Mike White on why he almost didn't cast Blackpink's Lisa in 'White Lotus': 'She's like Taylor Swift meets Princess Diana'
Chris DELMAS / AFP
- Mike White initially didn't want to cast Blackpink's Lisa in season three of "The White Lotus."
- White was concerned that the music idol — born Lalisa Manobal — was too famous.
- "I'm just used to not having so much attention; we don't need it," White said.
Fans of Blackpink's Lisa almost missed out on seeing their idol in season three of HBO's "The White Lotus."
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Wednesday, the show's creator, Mike White, shared that he initially didn't want to cast Lisa — born Lalisa Manobal — in the show.
"I did not know who Lisa or Blackpink was. All I knew was that there was a Blackpink girl in 'The Idol,' and I was like, 'We're not doing that,'" White said, referring to Lisa's Blackpink bandmate Jennie Kim, who was in the 2023 HBO series co-created by Sam Levinson.
"Then I found out that there might be security issues, and I was just like, 'No.' They were like, 'She'll audition,'" White said.
One of the producers on the show, David Bernad, added that the team ended up meeting with Lisa in Thailand.
"We had her come meet us in Phuket at a secret location, and at that point, we'd already met with actresses in Bangkok and had someone we were really interested in. But Lisa was so humble and she'd worked so hard on her performance. This was someone fighting for this part," Bernad told the outlet.
While the music star's audition was "amazing," White said he "still didn't want to cast her" in the show because of her fame.
"I'm just used to not having so much attention; we don't need it. But I wanted to be respectful to Thailand. She's like Taylor Swift meets Princess Diana there," White said.
Blackpink is a South Korean girl group consisting of four members — Jennie, Rosé, Lisa, and Jisoo — originally formed in 2016.
Since their debut, the group has taken the world by storm. In 2023, they became the first Korean act to headline Coachella.
Lisa has 105 million Instagram followers, and she was one of the stars included in Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood Issue cover last year — alongside big names like Zendaya, Glen Powell, and Nicole Kidman.
"I've been performing for a long time, and this opportunity came right when I was trying to find a new challenge. They sent over the script, and I sent a tape back," Lisa told The Hollywood Reporter.
The star added that she took acting lessons before flying to Thailand to meet with the show's creators.
"I was so nervous. I brought my mom," Lisa said.
Representatives for Lisa and White did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.