As it turns out, the critically acclaimed hit (which boasts an A-list ensemble cast, including Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Molly Shannon, Steve Zahn, Sydney Sweeney, Alexandra Daddario, Natasha Rothwell and more) was filmed entirely on location at a real-life resort where the cast and crew lived, worked and quarantined for the entire shoot. Here’s exactly where The White Lotus is filmed and what we know about where Season 2 may take place.
Where is The White Lotus filmed?
The inaugural season of The White Lotus was filmed entirely on location at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in Hawaii. If you want to stay at the hotel that provided the backdrop for the series, it will cost you around $1,000 per night, but you’ll live in luxury: There are three pools (including the adults-only “Serenity Pool”), three restaurants, a spa and excursions including helicopter tours, paddleboarding, whale watching, kayaking, snorkeling, golfing and more. The specific rooms viewers see in The White Lotus look different from those in the Four Seasons Resort Maui, as they were designed to coordinate with each character. Set designer Laura Fox told Varietythat while they weren’t allowed to paint any of the characters’ accommodations, they were able to redecorate with new draperies, art, bedding and other accents to create rooms like the Palm, Pineapple, Tradewinds and Hibiscus Suites. Fox also confirmed that the cast and crew really did work in lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “We were not allowed to leave the hotel,” she explained. “We could not leave for three months.” However, she added that having working under such bizarre conditions was still a welcome experience. “The whole thing was magical,“she said.
Why did The White Lotus film in Hawaii?
Writer and director Mike White explained to The New Yorker that he intended to set the show in Hawaii from the get-go because of his childhood memories of vacationing in the area. “When I was little, I would go to Hawaii with my family,” he said. “My dad was a minister, so we didn’t have a lot of money. It was my first experience of being somewhere other than where I lived. The Hawaiian culture is very specific, and there’s something very magnetic and beautiful about it. After I made Enlightened, I actually was able to buy a place there. I was hoping to be PaulTheroux and have my Hawaiian writer’s retreat or something. And it is such a paradisiacal, idyllic place. But it’s also such a living microcosm of so many of the cultural reckonings that are happening right now.” He also noted, “There are ethical aspects to just vacationing there, let alone buying a house there. The longer I spent time there, the more I realized just how complex it is. And it just felt like that might be interesting as a backdrop to this show.”
Is The White Lotus based on a true story?
The specific story in Season 1 of The White Lotus is purely fictional, White says, but the characters are all based on wealthy white tourists and gentrifiers who’ve populated Hawaii, often to the dismay of native and local Hawaiian residents. “I have a place in Hanalei, and there’s all these tech bros. The tech world has found Hanalei,” White told The New Yorker. “So there’s these huge houses — not my house — that are being sold for $30 million right on the beach. Mark Zuckerberg has a place there. And I’d be, like, ‘Ugh, those guys. They own the world!’ And then I was like, ‘I am that guy.’ The people who live [in Hanalei] and have lived there their whole lives, they’re all being displaced, and it’s a small enough place that you can kind of hold it all in your head in a way that you can’t in a place like L.A.” He continued, “It’s a complex place, and I didn’t feel like I could tell the story of the native Hawaiians and their struggles to fight some of their battles, but I felt like I could kind of come at it from the way I experienced it. At first, it’s, like, ‘It’s so beautiful! I’m in touch with nature and it’s so healing.’ Then you realize it’s on the backs of people who’ve had a complicated history with people like me.”
Where will The White Lotus Season 2 be filmed?
Season 2 of The White Lotus is confirmed as a go, but so far there isn’t a definite setting just yet. White has talked about creating an entire White Lotus cinematic universe, with future seasons taking place at other fictional White Lotus resort properties. As he recounted to TV Line, “We have had discussions, but it remains unresolved … It would have to be a different hotel, like, say, The White Lotus: San Tropez or something.” He similarly told Entertainment Weekly , “It would have to be TheWhite Lotus: Kyoto or something. Which would be fun too, because we could get into culture clash ideas and stuff like that.” Next, if you liked The White Lotus, you’ll love Nine Perfect Strangers. Get all the details on the retreat-themed miniseries.
