As the second season of The White Lotus comes to a close, creator Mike White has been reflecting on the rollercoaster season of his hit show. Just about everything in season two is different than its predecessor, with the cast and the location being the main differences. But there is one thing that many people noticed that set season two apart from season one, and this is the absurd amount of frivolous nudity and sexual situations!
When scouting for the second season, the producers settled on The San Domenico Palace, though this inspired White to rethink his storylines for the season. “It seemed like the perfect place to set the show,” he said while appearing on NPR’s Fresh Air. “The original idea was about heavy hitters in business and power, and I was like ‘this is not the right place for that kind of topic,’” White explained. Instead, this was the place for some cocaine parties.
After finding the location, White set out to add some new themes into the mix for the highly-anticipated second season. “It kinda gave me the idea to maybe focus on sexual jealousy and adultery and infidelity. A more operatic bedroom farce.” With that, nudity became the star of the show. Literally.
White then compared the more explicit second season to the first, which focused more on family dynamics and societal expectations. “The first season we did so much about privilege and how money is used as a wedge in relationships,” he said. “I just felt like we should try to not repeat that same idea. The place sort of forced my hand, in a way.”
Even though there were more R-rated moments, White admitted that he was not the best at handling these scenes.”I’m very timid about asking people to undress and get into sexual situations. It’s not my wheelhouse. So there were definitely times on this shoot where I was like, ‘what have I got myself into?’” White explained with a laugh. Whatever he did, it worked! The show has become even more popular than its first season. Yes, a lot of it was due to White…but Jennifer Coolidge really brings it home.