Next Question With White Lotus Creator Mike White
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- On this episode of Next Question I interviewed Mike White, the creator of HBO's hit series White Locus. We talked about how the series came to be in the middle of a pandemic, how they found this season's Italian actresses, and where he'd like season 3 to take place. Yes, there will be a season 3!
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He is so humble. He is truly brilliant I cannot believe he writes, directs and edits these episodes. It’s just incredible.
He's done pretty well as an actor, too. Gentlemen Broncos, Chuck and Buck, etc
What makes you say he is brilliant? What is it about his writing I'm curious?
Being incredibly humble and being incredibly talented usually go hand in hand.
@@leif1075Katie Couric speaks to this, but it’s Mike’s ability to capture human dynamics and interpersonal relations, and especially dialogue, in an almost anthropological way-it’s extremely realistic and palpable. Even when the characters aren’t saying anything at all. The entire dynamic between Harper, Ethan, Cameron and Daphne alone is a case study in phenomenal dialogue screen writing.
@@shannmaddox1836 agreed
I'm literally watching season 2 for the THIRD time! It's a true acting, writing, directing and cinematography masterclass!!
Ha - I watched season 2 for the first time last night, am officially obsessed
When you can tell me the plot let me know
He had me at Enlightened. (Not to mention School of Rock for sheer adorability.) But White Lotus 2 is a TV Masterpiece. The cinematography, the editing, the music, the symbolism, the plot, and of course, Mike White's wonderful characterizations. He's keenly aware of societal, circumstantial and relational influences on his characters and recognizes the complexity in each of us. Just for example, Is Daphne loving or deceitful? Is Tanya off her rocker or on the ball? Yes to all of the above.
He had me at Chuck and Buck. Mike White's work is brilliant and fun. WL is Clue but at an exclusive resort. lol
The themes of white lotus 2 are incredible as well
Exactly exactly!!
The last two episodes of White Lotus took a pretty severe plot twist and it just seemed like exceptionally poor writing
Well said. The production is exquisite but writing on Lotus series 2 seemed rushed and superficial. Stil remarkable. Yes, the Chinese heads are like clowns, bit creepy.😝
Watching White Lotus feels like a very, very expensive vacation - beautiful settings and beautiful people, but it also has substance. I can't wait for season 3. I need. I need.
This guy is literally a genius, so cool one of the best writers ever, totally brilliant genuine genius, such an awesome dude
Brlliance in writing, directing, costume, casting...this show is EVERYTHING and it all starts with Mike! Thank you!!!!!
I’m grateful for Michael White. I never realized he did a lot of other movies but White Lotus is such a great series. It is so interesting to watch these mysteries especially when they are comedic and suspenseful all wrapped into one and you can’t figure out how the ending will turn out. ❤
I just finished watching the finale to season 2. He’s an INCREDIBLE writer and editor.
Truly a national treasure.
I love an interviewer who has done their research! What a great conversation between two people genuinely interested in what they’re speaking about
You deserve this success, Mike! You’re brilliant and I love your work.
I hope he wins awards for this!
Both seasons of the White Lotus are filmed beautifully and the scripts are intelligent and so interesting. If only more series had all the qualities of the White Lotus. Congratulations and thank you to Mike White and his team for bringing this to our screens. Please keep the train rolling.
I think he is high emotional potential and highly sensitive.
I am one and see things so deeply . He’s an artist , the music , the psychology of the his characters . I’m stunned that a lot of people like it . He literally showing how our society can be miserable , selfish . It’s not about storyline , it’s about human being .
He's a Cancerian so yeah, all of that checks out lol
AGGGHHHH I knew I remembered his face!! He was in Ft. Mill SC Sun. I was sitting at the bar and kept turning around trying to figure out where I had seen him!!! Glad to have you at Small Bar!
Watching your material for decades. I friggin love you for giving us this.
He directed all 13 episodes this season? Wow. That alone is a achievement. The final episode has some masterclass direction and acting.
I think they were only seven episodes in season two. But they were all brilliant
13? you wish. we all wish.
