EXCLUSIVE: Steve Coogan has revealed that Mike White‘s taste for cult British indie films was the reason he joined the cast of The White Lotus Season 4.
Speaking to Deadline on the BAFTA TV Awards red carpet, the actor said he was back and forth from the south of France, where the HBO series is currently filming.
Coogan said he had been fascinated by White’s work since Chuck & Buck in 2000, and he had watched all three seasons of The White Lotus. “I always thought I’d love to work with him,” he said.
The feeling was mutual, it would seem. Coogan, who was BAFTA-nominated for his performance in BBC comedy How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge), said White was a fan of Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People, the 2002 British film about the Manchester music scene. White also enjoyed Coffee and Cigarettes. Watch on Deadline Related Stories News Deadline's German TV Disruptor Anke Greifeneder Wants To "Challenge The Status Quo" & Find Local Hits For HBO News 'Industry' Star Marisa Abela On Finding Inspiration In 'Real Housewives' & Unpacking Yasmin's Desperate Need For Power: "She Operates From A Place Of Fear"
Steve Coogan on filming ‘The White Lotus’ Season 4 in the South of France, working with creator Mike White, and how he got cast on the show #BAFTATVAwards pic.twitter.com/NMSsB0hdoI
“I think I’ve slotted right in,” Coogan said of his time filming The White Lotus. “I’m really enjoying it. He’s quite collaborative. He lets you embellish and improvise, and I’m in my comfort zone.”
Deadline also asked Coogan about the surprise exit of Helena Bonham Carter, who left The White Lotus around a week into production and was later replaced by Laura Dern.
“It just went in a different direction,” he said. “It was like, sometimes you find that something isn’t working the way you want it to, in terms of, like, the character and the dynamic of the whole story. So that was just a mutual decision … The whole part was rewritten from scratch.”
‘The White Lotus’ star Steve Coogan on Helena Bonham Carter’s surprise exit from Season 4: “It just went in a different direction… The whole part was rewritten from scratch” #BAFTATVAwards pic.twitter.com/3CPhuVdanC
Source: deadline.com