Hey fam, Hello Sunshine.
Today on the bright Side, we're joined by Emmy nominated actor, writer and producer Natasha Rothwell. Her new Hulu series How to Dialan is out now.
I wanted to give people someone to root for because that's how I got to where I am. You know, It's being able to cheer myself on and having my friends cheer me on as I'm fuck up and make mistakes as I'm growing.
All of that.
Natasha is telling us how she's ready to take center stage and revealing the Steve Martin quote that guides her every single day. It's Thursday, September twenty sixth I'm Danielle Robe.
And I'm Simone Boyce and this is the bright Side from Hello Sunshine, a daily show where we come together to share women's stories, laugh, learn, and brighten your day.
Okay, before we get into today's episode, we want to take a second to welcome all you new listeners that found us via Apple Podcasts monthly Spotlight Pick. We're so thrilled to be on Apple's list of the most exciting vital voices and personalities in podcasting today and super humbled. So if you're new here, dive into our feed and take a listen to our conversations that aim to inspire, educate, and empower women as we tackle life each and every day.
Ay. Welcome to the party, y'all, and today's guest is the true embodiment of inspiration and empowerment. As we mentioned, Joining us today is actor, writer and director Natasha Rothwell. You all know her as Kelly Prenny in the Ray created series Insecure. Insecure did something so revolutionary. It created a cast of characters that felt so incredibly viscerally real, Like we all felt like, I know these people.
I've got a Kelly in my life. Oh my god, that's so well said.
Natasha was actually hired on Insecure as a writer and so she didn't come to be on the cast until later in the show, and she became a fan favorite so quickly. She was known for like her clever comebacks, her one liners.
A lot of people say Kelly was the funniest character.
We also can't forget Natasha's Emmy nominated performance as Belinda in The White Lotus because she's set to reprise that role in the upcoming third season of the series, which makes her one of the only actors with a recurring role on the show, so she's also a favorite of that show.
It's so funny because she was one of the most colorful characters on Insecure, and then on The White Lotus she plays the straight man, which is a term in comedy to describe the person who is behaving normally when everyone else around them is chaotic.
So I think that just speaks to her range.
I mean, she's had some truly iconic roles throughout her career, always in a supporting role until now, because she's taking center stage.
In a big way.
Her new series is called How To Die Alone, and it is out now. She created it, she executive produced it, she starred in the show, and it follows her character Melissa, which is quote a broke, fat JFK airport employee who's never been in love and forgotten how to dream. But then she has an accidental brush with death and it leads her to finally taking charge of her own life. So now Natasha's here to talk to us about it all. Natasha, welcome to the bright Side.
Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
Well, we're so excited, and a huge congratulations is in order because your new show just came out. Simone and I both loved it, were excited to finish the season. And you've really been a part of shows that have shaped culture in the last few years, shows that everybody's talking about. And now you're stepping into this major creative role. And Simona and I were like, she's literally the main
character now, it's so exciting. And speaking of cheering you on, Gail King, she picked your show as a must watch for this fall, which I.
Do not know this. No, Oh my god, we're breaking news right now.
Are you serious?
Yes?
This is and you're not pulling my leg? Is it serious?
Yes?
Girl, it's an Oprah Daily. Wow, I did that. I did an interview with her and she was so kind, but I didn't know it was a I'm gonna need the vapors in a minute.
What I think we have to put your Google alerts on so that you catch.
I've been so this is the busiest I've been in my life in a way where I'm just like, because I don't have main character energy in real life, truly, I don't, and so having to do all of the press for all of it, and like I just haven't been on my phone, like I usually.
Am, and so I love that you broke this news.
I'm very excited. That means she probably told Oprah about it.
Am. I this is one step closer.
To you are literally one degree away, half a degree.
They talk every day.
Have you met Opri yet? Oh no, no I haven't. My soul would leave my body.
Okay, So your soul is going to leave your body. I give I give it literally six months, you're gonna.
Meet your mouth from your mouth to God's ears. Okay.
Just because you haven't seen this article yet, I feel like we need to read it to her, Danielle. The headline is Gail King found the perfect solve for your end of summer scaries. Natasha Rothwell's new series How to Die Alone is part of Gail's September lineup.
Wow wow wow wow wow wow. Yeah that is I Yeah, it's so funny to me being in this moment and
having empathy in hindsight for Taylor Swift. Hear me out there are Okay, So you know, okay, you know she was kind of you know, lampooned for her shucks you know, all shucks campaign every time she won an award, and everyone's like, you should be used to it by now, there is no version of my existence where I will get used to people consuming things that make seeing me, supporting me in mass, having people who.
I look up to see my work and validate what I do.
Each one of those instances doesn't play on my heart and soul in a small way. They're like these mighty explosions. And so I feel like since this press tour has started, it's been like every day I'm like Jesus crazy, and my publicist, you know, she's just been on this ride with me. But it's purely authentic, and I really I understand now in hindsight how you might win the same award every single year, but it feels brand new because it's it's that little girl that didn't think that she
was going to get seen. It's that little girl that didn't know that anyone cared what she had to say. And she's still around and I'm treating her a lot better now, But I think it comes from that, you know.