What an incredible human being! Thank you Mike White for your original, creative, zany work that reveals so much truth!! You are such a gift to this world! Thank you for being YOU!!
I could listen to Mike White all day. He sometimes doesn’t finish his sentences, but I know exactly what he’s saying. I have a feeling that season 3 will be at the Four Seasons in Kyoto, Japan, but we’re going to have to wait awhile.
He thinks too fast to even finish talking, by the time he's in the middle of the sentence he already wants to relay his next 4 thoughts lol.
@@sharoncohen318 Yep. 😊
It’s been confirmed that season 3 is in Thailand!
@@Floresco_s Yay!
White Lotus is true genius. What a lovely guy, such humility. This show is just the best thing I've seen for a while. So original and refreshing and intriguing. I can't wait for further seasons.😁👍
White Lotus is the greatest show I've ever seen (Station Eleven is there too for me). Both seasons just hits every emotion one can have. Well done, Mike. Also Katie was amazing at interviewing.
Love MIKE WHITE! I bet he'd be fun to vacation with. All his movies are worth viewing more than once.
Mike is soooo ready. Can't wait to hear what more he has to say. Brilliant writer.
Chuck and Buck was so brilliant and soooo exquisitely awkward back in 2000. I have been a fan since. And School of Rock especially was inspired. And inspiring. Then he starts making amazing TV. I'm so thrilled White Lotus has been so successful.
Love it! Yes, it's nice seeing a lot of other Chuck & Buck fans on here
Love to meet this guy. He seems great and what an artistic talent!
I am not sure who I like better, Katie or mike. This is an amazing interview. Incredible. Thank you.
I have been a fan of Mike White since “Chuck & Buck” and “The Good Girl” …..so…..well over 20 years. Everything he has done has been brilliant and I am so happy he finally is getting the accolades he so richly deserves!!!!
The final episode of season 2 was mind blowing.
All the buzz on social media. Love this series.
Season one was good. Season two was some of the best TV I've seen. Great writing, great production, great acting by everyone involved, and the casting was perfect! They fit those roles like a glove. It was also good to see nuanced characters and a script that wasn't driven by ticking boxes of current fashions of political correctness. Those characters were human, all too human, as a German philosopher once said. The characters were so good I want to see them again. I hope White can do this again, create spellbinding TV with unforgettable characters, with some dark humor, satire, and not politically driven - which is the reason so much TV has failed of late.
What a Brilliant interview! loved it!!! ❤️❤️
Sick, I didn't know Mike created White Locus. I've been hearing so much about that recently. I love Mike's work on Freaks & Geeks. *And* I vividly remember watching Chuck & Buck with my Mom and my Aunt on one of our routine VHS rental get-togethers, and...yeah. Damn, cheers for covering Katie!!
* you have typo of "locus" not lotus in your description rn...I'll delete this comment later if I can, or u should!! -Tom
Season 2 was such a clever pivot from Season 1.
Loved the second season, the character development and the insight into male and female sexuality was brilliant.
Big fan of Mike White. Have watched a lot of his movies. This is a very good Katie and Mike interview and interview of a writer.
Love this show! Everything is great, the scenery, the storyline, the actors, the writing. Can’t wait till the next season!
"Do you know these gays?!"😂
I live on Kauai. Didn't know he had a place here. Love his work.
I can’t wait until Season 8.
I first became a fan of Mike White with "Chuck & Buck" and I'm so glad he's finally getting his flowers! 😍 Can't wait for White Lotus Season 3, filmed in Asia!
Fabulous❤ Mike White on Season 3 of White Lotus. Can’t wait for 4,🎉
Thank you, Mike White for creating content that is actually worth watching. I watched both seasons and relished every single second of both. Big Hugs, good man.
Excellent and interesting interview with the amazing Mike White. I forgot what a great interviewer (and listener) Katie is. Glad I find your channel, Katie!
“Uber competitive” is a slight at him for being on survivor 😭 so witty and underrated
Thanks so much for posting this in-depth interview. Bravo!
