Mike White | |
|---|---|
 White in 2011 | |
| Born | Michael Christopher White (1970-06-28)June 28, 1970 (age 55) Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Wesleyan University (BA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1997–present |
| Known for | Creator ofThe White Lotus |
| Father | Mel White |
Michael Christopher White (born June 28, 1970) is an American filmmaker and actor.[1] He created, writes, and directs the ongoing HBO satirical comedy anthology seriesThe White Lotus, for which he has won threePrimetime Emmy Awards.
White also won anIndependent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for the 2000 filmChuck & Buck, which he wrote and starred in.[2] He has written the screenplays for films such asSchool of Rock (2003) and has directed several films that he has written, such asBrad's Status (2017). White was a co-creator, executive producer, writer, director and actor on theHBO seriesEnlightened.[3] He is also known for his appearances on reality television, competing on two seasons ofThe Amazing Race and later becoming a contestant and runner-up onSurvivor: David vs. Goliath.
White was born inPasadena, California.[4] He is the son of Lyla Lee (née Loehr), a fundraising executive, and former executive director of thePasadena Playhouse, andJames Melville "Mel" White, a former speechwriter andghostwriter forReligious Right figures such asJerry Falwell andPat Robertson.[3] Hecame out as bisexual in 1994.[5][4] Due to his father's religious background, White grew up in a modest household in a conservative Christian community.[6] He attendedPolytechnic School which he described as a "very conservative country-club school".[6] Later he went toWesleyan University, where he met writing partner,Zak Penn. Penn convinced him to move back to Los Angeles, and helped him to get work soon after graduating.[6]
Although White and Penn's writing partnership ended a few years later due to their different sensibilities, they remained on good terms, and White credits Penn with getting him into Hollywood's social circles.[6] White was a writer and producer onDawson's Creek andFreaks and Geeks and wrote and acted in the filmsChuck & Buck,The Good Girl,Orange County,School of Rock andNacho Libre.[7] He also had a role in the2004 remake ofThe Stepford Wives, and the 2008 filmSmother.Chuck & Buck, in which White portrayed a manchild[clarification needed] whostalks his childhood friend, was named the best film of 2000 byEntertainment Weekly. In an interview withThe New York Times,Jeff Bridges called White's turn inChuck & Buck "the performance of the decade".[8]
He frequently collaborates with actor–writerJack Black on films. Together they formed the production company Black and White, which closed in 2006.[9] White is not a fan ofclassic rock, but he wroteSchool of Rock specifically so Black could perform his own favorite rock music.[10]
White made hisdirectorial debut with the self-pennedYear of the Dog at the2007 Sundance Film Festival.[11][12][13] He was a member of the US Dramatic Jury at the2009 Sundance Film Festival.[14]
Laura Dern brought White into a project with HBO which became the seriesEnlightened that premiered on October 10, 2011. Dern's character, Amy Jellicoe, goes to a Hawaiian retreat after her professional life publicly implodes, and is introduced tomeditation. White himself had suffered an on-the-job meltdown while running an earlier television series, and incorporated elements of that experience, as well as his own exploration ofBuddhist meditation, into the new series' plot.[15][7] White wrote the pilot and all the episodes in the first and second seasons.[3]
White is a credited writer onThe Emoji Movie; he spent three weeks with the film's screenwriters and helped with the structure of the script. For this project he received aGolden Raspberry Award.[16][17] He wrote and directed the 2017 filmBrad's Status.
In 2021, White created, wrote, and directedThe White Lotus, a satirical limited series forHBO, after being approached by HBO during theCOVID-19 pandemic for ideas.[18][19][20] HBO went on togreenlight two more seasons, which have different locations and casts and very littlecontinuity between them.[21] White has brought back three actors over the course of the series:Jennifer Coolidge,Natasha Rothwell, andJon Gries. The concept for the series was "partly inspired" by White's work on an earlier proposed series which was neverpicked up by any network:The Tears of St. Patsy, which would have featured "Coolidge as a frustrated actor navigating a dangerous world".[21] In 2023, White alluded to this earlier setback when he won aGolden Globe forThe White Lotus and said: "Everybody passed. I knowyou all passed".[21]
In February 2022, it was announced White would write two upcoming animated films forUniversal Pictures andIllumination: the original comedyMigration, released on December 22, 2023, andthe fourth installment in theDespicable Me franchise, which was released on July 3, 2024.[22]
Meanwhile, White continued to work on the third season ofThe White Lotus, whose release was delayed to 2025 by the2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[23] As of March 2025,The White Lotus was averaging millions of viewers per episode.[24] It became "the biggest hit" of White's career, drawing comparisons to the best shows of theprestige television era of the 2010s.[21] About finding his greatest success in his mid-fifties, White compared himself to a surfer waiting for a wave who is just about to swim in: "And then I catch a wave? I'm definitely going to ride this wave".[21]
White appeared on thefourteenth season ofThe Amazing Race along with his fatherMel.[25] They lasted for seven legs before being eliminated in sixth place inPhuket, Thailand. Mel and Mike returned to compete inThe Amazing Race: Unfinished Business, where they were the second team eliminated in Japan after they both developed hypothermia.[26] Both times, he ended up stuck on the island ofKo Samui, which was used by the show as its elimination station, and because of those unhappy memories, he was reluctant at first to return there to film the third season ofThe White Lotus.[27]
White was a contestant onSurvivor: David vs. Goliath, as a member of the Goliath tribe, then to reshuffled Jabeni tribe and the merged Kalokalo tribe.[28] He made it to Day 39 and received three jury votes, finishing in second place behind the winner,Nick Wilson.
