Emmy nominee Carrie Coon talks to The Contending about the politics of art and the beauty of Mike White’s writing in The White Lotus.
If you follow her on social media, then you know that acclaimed actress Carrie Coon does not shy away from a political conversation.
Coon regularly debates conservative points of view, points out hypocrisy where she sees it, and shouts the dangers of global warming. Online, she is a firebrand, one who passionately cries out for justice and sanity in a world that seems to have none. That political passion often seeps into her projects.
On the surface, neither The White Lotus nor The Gilded Age scream political works, but look closer. The Gilded Age often examines modern socio-political inequity through the lens of one of America’s greatest periods of social change. And The White Lotus infamously examines what happens when three long-time friends regroup and find their differences, political leanings included, are far more significant than they imagined.
“It struck more of a chord because of the election, because nobody necessarily anticipated when [Mike White] wrote it, what the outcome of the election would be and just how timely that conversation would prove,” Coon revealed. “I want my art to have an impact in the world. Otherwise, I don’t know what we’re doing it for.”
Coon’s work in White’s The White Lotus netted her a third Emmy nomination. As Laurie, Coon is the unsettled segment of the friendship triangle. Laurie isn’t the gorgeous and pampered Hollywood actress that is Michelle Monaghan’s Jaclyn. She’s also not the very centered, very religious, and very conservative Kate, played by Leslie Bibb.
Instead, she’s kind of a beautiful mess, a divorced single mother who dedicates her life to an unfulfilling job while struggling to connect with her daughter. She comes to Thailand to reconnect with her best friends but is plagued by loneliness and sadness. While on vacation, she throws herself into a handful of very ill-advised situations. To Coon, that’s just Laurie trying to fill the loneliness gap.
“All of that recapturing of a misspent youth is a form of escapism, which is just as empty as the acquisitive lifestyles we’re living. One of the reasons I think that monologue resonates so much is because people feel that. They feel in this late stage capitalism that this acquisitive mindset — if I can just acquire X, then I will feel Y — doesn’t add up,” Coon posited. “In fact, we are lonelier than we’ve ever been. We wake up suddenly at some age and have to start reflecting back because we’re three quarters of the way or halfway through our lives.”
“That monologue” Coon referenced is her shining moment — her “Emmy moment,” if you will — gifted to her by Mike White. In it, Laurie acknowledges she lacks the advantages and enviable attributes that her friends have. Given the trajectory of Laurie’s character throughout the season, you expect her to unleash a barrage of harsh truths on her two friends, potentially severing their relationship irreparably. Yet, Coon’s Laurie reveals something of a spiritual awakening via an expression of gratitude. Here’s the full text:
“Thats funny ’cause if I’m being honest, all week I’ve been so sad. I just feel like my expectations were too high, or… I just feel like as you get older, you have to justify your life, you know? And your choices.
And… when I’m with you guys, it’s just so, like… like, transparent what my choices were, and my mistakes. I have no belief system. And I… Well, I mean I’ve had a lot of them, but… I mean, work was my religion for forever, but I defiantly lost my belief there. And then — And then I tried love, and that was just a painful religion, just made everything worse. And then, even for me, just, like, being a mother, that didn’t save me either. But I had this epiphany today. I don’t need religion or God to give my life meaning because time gives it meaning.
We… we started this life together. I mean, we’re going through it apart, but we’re still together, and I… I look at you guys, and it feels meaningful. And I can’t explain it, but even when we’re just sitting around the pool talking about whatever inane shit, it still feels very fucking deep.
I’m glad you have a beautiful face. And I’m glad that you have a beautiful life. And I’m just happy to be at the table. I love you.”
This revelation, according to Coon, exists as a genuine and heartfelt expression of gratitude for being at the table. For being in their lives. For living despite not having achieved half of what society told her she should have achieved at her age.
It’s a beautiful moment delivered to perfection by Coon.
“There’s a kernel of gratitude inside of that moment where she is not living up to what cultural scripts tell her she should care about. She’s not living up to her own expectations by those social metrics, and yet she’s somehow aware of where she’s situated inside of that sphere and that she has a lot to be thankful for,” Coon shared. “What people want is to be seen and to be acknowledged and to be known.”
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The White Lotus streams exclusively on HBO MAX.
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