Steve Zahn Reflects on His Incredible, Emotional Journey in ‘The White Lotus’

A common thread revealed when speaking with the esteemed cast of writer/director Mike White’s The White Lotus, now streaming exclusively on HBO Max, is their consistent adoration of White’s complex and detailed screenplay. In fact, the script and its brilliantly realized characters primarily attracted actor Steve Zahn to the project.

The result? Perhaps Zahn’s best work in front of the camera to date capped off with a 2022 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

“I thought all of the characters — how they interacted, what they were saying, the story itself — were all brilliant. When you have a script this good with characters written this well, it’s just a joy. It’s so much fun because you’re not having to do a lot of the homework that sometimes you have to do when things aren’t as fleshed out,” Zahn enthused. “Mark [Mossbacher, Zahn’s character] is a very simple but very complicated guy. He just wears his emotions on his sleeve. I thought he was vulnerable and interesting and funny. I was very fortunate to be in this group of truly amazing people.”

In The White Lotus, Zahn plays Mark Mossbacher who, along with his wife Nicole (Connie Britton), take three kids to the exotic, fictional Hawaiian White Lotus resort. There, Mossbacher family and other guests at the resort wrestle with personal, cultural, generational, economic and race issues. All while they’re relaxing and enjoying one of the most expensive and exclusive resorts in Hawaii.

Mark, in particular, goes on a broad emotional journey. White’s The White Lotus script gives Zahn the opportunity to play a wide array of emotions and comically tragic situations. For example, after discovering that his swollen testicles are not signs of cancer, he strikes out to bond with his estranged and electronics-obsessed son Quinn (Fred Hechinger). That bonding happened over both characters (and actors) learning how to scuba dive. It would prove to be something Zahn likely won’t carry forward into his off-camera life, especially after having played a man who drowns in Crimson Tide.

“[Crimson Tide] was always in the back of my head, right? We got our license, and we went to the ocean. You see it on-screen. That’s really us, and it was very cool. We were proud of that, but my instructor asked, ‘Alright, man, you gonna do this a lot?’ I said, ‘Nope, probably not.’ ”

In the midst of this exploration, Mark discovers that his father did not die of cancer as he was originally told. Instead, he’s told that his father was a closeted homosexual who died of AIDS. That revelation sends Mark on a drunken bender and gives audiences one of the most hilarious, and hilariously cringe-inducing, scenes in the entire series. It’s played to the hilt by Zahn.

“I couldn’t wait to shoot that scene. I had a whole day where I was so excited because I got to be f***ed up. It was my f***ed up day. That was a blast to shoot, but I worked on that so hard. I wanted to get that just perfect, and then to end it with me and Murray at the bar… that was so brilliant,” Zahn shares enthusiastically.

Whether or not Zahn wins the Emmy (he’s nominated against two White Lotus co-stars Murray Bartlett and Jake Lacy), he was thrilled for the experience to play with such an incredibly talented collection of actors.

And, for him, the nomination truly is the win.

“Murray’s part… that part was just oh my god. I remember on day one I told him I couldn’t believe the stuff he had to do. It was a monumental task, but I’m so proud of it. I’m proud of the whole series, and I’m proud and thrilled to be nominated. That’s good enough for me. It’s really awesome. I get to go to the party and see everybody again. And that’s great.”