The White Lotus

The White Lotus is an American dark comedy drama anthology television series created by Mike White for HBO that premiered on July 11, 2021. The series follows the exploits of the guests and staff during a week spent at a luxury global resort hotel chain. The first season was filmed and set in Hawaii, the second in Sicily, and the third in Thailand.
The White Lotus was greenlit in October 2020 as a miniseries but was adapted to an anthology series by HBO in August 2021: its second season aired from October 30 to December 11, 2022, and its third season from February 16 until April 6, 2025, being delayed by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. The series has been renewed for a fourth season. It is available on Max at the same time as the linear broadcast.
The series has been acclaimed by critics for its writing, acting, humor, and production values and has received several accolades: it has won fifteen Primetime Emmy Awards – including for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series – and two Golden Globes, including for Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film. Jennifer Coolidge won several awards for her performance in the first two seasons, including two Primetime Emmys and a Golden Globe, while White won two Emmys for his writing and directing.
Each season is set at a different White Lotus resort hotel, and is mostly self-contained, with some characters returning. Each season tells the story of the guests and staff during a week spent at the White Lotus, whose interactions are affected by their various psychosocial dysfunctions. After each passing day, a darker complexity slowly emerges in the hotel's employees, their wealthy guests, and the idyllic locale itself.
Development of the show began after the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, when Casey Bloys, HBO's head of programming, asked Mike White if he had any ideas for a show that could be shot in a bubble environment under lockdown conditions.
The initial problem White faced was where to set and shoot the show. White did not like commuting to a San Fernando Valley studio to shoot Enlightened (though he is still proud of his work on that show), and wanted to take his next HBO project to exotic locations.
The first idea was Australia, but eight-week-long work visas (the longest available at the time in 2020) were not long enough to shoot a full season. The second idea was Hawaii. At the time, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts was the only hotel operator in the state of Hawaii willing to allow HBO to take over a luxury hotel property for 13 weeks to shoot a new television series with an unknown plot. Four Seasons agreed to this despite not knowing the show's plot. No scripts had been finished, and at that point all the production team had was a "nondescript first episode". But the show promised to bring some money to the hotel, which was preferable to staying closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the beginning, "there was no money to make the show", so the producers decided to staff the show with an ensemble cast where "everyone is treated the same", paid the same, and gets "alphabetical billing". All actors (regardless of prominence) must participate in auditions for their roles on the show. All regular cast members work "at scale"—reportedly, roughly $40,000 per episode—and that rule is "not negotiable". The producers knew some actors cannot accept such conditions and they "can't hold it against people who need to make a living", but imposing this system up front and continuing it into subsequent seasons enabled the producers to focus on casting "people who want to do the project for the right reasons".
On October 19, 2020, HBO gave The White Lotus a limited series order that consisted of six episodes. The series was created, written and directed by White, who also serves as executive producer alongside David Bernad and Nick Hall. On August 10, 2021, HBO renewed the series for a second season, which consists of seven episodes.
On November 18, 2022, HBO renewed the series for a third season. It was announced that the season would take place at a resort in Thailand. The third season's production was disrupted by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, resulting in the release being pushed to 2025. The story that season was originally set to feature a subplot involving one character having a nonbinary child, however this was later cut due to a political "vibe shift" coinciding with the election of President Donald Trump in November 2024. On January 22, 2025, ahead of the third-season premiere, HBO renewed the series for a fourth season.
Upon the limited series order announcement, Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Fred Hechinger, Jake Lacy, Brittany O'Grady, Natasha Rothwell, Sydney Sweeney, and Steve Zahn were cast to star. On October 30, 2020, Molly Shannon, Jon Gries, Jolene Purdy, Kekoa Kekumano, and Lukas Gage joined the cast in recurring roles.
Upon the announcement of the second season renewal, HBO announced that a predominantly new cast of characters would be focused on at another White Lotus property for the second season, though Mike White had stated there was a possibility for a few cast members from the first season to return as their characters. On October 15, 2021, Coolidge was reported to be set to return for the second season. In January 2022, Michael Imperioli, Aubrey Plaza, F. Murray Abraham, Adam DiMarco, Tom Hollander, and Haley Lu Richardson were confirmed to star in the second season. In February 2022, Theo James, Meghann Fahy, Will Sharpe and Leo Woodall joined the cast for the season. In March 2022, Beatrice Grannò, Sabrina Impacciatore, and Simona Tabasco joined the cast for the season.
