‘The White Lotus’ Is Mike White’s Master Class in Character Development
Tara McNamara Few people weren’t dreaming of travel in August 2020, arguably the most stir-crazy moment of the COVID-19 quarantine, with tensions boiling over after a divisive election and widespread protests, all while wildfires threatened the West Coast.Mike White, for one, funneled the escapist fantasy into the ugly reality of the beautiful people, translating the moment’s tensions and the zeitgeist into “The White Lotus,” a dark comedy about affluent Americans on holiday at a luxurious Hawaiian resort and the staff who cater to them. Moving as fast as the flames raging around Southern California at the time, White wrote the pilot for the six-episode HBO limited series near the end of the summer before heading to Hawaii to begin prepping production.