The White Lotus creator spills huge secret about show as cast member was almost blocked
Fans of The White Lotus were almost deprived the chance of seeing one of the show’s favourite stars. Creator of the hit HBO show, Mike White, has confessed to not knowing Blackpink’s Lalisa Manobal, known as Lisa, and was hesitant to cast her for the third series.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Mike admitted: “I did not know who Lisa or Blackpink was. All I knew was that there was a Blackpink girl in ‘The Idol,’ and I was like, ‘We’re not doing that,” he recalled, referring to Lisa’s bandmate Jennie Kim’s role in another 2023 HBO series.
The brains behind the series continued: “Then I found out that there might be security issues, and I was just like, ‘No.’ They were like, ‘She’ll audition’.” The show’s producer David Bernad revealed that they decided to meet with Lisa despite already considering another actress for the role, reports the Daily Star.
David divulged: “We had her come meet us in Phuket at a secret location, and at that point, we’d already met with actresses in Bangkok and had someone we were really interested in. But Lisa was so humble, and she’d worked so hard on her performance. This was someone fighting for this part.”
Despite being impressed by her “amazing” audition, Mike confessed he was still against casting Lisa due to her stardom. He elaborated: “I’m just used to not having so much attention; we don’t need it. But I wanted to be respectful to Thailand. She’s like Taylor Swift meets Princess Diana there.”
Blackpink, the South Korean girl group, features four members: Jennie, Rosé, Lisa, and Jisoo. Since bursting onto the scene in 2016, the band has rocketed to international stardom, even snagging a headline spot at Coachella in 2023.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Lisa opened up about her latest gig on The White Lotus: “I’ve been performing for a long time, and this opportunity came right when I was trying to find a new challenge. They sent over the script, and I sent a tape back.”
The songstress, who’s now dipping her toes into acting, revealed she took acting lessons before jetting off to Thailand to discuss the project with its creators. She also admitted to feeling jittery about her new venture as she confessed: “I was so nervous. I brought my mom.”
Audience feedback from series three of The White Lotus has led Mike to reconsider certain aspects of the show. Ahead of the season finale on April 7, Mike noted that viewers had voiced concerns about the season’s pacing, with many describing it as “slow” and feeling like not much was happening in the show.
Mark also addressed another complaint from viewers who expected the programme to follow a certain format of “hotel employees getting stepped on by rich people every season.”
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