Finding the Humor of White Lotus With Sydney Sweeney

We sat down to chat with Sydney Sweeney about her Emmy nominated role in HBO’s White Lotus and about her process in auditioning and creating her character. Sydney taped repeatedly, saying that she’ll continue to tape and re-watch until she felt comfortable. She said she used to do all the character work for an audition and it would be devastating when she wouldn’t get the role, feeling like the character had been ripped from her. In this case, the character of Olivia was a bit of a mystery to Sydney during the audition process and she only started to enjoy what she was doing once she got the character and found the timing. Sydney also talked about being a fan of Jennifer Coolidge and her movies as a kid and went on a binge with her mom prior to shooting. 

In order to capture the feeling of her character balancing between caring and not caring about everyone else, Sydney felt like she had to get the timing of her character’s dialogue right. To do this, she listened to a podcast Mike gave them to try and find the cadence and pauses she needed. She emphasized the importance of being able to build Olivia so precisely and into a fleshed out character that she can access it at any time. Mike White encouraged her to find the “funny” in being natural; it was important for Sydney to not try to be funny but just exist as her character. 

Sydney also talked about the process of forming her own production company and starting to option content. She said it’s been an incredibly knowledgeable journey and a different creative processes.

Watch the full conversation below.

Q&A on the HBO Max television series The White Lotus with actor Sydney Sweeney. Moderated by Mara Webster, In Creative Company.

Set in a tropical resort, it follows the exploits of various guests and employees over the span of a week.