The White Lotus dominated the limited series categories during the recent Emmy nominations like few other programs have. The HBO series is the most-recognized limited series of 2022 with a total of 20 nominations, but it's in the acting categories where the show really shines. The cast of The White Lotus all deliver performances that truly come alive -- while being supported by one another.
In such a strong year for television, many may be wondering what it The White Lotus did right to earn so much acting recognition. Its ensemble cast shined in a variety of parts that showcased their strengths in a way that audiences loved. Yet making a show that featured so many great performances was no easy feat. Just how did the HBO limited series pull it off?
Anyone who may have overlooked The White Lotus in the past year has to take notice after just a brief perusal of the Emmy nominations. While HBO's Emmy record may fall to Stranger Things, The White Lotus gives the network a new success story. For Supporting Actor in a Limited Series, nearly half of the nominees come from The White Lotus. The show's advantage is even more marked in the Supporting Actress category, where five out of the seven contenders hail from the HBO drama. While the series leads those competitive categories, it holds no nominations in the Lead Actor categories. But there's a very simple reason for that: there's no lead actor.
Part of what elevates the performances in the HBO series is that its ensemble cast shares the spotlight. Its main competition for the supporting categories comes from the Hulu series Dopesick, and Dopesick's story coalesced around Michael Keaton as the show's central character. The White Lotus takes a broader approach, presenting a cast of privileged white guests at a tropical Hawaiian resort and the put-upon staff tasked with meeting their demands all with an equal part in the story at play.
Each of the characters are distinct and play their part in the story beautifully. Murray Bartlett juggles a facade of cheery professionalism with the internal collapse of an addict brought to the brink as hotel manager Armond. Fellow nominees Jake Lacy and Steve Zahn play entitled guests piling increasing amounts of pressure onto him. The performances compliment and enhance one another synergistically, making each stronger than any of them could have been alone.
The same goes for the actresses nominated even more so. Between Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandria Daddario, Natasha Rothwell and Sydney Sweeney there is an entire spectrum of femininity and humanity. There is the performative "wokeness" of a snobby teenage daughter paired with the cynical eye-rolling of her careerist mother. There is the self-pitying widow greedily eating up the feigned concern of a worker vying desperately for a portion of what the widow already has. And between all that is a young newlywed caught in a crisis of identity as she cannot decide which of the other women she wants to be. None of these roles would work in a vacuum.
So much television gravitates toward the star power of central leading roles. Indeed, all of the other nominees in the Best Limited or Anthology Series category are stories built around a central role, like Hulu's Pam & Tommy, which orbited around Tommy Lee but then forgot Pamela Anderson. Television is a collaborative endeavor that works best when all of its pieces fit together. The White Lotus understood that, and its slew of Emmy nominations should stand as an example to other series hoping for the same success.
Critics are quick to examine individual aspects of a show, yet it is when those singular qualities work in tandem and become almost impossible to separate that a story can really come alive. The White Lotus was far from the only good limited series of 2021, but its Emmy nominations provide recognition of what the show did right. If other limited series follow its example, the category could become even more competitive next year.