Loved his work, and I love his approach to life - really enjoyed this interview
Love Mike White. Yes, incredibly humble. I first learned about him when I rented Chuck & Buck from Blockbuster almost 2 decades ago
Since watching this excellent show I've been looking for a white lotus trinket dish like the one in the show!!!!!
White lotus season 2 = masterpiece
Season 3 should be located in a snowy wintery resort!
And the music was sensational.
"anthropologist of human behaviour" -- that's genuine art. Mike is a real artist.
I feel better about the show after watching this. I told someone recently it was like a slow burn through the worst ways humans behave toward each other. Not fun. But I'm also a minister's child and loved hearing Mike talk about his process knowing that he's coming from that world. Great interview Katie. You're the best. I hope you're feeling well. You look great - with your uplifting smile and attitude.
He is a genius who is so inspired that he channels information from all over the place including obviously his own life and his surroundings. So for him to describe his creative process is probably near to impossible. It's not right brain (or left brain I forget which) so it's hard to describe analytically, logically.
That's a nicely put take on it ☺
Loved Mike White ever since Orange County! Great insights and great interview, merci!
I love all his stuff. He’s so good. Thanks fir the interview.
great conversation, kind of therapeutic to hear these things from such a successful and talented person. especially about not taking your portfolio too seriously, about the inner conflicts and layers of self-image, and trying not to be didactic, but rather creating space for a more nuanced conversation. Also, sexuality is eye-catching, but I really hope he gets to touch on other issues in season 3!
What a finale for season 2. Brilliantly done and such an adrenaline rush.
For season 3, I'm already calling for them to cast
Olivia Colman
Laurie Metcalf
Constance Marie
Lorraine Bracco
Keke Palmer
Sophia Loren (If she is down for it)
Rita Moreno
Catherine Deneuve
Isabelle Huppert
Olivia Hussey
Edward James Olmos
Paul Giamatti
Keith David
Laurence Fishburne
Paul Dano
Noah Schnapp
Sean Bridgers
Zhan Mcclaron
Laurie metcalf would be perfect in this
@@Empresselizabeth1800 Agree
What a talented guy! Bravo!!
Wow! He is so fun to listen to...very down to earth.
I’m a Mike White fan, one of my favorite movies of all time is “Orange County!”, so funny and on point! Loving White Lotus. Katie, I believe he must have been extremely nervous to be interviewed by you. I should listen again, the number of times he said the word “like”! I was surprised due to the fact he is a great dialogue writer. He had to have been nervous. Definitely sweet! And he is sweet!
After being amazed by White Lotus, I'm going back to Mike's older works and surprised how good Enlightened is! Tragic it only had 2 seasons
Excellent interview 👏 👏
Mike White = LEGEND
Katie has to be one of top interviewers and researchers of her interviewees. Getting through the 'likes' with the humble and talented Mike White could have of on for hours. 🙏💞
I’m really glad you give thanks to Jane Rogers. I feel like she loved us all
Bravo monsieur, quel régal !
Working so hard to entertain and enthrall us, he needs sleep. He seemed out of it compared to other interviews I've heard. Great Job Mike!!!
Katie too knows how to get to the Real!
Good point arbatron. As a huge fan of The White Lotus but a newbie regarding the genius that is Mike White, I was kinda shocked at his rambling, disjointed style in his responses to Katie (these from someone who can write such brilliant, 'perfect' scripts!)
@@roberthart9675 If he's a poker player, he plays with the keyboard and not card table. So revealing and open about being a minister's son with WHAT? Closeted dad? Very creative, look forward to watching other works. Merry Christmas 🎄
How do you know he works so hard and is exhausted?
He’s so humble 🥹❤️
One of the best travel books I’ve read recently is “Four Seasons in Rome”, sooo good
Really enjoyed this series.
I remember him on Survivor! Didn’t know he was a big shot producer!
He is too humble. Tru genius
It's an awesome show. He seems to be an awesome guy, too.
