Who Was Mike White Before Creating The White Lotus?
The White Lotus is one of the most popular shows out right now. The Emmy-winning series recently wrapped up its second season and had nearly everyone talking.
The show is the brainchild of Mike White, who created, wrote, and directed the show. His success on HBO is preceded by his work on the show Enlightened. He also wrote the screenplay for School of Rock and directed the film Brad's Status, which he also wrote.
But White's journey to success was set in motion when an indie film he wrote and starred in became a huge hit. He also had an eventful childhood which had an effect on his creative instincts.
Mike White Found Out His Father's Secret As A Child
Mike White's father, Mel, was a ghostwriter who worked on autobiographies of religious-right leaders. He was an evangelical pastor who also made films and television commercial for religious clients.
When White was 11 years old, he discovered a secret cassette in a box belonging to his father. The tape included an interview between White's parents and five psychologists from the Fuller Theological Seminary. They were speaking about solving Mel's homosexuality.
White would later tell The Washington Post that this discovery "upended everything." White kept the discovery to himself for a long time while his parents stayed married.
Mel eventually came out, first to his family and then to the media. He revealed his sexuality to The Washington Post and was later featured on 60 Minutes. Mel moved out of the family home and began living with Gary Nixon, his partner whom he met at church.
Mel continued to see his children and their mother, Lyla, on a daily basis. He also took White to Manhattan to see Broadway shows. This had become an annual trip for the two of them.
Mel went on to become an activist and minister for the LGBTQ+ community. He has also done extensive writing on the subject of gay Christians. In June 2008, Mel and Nixon were married in California a month after the state's ban on same-sex marriage was lifted.
Mike White's Second Grade Teacher Helped Him Write His First Play
During his childhood, White said that his parents were supportive of his creative pursuits.
"My parents were so tolerant of my child play," he told The Washington Post. "I could be the weird, creative kid; there was no pressure to be anything but what I was."
He would later thank his parents in his acceptance speech at the Primetime Emmy Awards in September.
"I wanna thank my parents, I love my parents, my mom let me be the weird kid I wanted to be, and my dad who's struggling right now," White said while accepting the first of his three trophies for The White Lotus that night. "Thank you so much for letting me honor him tonight."
White attended the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, California when he was in second grade. His teacher, Jane Rogers, was also supportive of White. She was the mother of the actor and writer Sam Shepard. Rogers encouraged White to write his very first play. It was an adaptation of The Emperor's New Clothes.
"She was my first development executive," White joked."'Get rid of this,' she ordered."
At the time, her son's play Buried Child had just won the Pulitzer Prize.
"When she talked about her son the playwright, I thought, 'Gee, this is something I can do,'" White recalled. "I went home and started scribbling plays."
Mike White's Film Chuck And Buck Was A Big Indie Hit
White both wrote and starred in Chuck & Buck, an indie film released in 2000. The film told the story of Buck, a man with arrested development who becomes fixated on his childhood friend, Chuck, after his mother dies. Buck reveals during the film that he and Buck experimented sexually with one another when they were younger.
The film was praised by critics, with Rolling Stone referring to it as "one of the year's best and most provocative films." The New York Times said it was "one of the major chew bones of this year's Sundance Film Festival."
Jeff Bridges even considered White's performance as Buck to be his favorite of the decade.
White said that while the film wasn't autobiographical, he did consider it very personal.
"I'm talking to myself and letting other people listen in," he said. "It's surely the most vulnerable thing I'll ever do."
White said that the two main characters represented the different sides we have within us. Chuck, he said, represented the person we want to present to the world, whereas Buck is "that vulnerable side we don't want to show to other people."
"I had explored my Chuck side, my serious, successful side, working in TV, making money in L.A., and now I wanted to express the other side," White said.
White's father told The Washington Post that while viewing the film, he was chilled by his son's performance.
"I didn't see any of Mike in Buck," Mel said. "That's what is so disturbing. Where does a character like that come from?"
"From my twisted little mind?" White said laughing.
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