HBO’s The White Lotus has been a breakout hit for the premium network, leading to dozens of actors to publicly express their interest in joining the cast of a future season of the popular series. For those actors who hope to be part of the series, they will meet with the series’ casting director, Meredith Tucker, who works closely with series creator Mike White. In an interview with IndieWire, Tucker spoke about what she has enjoyed most about casting The White Lotus — and explains why even “name” actors are asked to read for their parts.
Regarding casting the series, Tucker says she receives very few mandates from White about what he is looking for in cast members. She shares, “The first season he said that because there were gonna be a lot of long, long scenes, and it was gonna be a very tight shooting schedule, ‘I need people with experience. I need skilled stage actors who could handle learning a lot of material, being able to do sustained takes.’ That was very important to him. [With] his stuff, you have to have a sense of humor, that’s obviously a very important thing. He really likes to laugh. You’re not playing it for the comedy, you’re playing the truthfulness of it all.”
Regardless of what career level potential cast members are at, Tucker explains that White still likes to have every actor read for their parts. She says, “Even with the name-ier people he does like to talk it through, and he very much likes everyone to read. We make lists, but it’s not like he’s like, ‘Ok, let’s make an offer to this person, this person, this person.’ Obviously some people are not going to read, but some people who normally wouldn’t read are willing to read because they want to be part of it, and it is very important to him. He likes to not just see the actors, he also likes to hear the dialogue.”
That approach gives Tucker the opportunity to allow less-known actors to audition for the series, too. She continues, “I always like to give new people opportunities, people who aren’t as well-known. That’s one of the fun things about casting. It’s not fun to be like, ‘Oh yeah, let’s hire this person off this list, and this person off this other list.’ To see an actor really do an amazing audition is one of the most exciting things about casting. To see someone do something, and then you or the showrunner looks at the part in a completely different way just because of what that person brought to it, that’s very exciting.”
