Lily Allen has revealed she auditioned for Mike White’s hit series The White Lotus – but was turned down by show bosses.
The third season of the popular HBO drama, which stars A-listers including Jason Isaacs and Carrie Coon, will reveal the answer to its overarching mystery in this weekend’s finale: which character will die?
Allen, 39, said her unsuccessful White Lotus audition was part of a career plan to “put herself out there more” in her acting career and voiced hopes to star in a “UK detective drama”.
The singer, best known for her 2006 hit “Smile”, has secured roles in the West End plays 2:22: A Ghost Story and The Pillowman. She made her TV debut in the Sky Atlantic comedy Dreamland in 2023.
Speaking on her Miss Me? podcast with Miquita Oliver, Allen told listeners of her acting career: “I haven’t auditioned for anything really.
“I did do a self-tape for The White Lotus and obviously did not get it. But I think I’m a bit scared of doing self-tapes,” the singer admitted. She has not revealed which role she auditioned for.
“Maybe now I would do them because I don’t think people give as much of a s*** about me anymore,” she continued.
“Back in the day I didn’t like the idea of casting officers having a tape of me in case they would share it with other people. Now I don’t really subscribe to that fear so much, I don’t really care.”
Back in 2023, Allen acknowledged that her career shift from music to acting might take her music fans by surprise, but said it was actually “more surprising” that she embarked on a music career in the first place.
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“It is the family business,” she told The Times, referring to her acting father, Keith Allen, and brother, Alfie Allen.
“If you were to look at me when I was 16 years old, people would have said, ‘Well, she’s obviously going to go and be an actress.’”
Allen said she has not been given any advice by her family members, but joked that “the added bonus” of her newfound acting success is that she “gets to piss them off”.
It comes as Woody Harrelson revealed he had to drop out of playing Rick, the character played by Walton Goggins, in The White Lotus due to scheduling issues.
“I was set to do The White Lotus and very excited,” Harrelson said in a statement to The Daily Beast.
“Unfortunately, their production schedule shifted, and conflicted with a pre-planned family vacation, forcing me to make an extremely hard decision.”
