be on ‘Home Hunters Worldwide.'”

The Whites completed in sixth place, however returned a pair years later to compete as soon as once more within the 2011 “Unfinished Enterprise” season. The daddy-son duo fared even worse their second day out, ending in tenth place. “The second time was not a attraction. It proved to be more durable,” the elder White admitted to Folks.

Because it turned out, “The Superb Race” was merely a warmup act for Mike White to attain an excellent deeper long-held dream: to compete on his favourite present, “Survivor.” In 2018, White was among the many contestants chosen to outwit, outplay, and outlast within the venerable actuality competitors. As he instructed The New Yorker, there was nothing ironic about his need to play the sport.

“‘Survivor’ is the one present I actually devotedly watch, although I get annoyed with it,” he stated, explaining that actuality TV affords him a chance to watch humanity up shut. “A part of my job and my lifestyle is learning folks and analyzing motivation and character,” he added. “I nonetheless really feel like, even on probably the most contrived actuality present, the persons are human they usually’re extra fascinating than a number of the most well-scripted drama.”

“Survivor” additionally offered White with some reality-TV redemption, performing much better than he did on “The Superb Race” by making all of it the best way to the finale. Sadly, victory was not within the playing cards, however he may no less than maintain his head excessive after ending within the runner-up place. “I really feel like I am proud of my outcomes,” he instructed Leisure Weekly of his second-place end. “I imply, I did need to win and I performed to win … I believe all of it labored out for one of the best.”

Whereas “The White Lotus” has been the present most related to Mike White ever since its premiere, it wasn’t the primary time he created a critically-acclaimed, award-winning present for HBO. Beforehand, he produced “Enlightened,” which debuted in 2011. A darkish dramedy, the sequence adopted a lady (performed by Laura Dern) who’s religious awakening unleashed chaos in her private life and on the job. White as soon as once more created a component for himself, co-starring with Dern as a co-worker.

As White instructed Interview, the sequence nearly by no means got here to be resulting from his reticence about returning to TV after his horrible previous experiences. “I did this film with Laura Dern, and she or he had a holding take care of HBO, and she or he ended up shifting a block away from me, and I saved working into her,” White recalled. “And she or he was like, ‘I am making an attempt to do that present with HBO, do you’ve got any solutions for writers?’ And after like, the fourth time, I assumed, ‘It will be enjoyable to celebration with HBO and Laura. Perhaps I may do it.'”

The present earned acclaim from critics (and two Emmy nominations), whereas Dern gained a Golden Globe for her efficiency — however the present was removed from successful. “It irritates me,” White stated of the present’s weak viewership when interviewed for Vulture, theorizing {that a} sequence centered on a feminine protagonist would all the time be a troublesome promote with American viewers. “Girls are keen on women and men, and males aren’t within the girl’s story,” he noticed. “They simply aren’t.” He wasn’t incorrect; “Enlightened” was canceled after its 2nd season.

After his success as a author, actor, and producer, Mike White placed on one other hat when he directed considered one of his screenplays for the primary time. That was 2007’s “Yr of the Canine,” a critically acclaimed indie starring ’90s “Saturday Night time Dwell” alum Molly Shannon, with whom he’d labored on his failed Fox sitcom, “Cracking Up.” White then went on to direct a number of episodes of “Enlightened,” the pilot for an HBO drag-queen comedy known as “Mamma Dallas,” and the 2017 characteristic, “Brad’s Standing,” starring Ben Stiller. He is additionally directed quite a few episodes of “The White Lotus.”

Along with all of that, White has maintained his presence as a sought-after Hollywood screenwriter. Among the many many scripts to bear his identify are “Beatriz at Dinner,” “Pitch Excellent 3,” and “The One and Solely Ivan.”

In a sit-down with “Off Digital camera with Sam Jones,” White defined that writing a great script was solely a part of the battle; a profitable screenwriter should additionally be capable to promote his materials. “It is like every model of salesmanship,” White stated. “It’s a must to have a imaginative and prescient, that individuals will say, not solely do I believe that is invaluable and worthy, however I’ll provide you with $10 million of our cash to go do it.”

Among the many many shocking films that Mike White has written are some animated household movies — a fairly vital departure from the darkish, misanthropic tone of “The White Lotus.” He first obtained into writing for animation with 2017’s “The Emoji Film,” which he co-wrote, or no less than that is what the credit say. White, nonetheless, instructed The Skinny that he barely labored on the movie in any respect. “I labored on ‘The Emoji Film’ for simply three weeks, and I am not precisely positive how I obtained credit score on it,” he stated. “It is clearly not Mike White’s ‘Emoji Film’ — and it is not even the director’s Emoji Film, to be trustworthy — it is Sony’s ‘Emoji Film.'”

Regardless of that have, he ventured into animation once more when he co-wrote 2023’s “Migration” and once more with “Despicable Me 4.” For the latter, he performed a much more lively position than he had in “The Emoji Film.” “Mike did a number of drafts, and that turns into the inspiration of the film, with the villain and the household dynamic,” the movie’s director, Chris Renaud, stated when interviewed for The Hollywood Reporter, explaining that Ken Daurio — who wrote for the primary three movies — took over for the next drafts.

Apparently, Mike White’s fandom of “Survivor” extends past watching the present and competing on it. As he revealed in an interview with Leisure Weekly, he would like to drop in as a visitor producer for a season. “If Cosmo will let Lena Dunham visitor edit a problem, why cannot I visitor curate a season of ‘Survivor?!'” he requested.

So what would a Mike White season of “Survivor” appear to be? In keeping with the person himself, viewers and contestants ought to buckle up for a super-sized season jam-packed with intelligent twists — which might in all probability create a season of actuality TV that goes a bit too far. “I’d have residence visits with all of the gamers earlier than they depart so we are able to actually get to know them, much less benefits, challenges that spotlight survival expertise and willpower (much less puzzles and agility), a 50-day season, a seven-person jury, a last two, and I might make all of them as deranged with starvation and fatigue as attainable. (They’re going to be simply effective… there are cameras there, bear in mind?)” he revealed.

Followers of “Survivor” who additionally watch “The White Lotus” have little question been tickled by the presence of a number of ” Survivor” contestants in cameo roles all through the Mike White-created sequence. As White instructed Leisure Weekly, fellow “Survivor” castaway Alec Merlino had a small position within the 1st season of “The White Lotus,” taking part in a bartender. “When folks see him mixing cocktails and winking on the company, they will by no means imagine he hasn’t taken a single performing class,” White gushed.

Within the 2nd season, White enlisted Angelina Keeley and Kara Kay, taking part in rich resort company absorbing some solar on the Sicily coast. White continued the custom within the sequence’ third season, with “Survivor” contestants Carl Boudreaux and Natalie Cole having fun with a meal within the resort restaurant in Thailand.

As Cole instructed Leisure Weekly, she was pleasantly stunned to be approached by White after their considerably contentious relationship on the truth present. “The truth that he may look past the best way he felt about me in Fiji and ask me to come back do a component speaks volumes about him as an individual,” stated Cole. “Initially, he thought he was by no means going to talk to me once more.”