White said he had been a big fan of the show, and because of his connections had developed a friendship with the show's hostJeff Probst, providing the host suggestions towards improving the show. For instance, Probst stated that it was White who discouraged him from bringing back Redemption Island forSurvivor: San Juan del Sur.[29] At some point White decided to start trying out to be a participant of the show, but he failed to be picked over what he believed was a concern of having "sloppy seconds" from other reality television programs. White noted that once he was selected, he had had no other conversations with Probst until the game was concluded.[30]
Several of White's fellowSurvivor players have appeared in cameos onThe White Lotus, including Alec Merlino (season 1), Angelina Keeley and Kara Kay (season 2), and Natalie Cole, Carl Boudreaux and Christian Hubicki (season 3).[31]
In 2025, White was announced as a contestant onSurvivor: In the Hands of the Fans, the fiftieth season of the show.[32]
White is avegan and lives inSanta Monica with his partner, Josh. He also owns a house inKauai.[4][33][34][35] He is openlybisexual.[36][4][37] In a 2025 interview withThe New Yorker, White said that his relationship had fallen apart due toThe White Lotus taking over his schedule.[38]
| Title | Year | Director | Screenwriter | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dead Man on Campus | 1998 | No | Yes | No | |
| Chuck & Buck | 2000 | No | Yes | No | |
| Orange County | 2002 | No | Yes | No | |
| The Good Girl | No | Yes | No | ||
| School of Rock | 2003 | No | Yes | No | |
| Nacho Libre | 2006 | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Year of the Dog | 2007 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directorial debut |
| The Hills withJames Franco andMila Kunis | No | No | Yes | Short film | |
| Gentlemen Broncos | 2009 | No | No | Yes | |
| Magic Magic | 2013 | No | No | Yes | |
| The D Train | 2015 | No | No | Yes | |
| Beatriz at Dinner | 2017 | No | Yes | No | |
| The Emoji Movie | No | Yes | No | ||
| Brad's Status | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| Pitch Perfect 3 | No | Yes | No | ||
| The One and Only Ivan | 2020 | No | Yes | No | |
| Migration | 2023 | No | Yes | No | |
| Despicable Me 4 | 2024 | No | Yes | No |
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Star Maps | 1997 | Carmel County Writer | |
| Chuck & Buck | 2000 | Buck O'Brien | |
| Orange County | 2002 | Mr. Burke | |
| The Good Girl | Corny | ||
| School of Rock | 2003 | Ned Schneebly | |
| The Stepford Wives | 2004 | Hank | |
| Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody? | 2005 | Respondent | Short film |
| Welcome to California | John Goodman | ||
| Smother | 2008 | Myron Stubbs | |
| Gentlemen Broncos | 2009 | Dusty | |
| Zombieland | Gas Station Clerk | ||
| Ride | 2014 | Roger | |
| The D Train | 2015 | Jerry | |
| Brad's Status | 2017 | Nick Pascale | |
| The One and Only Ivan | 2020 | Frankie (voice) / Passing Driver |
| Title | Year(s) | Director | Writer | Producer | Creator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dawson's Creek | 1998–1999 | No | Yes | Supervising | No | Wrote 9 episodes / Produced 22 episodes |
| Freaks and Geeks | 2000 | No | Yes | Supervising | No | Wrote 3 episodes / Produced 17 episodes |
| Pasadena | 2001–2002 | No | Yes | Executive | Yes | Created and produced 13 episodes / Wrote 6 episodes. |
| Cracking Up | 2004–2006 | No | Yes | Executive | Yes | Created and produced 12 episodes / Wrote episode: "The Fixer" |
| Earth to America | 2005 | No | Yes | No | No | Television special |
| Enlightened | 2011–2013 | Yes | Yes | Executive | Yes | Created, wrote and produced 18 episodes / Directed 6 episodes |
| The Boring Life of Jacqueline | 2012 | No | No | Executive | No | 10 episodes |
| Mamma Dallas | 2016 | Yes | Yes | Executive | No | Television pilot |
| School of Rock | No | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Come Together" / Also wroteoriginal theatrical film | |
| The White Lotus | 2021–present | Yes | Yes | Executive | Yes | Anthology series, wrote and directed every episode |
| Title | Year(s) | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freaks and Geeks | 2000 | Chip Kelly | Episode: "Kim Kelly Is My Friend" |
| Undeclared | 2001 | Pet Store Employee | Episode: "Eric Visits" |
| Pushing Daisies | 2007 | Billy Balsam | Episode: "Bitter Sweets" |
| Enlightened | 2011–2013 | Tyler | 15 episodes |
| Mamma Dallas | 2016 | Himself | Television pilot |
| Title | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan | 2007 | Dog Owner |
| The Amazing Race 14 | 2009 | 6th place (with father, Mel White) |
| The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business | 2011 | 10th place (with father, Mel White) |
| Survivor: David vs. Goliath | 2018 | Runner-up |
| Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans | 2026 | TBD |
| Preceded by Domenick Abbate | Runner-Up ofSurvivor Survivor: David vs. Goliath | Succeeded by Gavin Whitson |
Works byMike White | |||||
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