The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘White Lotus’ casting director on 30 years with Mike White
Wesleyan alumna reflects on long collaboration with director/writer
“White Lotus” creator Mike White was still “really moved” by Jennifer Coolidge’s 2023 Golden Globes speech a week after the event, Meredith Tucker, the show’s casting director, said.
Both White and Coolidge won awards for the HBO dark-comedy drama about guests at a luxury resort chain. White had tears in his eyes as Coolidge paid a funny tribute to him during her acceptance speech. He was overwhelmed, Tucker said.
“He is such a sensitive soul, and that’s why I think his writing is so amazing. Because I think he is such a humanist,” she said.
Tucker and White have been close friends for more than 30 years. They met during spring semester freshman year at Wesleyan University in Middletown. White was a theater major and Tucker studied art history.
“He had been in the theater performance the fall before. So he was sort of already known — and sort of well known — among those theater people just because he was so talented,” she said.
One of their assignments was to put on a oneperson show as a historical character. White chose writer William S. Burroughs and gave an “edgy and dark” performance, she recalled. Tucker chose Ethel Merman, whom she had an obsession with when she was younger. White was her page turner. Tucker said he couldn’t turn the pages because he was laughing so hard at her performance.
“That really does stick out in my mind. I mean, there is usually some element of him making fun of me, but in a loving way,” she said.
White and Tucker also participated in the school’s Captain Partridge Studio Theater, a Sunday night skit program, where he would write and she would act.
Tucker and White remained friends after graduating in 1992.
Tucker took an interest in casting during her junior year at Wesleyan, she said. She worked for The New York Theater Workshop, reading plays, working backstage and participating in weekly readings of upcoming productions. She also helped out with casting. Something clicked. “I had worked in a video store the summer before I went to college and people would come up and ask, ‘Oh, is this a good movie?’ and I would always be able to rattle off the actors that were in it,” she said.
Tucker later collaborated with director Miguel Arteta, producer Matthew Greenfield and White —all Wesleyan alumni —
on the 2000 movie “Chuck and Buck.” White wrote and starred in the comedy alongside Chris Weitz, Lupe Ontiveros and Maya Rudolph. They all worked together again on the 2002 film “The Good Girl,” featuring Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal and John C. Reilly.
In 2006, White asked Tucker to cast his directorial debut, “The Year of the Dog.” Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly, Laura Dern and Regina King were
cast.
“That was the first movie I had ever done on my own,” she said. “It was sort of a big career step for me and I am eternally grateful that he gave me that opportunity,” she said.
Tucker noticed White had a “terrific eye” for casting, and looked for actors who bring their own personality to the part. He often writes the characters for certain people such as Molly Shannon for “Year of the Dog” and “The White Lotus” actors Jennifer Coolidge and Aubrey Plaza, she said. Other
times, he’s adamant about actors reading the scripts and makes changes to the characters once the cast is finalized, she said.
“He’s very good at casting. A lot of people need to see every little element of what they’re going to be ultimately looking for in the role. I think he trusts his writing enough that he can sort of take that leap. It’s a leap of faith, but I think it’s also confidence. He can see enough in what they’re showing,” she said.
Tucker said there’s an advantage to having known him for decades — besides not having to stress over the tone of her emails, that is. She understands his sense of humor and what he likes to see in actors, she said.
“I think he likes to keep things in a positive light. Everyone is able to do their best work. That’s his nature. He likes to laugh,” she said.
The pair worked together on the 2016 TV movie “Mama Dallas,” starring Augustus Prew and Talia Bateman, and on the 2017 film, “Beatriz at Dinner,” featuring Selma Hayek, John Lithgow and Connie Britton.
HBO reached out to White in August of 2020 before he had written the script for “White Lotus.” They had three-and-ahalf
weeks to assemble the cast.
Tucker’s responsibility was to cast the supporting roles around main actors Jennifer Coolidge and Molly Shannon, she said. Looking at self-taped auditions, she considered actors who matched the tone of the show and brought interesting qualities to the characters in a dialogueheavy series.
Tucker won an Emmy Award for White Lotus in 2022, her fourth overall. Murray Bartlett and Jennifer Coolidge have also won Emmy and Critics’ Choice Awards for their performances in the show. She’s humbled by all the series has received.
“I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve been involved in some really wonderful shows. But this, I think it’s a combination of it being so well received. And then also the fact that the showrunner is one of my closest friends and oldest friends. It has made it all the more sort of magical, you know? Even if I were not involved with it, I would be so happy for him. And the fact that I am part of it, too. I don’t think it’s going to get better than this.”