He should’ve been nominated for academy award for best actor in chuck and buck
I watched the digital screener for the SAG awards of season 2 of 'White Lotus', knew nothing about. Wow, such great writing, that ending! I said to myself 'Oh shit!'
Katie your show is super entertaining ! A real pro!
Loved every second of this interview!!!
What a great guy. Actors only have nice things to say about him and one of my favorite shows was the one with him and Laura Dern, "Enlightened"
He’s amazing !!!
I loved him as part of the goliath tribe in survivor..
Gosh I love White Lotus so much! I love seeing these interviews with Mike and the cast, but I just want to call Mike, Ned Schneebly! Anyone else?!!
Love this guy
Loved Season One but I think Season Two is even better.
to me remains to be seen if season two is better. It sure is different.
He is definitely not a boastful person! I like him he seems very Cool👏👏
Loved both can't wait for 3
Really glad to see him doing well after the teacher impersonation scandal and getting out of a toxic relationship
School of rock. Took me a second to get this. Embarrassing!
Love him❤
When she said I'm worried about Tonya that is a real tell he spilled it without saying anything.
Great interview on both sides.
Have a drink every time he says “LIKE”. 256 drinks later!🤪😖🤣Love the show, tho. 😎
I am an English teacher and that "like, like, like" stuff really bugas me
It drives me crazy when I hear like, like, like!!! However, I do love his work and he’s obviously very bright, intelligent and successful. A better writer than an orator.
I was literally like WHO is this guy? When i discovered the masterpiece white lotus. Looking at his work- I haven't crossed paths once with his work (Unlike Ryan Murphy projects which always find me). Then I realized omg thats HANK from 2004 stepford wives LOLLL. Who would have thought 'Hank' would make white lotus. Wow.
White Lotus is like an expanded Vacation movie mixed with Clue, where you get perspectives from all class levels of the characters, there's a murder and we are all guessing who dies, and who did it. Or when Adam Sandler does a vacation movie with his friends, like Blended, Grown Ups, etc. Going on vacation without having to leave your home. That was shocking what happened to Tanya, when they clearly seemed to be marketing the show around her character. That's how you surprise your audience and keep people guessing. They should take one of the characters, or one of the groups, I say Aubrey Plaza and her group and take them to the next season, and maybe they or one of them dies, or doesn't. Keep us surprised. Oh, and did Daphne inspire Ethan or they are implying they did their own thing to get back and the implied affair with Harper and Cameron?
They banged.
Any other questions?
Seems like maybe he still had his cherry and the blonde showed him some helpful techniques for the wife or his MO. But very cool that it’s not all spelled out, the grey areas respect the astuteness of the audience.
But Ethan finally grabbed Cameron’s love-interest, treating him the way he had been wronged in college, etc.
That crazy couple DID help out their marriage though, by the finale.
Why isn’t ‘The Good Girl’ available on Prime damnit!
That movie is soooo good. One of my faves.
@@ladylo-fi6979 A perfect movie.
Season 3!!!! YES!! Bali?
“YOU SEE EVERYTHING WHEN THE WORLD DOESN’T SEE YOU.”
Good Job Katie
He's so humble! So down to earth! How refreshing! Who knew these are the people we want more of in our entertainment!?! Bravi Mike , Bravi! Keep being you!
Also, some of these questions seemed so out of touch of the show. Lol It's not that deep. It's simply, rich people are a mess. Period.
What a great guy and interview subject Mike White is! I always forget he wrote School of Rock, and gave Richard Linklater sole credit for that shining jewel. I was glad to see him demure from Katie's remark that Tanya is a sympathetic character and rightly point out that Jennifer Coolidge makes her likable. At least, it agrees with my take! Aside from the question of whether Tanya is sympathetic or not, it is obvious she has no unplumbed depths to her character. Such a tiresome narcissist would really drag the show down in a third season.
great interview...I didnt realize Mike white was so humble! Hes a neat person... But what is with Katie Couric not knowing the name of the characters???
You worried about Tanya?!?! Lol, don't worry. She's got this!
HBO, please bring back Enlightened!!