Upon the third-season renewal announcement, producers confirmed that there will be a new cast of characters in another White Lotus resort. In April 2023, Rothwell was reported to be reprising her role as Belinda for the season. In January 2024, it was announced that Leslie Bibb, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, Dom Hetrakul, Tayme Thapthimthong, Carrie Coon, Miloš Biković, Christian Friedel, Morgana O'Reilly, Lek Patravadi, Shalini Peiris, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Aimee Lou Wood, Francesca Corney, Nicholas Duvernay, and Arnas Fedaravičius joined the cast for the season. Biković was dropped from the cast on February 2 due to his alleged support of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and was replaced with Julian Kostov. In February 2024, Scott Glenn and Lalisa Manobal were cast. In March 2024, Charlotte Le Bon joined the cast to replace Corney in a re-casting.
The series is mainly filmed at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts locations.
Principal photography for the first season began in October 2020 in Hawaii under COVID-19 guidelines. By November 21, 2020, the series was halfway through filming at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea and was scheduled to film in December at locations around Maui.
The second season was filmed at the Four Seasons San Domenico Hotel [fr] in Taormina, Sicily, Italy.
Having filmed in a tightly secured bubble for the first season, the producers were not strict enough with script security during the second season; for example, too many people on set knew it would be the final season for Coolidge's character, Tanya. For the third season, the script supervisor wrote up "crazy fake endings" that were distributed on set, and the only people on set who knew the real endings were the actors involved in those scenes.
The third season was filmed in Thailand, in part due to the series receiving a $4.4 million tax incentive for filming there. Filming began in February 2024, mainly at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, with other locations including Bangkok and Phuket, and wrapped in August 2024. This was the first season for which Four Seasons openly promoted its connection to the show, since the company had seen increased web traffic, bookings, and occupancy rates at its Maui and Sicily resorts after they were featured on the show.
Chilean-Canadian composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer was hired by White to score the first season. For the second season, Tapia de Veer collaborated with his manager Kim Neundorf to finish original compositions due to his own scheduling conflicts. Singer Stephanie Osorio provided the vocals. Tapia de Veer returned for the third season, though announced he would not return for further seasons due to creative differences.
According to Vulture, the costs of production for the second season remained at under US$3 million per episode, the same as the first season. Italy, where the second season was filmed, offers up to 40% tax credit to foreign productions taking place in the country. According to The Hollywood Reporter, episodes in season three cost somewhere from US$6 to US$7 million to make.
The series premiered on July 11, 2021, on HBO and HBO Max. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the series premiered on Sky Atlantic on August 16, 2021. The second season premiered on October 30, 2022. The third season premiered on February 16, 2025, with episodes airing weekly.
The first season was released on DVD on September 13, 2022.
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 90% for the first season of The White Lotus based on 97 critic reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Though its true intentions can get a bit murky, gorgeous vistas, twisty drama, and a pitch perfect cast make The White Lotus a compelling—if uncomfortable—viewing destination." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 82 out of 100 based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating with an average score of 8.2/10, based on 123 reviews. The website's critics consensus states, "Swapping its tropical trappings for Euro chic while focusing primarily on the corrosive influence of carnal desire, The White Lotus remains a cookie full of arsenic that goes down smooth." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 81 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
For the third season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 89% approval rating with an average score of 7.8/10, based on 152 reviews. The website's critics consensus states, "Darker and more patient with its storytelling than previous seasons while brandishing a superb new ensemble full of acidic performances, The White Lotus' third season offers a spiritual respite that shivs the soul." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 77 out of 100 based on 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
The first season received 11 nominations at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in the limited or anthology series categories. It was also nominated for nine Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards across eight categories, winning five. The series won the most Emmys across both ceremonies, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Murray Bartlett for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor, Jennifer Coolidge for Outstanding Supporting Actress, and Mike White for both Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Writing. Connie Britton, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Lacy, Natasha Rothwell, Sydney Sweeney, and Steve Zahn also received acting nominations.
The second season received 12 nominations at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards across five categories and 11 nominations at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards across 10 categories, moving from limited/anthology series to drama series. It won four awards at the Creative Arts Emmys. For the Primetime Emmys, Coolidge won for Outstanding Supporting Actress. Other nominations included Outstanding Drama Series; F. Murray Abraham, Michael Imperioli, Theo James, and Will Sharpe for Outstanding Supporting Actor; Meghann Fahy, Sabrina Impacciatore, Aubrey Plaza, and Simona Tabasco for Outstanding Supporting Actress; and White for Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Writing for the episode "Arrivederci".
The series was included in the American Film Institute Awards top ten Programs of the Year list for 2021 and 2022. Other nominations include three Critics' Choice Television Awards (winning all), five Golden Globe Awards (winning two), and a People's Choice Award.