He is known to School of Rock fans as nerdy Ned Schneebly in the beloved 2003 comedy alongside Jack Black.

But screenwriter and actor Mike White, 54, rise to notoriety really came when he created the award-winning HBO series The White Lotus. 

For those unfamiliar, The White Lotus is a social satire which follows the exploits of various H๏τel guests and employees over the span of a week, with its third season set at an exclusive Thai resort. 

The show starred Mike’s longtime friend Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya McQuoid, a role which saw her sweep awards season and tearfully thanked the writer for giving her a ‘new beginning’. 

But before The White Lotus there was School of Rock, and while Mike starred as the roommate of guitarist Dewey Finn [Jack Black] he also wrote the blockbuster.

Not a fan of rock music himself, Mike created the plot purely for actor Jack who had a pᴀssion for the genre. 

He is known to School of Rock fans as nerdy Ned Schneebly in the beloved 2003 comedy alongside Jack Black – but screenwriter and actor Mike White, 54, rise to notoriety really came when he created the award-winning HBO series The White Lotus

But before The White Lotus there was School of Rock, and while Mike starred as the roommate of guitarist Dewey Finn [Jack Black] he also wrote the blockbuster (Seen on Monday)

The pair then worked together under their production company banner Black and White on another two films, Nacho Libre and The D Train.

Mike started out writing while at college where he met his first writing partner Zak Penn, who went on to have huge success writing for Marvel movies. 

The Penn White partnership ended after a few years but Mike credits his friend with getting him into Hollywood’s social circles.

Mike started out penning scripts for nineties teen hits Dawson’s Creek and Freaks and Geeks. 

He also took on acting parts in his writing projects, admitting early on that he thought that would be a career path that would fit his introvert personality, as he couldn’t see himself managing people on set.

When the global pandemic hit in 2020 Mike was feeling stagnant.

He received an email from HBO and his known ability to speedily turn around a project from the writing room to screen set him on the path to create The White Lotus.

HBO had a content void to fill and quickly. Mike saw it as an opportunity, after his experience with Enlightenment, to go in all guns blazing.

Not a fan of rock music himself, Mike created the plot purely for actor Jack who had a pᴀssion for the genre

The pair then worked together under their production company banner Black and White on another two films, Nacho Libre and The D Train 

Mike received an email from HBO during the pandemic and his known ability to speedily turn around a project from the writing room to screen set him on the path to create The White Lotus 

‘It’ll be like a boulder they can’t stop. I can do exactly what I want to do,’ he recalled to The New Yorker. 

Setting the first season of The White Lotus in his beloved Hawaii, where he holidayed as a child and where he now owns a home, Mike cast his friend Jennifer, who had previously starred in a pilot of his which was turned down by network after network.

The two had met when they played a couple in 2009’s Gentlemen Broncos and Jennifer recalls joining him on a safari vacation in Africa bonded them for life, admitting he saw an ‘unedited’ version of her. 

‘Mike discovered, on this trip, that I was sort of sad I wasn’t in a relationship, and he saw me watching these wedding videos on my iPhone in the middle of the night,’ she has revealed, admitting that night most likely provided inspiration for her White Lotus character.

The black comedy premiered in July 2021 to critical acclaim and high ratings, leading to a second season based in Sicily, released last year, and the recent pick-up of a third run. 

The first season was the most-awarded series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, winning 10 awards, while at the Golden Globes the second series earned gongs for Jennifer and in the Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film category.

Jennifer brought Mike to tears with her eccentric speech as she picked up her first ever Golden Globe, telling him: 

The show starred Mike’s longtime friend Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya McQuoid, a role which saw her sweep awards season and tearfully thanked the writer for giving her a ‘new beginning’ 

Mike and his White Lotus lead Jennifer met when they played a couple in 2009’s Gentlemen Broncos

The first season was the most-awarded series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards while at that year’s Golden Globes the second series earned a gong for Coolidge

‘Mike White, you have given me hope — you’ve given me a new beginning. Even if this is the end, you changed my life in a million different ways’.

She added: ‘If you don’t know Mike White, this is what you should know. It’s like, he is worried about the world, he’s worried about people, he’s worried about friends of his that aren’t doing well he’s always worried about people you’re worried about animals and I just… he really is one of the greatest people I’ve ever.

‘He gives me so much excitement to be. You make people want to live longer, and I didn’t.’

‘I just want to say Mike White,’ she added, before getting BLEEPED by the censors, concluding with: ‘Mike, I love you to death.’ 

Mike recently revealed that the upcoming third season of The White Lotus would be ‘much, much darker’ than the previous two series.

The wildly popular HBO drama is set to return to the streamer on February 16 with a new cast boasting of Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, Jason Isaacs, Lalisa Manobal, Michelle Monaghan, and Sam Nivola.

Set in Thailand, spa manager Belinda Lindsey, played by Natasha Rothwell, will be the only cast member from previous seasons to be returning.

Ahead of the arrival of the episodes, White also teased that the show is going to be grander and more epic than ever before.

Speaking to Time, he added: ‘I do feel like the other seasons were a rehearsal for this one.’