Yeah, thanks for your honesty, Natasha.
We talk about representation a lot on this show show, but we try to do it in a way that is rooted in data and science, right, and we have seen so much progress. I know that I have so many more women in TV and film that I can look to and feel represented by, and yet in twenty twenty four, it still feels unique to have a show like this one with a lead who is a black woman who isn't a size.
Zero or double zero or two.
So how did you approach writing her identity as a plus sized black woman into the story without making that the story? Because I think that's the goal, right, It's like this balance of being honest about identity while also exploring the full breath of who these characters are. Absolutely, I mean the cornerstone of Big Hattie Productions is that
the humanity of our character begins on page one. We refuse to do projects, produce projects, be in projects where you're wasting page real estate to explain away my otherness, so then my story can start.
And for me, I wanted to have a show in which it's not.
About, you know, a plus sized girlie who gets bonked in the head and figures out that the right man was under her nose the whole time, you know what I mean? Like, I think we're smarter than that, and it was important for me to allow someone who looks like me to exist and not have to make her existence a radical act of defiance.
She could just be.
And I think we talk a lot about self love, but there's not There's starting to be more talk about body neutrality and the privilege it is to have body neutrality. It is a burden to have to walk around and feel like you have to cheerlead the way you look. It's false positivity that is really, I think, detrimental to one's health. And we don't want the negativity. We want to be able to exist in the world where we can just exist and we can be more than how
you perceived me. And so the show, to me was that putting into practice the mission of my production company and really allowing the protagonist to exist without an astisk by her identity.
Have you found spaces in your personal life where you feel like you exist without the astris.
Depends on the day.
I think that it's not something that you can solve, and because so much of it is external, but a lot of it is internal. I mean, the truth of the matter is is that I grew up plus size and black and a woman, and for me, those were things I spent a great deal of time apologizing for and so it's a hard thing when you have a kind of a knee jerk reaction to triggers.
And you know, thank fuck for therapy. My therapist is well paid.
And one of the things that I learned is that you know so much of this it sticks with you. And it's about having agency in those moments, not to stay in them and not to give them power. And so even though I do recognize that I'm Natasha Rothwell no asterisk, if everyone creeps up, I can easily acknowledge it and erase it and stand tintes down in who I am. But it's not easy. It's a process. It's hard, especially when you have media and external opinions about your
otherness that can kind of force the narrative. But I'm proud of the work that I've done, and this show is a consequence of that, for sure.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the difference between self love and self worth. I used to think they were the same thing. And a good friend of mine called me out.
She really saw me, which sucks, don't it.
It hurts like I like to be seen, but not that scene you know yet exactly.
She said to me, You've always been so confident, but I think you have a self worth issue.
Whoo, it's a real friend, that's a real ass friend who will.
Say that it really is. I started digging on what the hell the difference was. But I'm wondering if you've explored that personally or within the show.
Yeah, personally, for sure. I think that you're worth and worthiness it's inextricably linked. And I think feeling worthy of love and feeling worthy of being the star of a show that shit creeps up, you know, and it's real. Imposture syndrome is real, and loving something and valuing something
it's very different. I can really really love my you know, favorite pair of earrings, but if I'm really value it, I'm taking care of it, I'm looking after it, I'm thinking about it, making and considering it, and making sure that everything that I do is in an effort to protect that item, that things, that person's that their wholeness. And I think that so much of what we were taught and sometimes still being taught, is just like, oh, just love yourself. But what does it mean when you
really think about your worth and your value? And how much more am I to value myself more than the opinions of other people, and that has been a real journey for me of triaging that priority list, you know, not caring about what other people think and putting my
needs first and considering what my needs are. And I think that's the beauty of having a character like Melissa to explore, because she's really kind of the for the unhealed version of myself, and I really wanted to write a character that was going through that process of trying to heal. And it's not a straight line, you know, it's up back, and sometimes you start at square one, you're all over the place, but ultimately the momentum leads
you forward. And I wanted to give people someone to root for because that's how I got to where I am, you know, It's being able to cheer myself on and having my friends cheer me on as I'm fuck up and make mistakes as I'm growing all of that.
We have to take a quick break, but we'll be right back with more from actor and creator of the show How to Die Alone, Natasha Rothwell. And we're back with Natasha Rothwell. Okay, Natasha, you started on Insecure as a writer and then you transition to a role in front of the camera Kelly, who, honestly, if you read any Reddit thread, everyone says Kelly's the funniest character on the entire show. So you were straddling both lanes, which I think is really rare. When you watched Asa do
her thing, What did you think about her? What did you learn from her that you implemented now in your show How To Die Alone?
Yeah, I mean starting on the show as a writer, I had blinders on. I wanted to be the best writer possible. I wanted to prove to myself and regrettably including others in that that I belonged in the room because I hadn't written for television before outside of sketch, you know, coming from SNL. And when Lisa tapped me to play Kelly, she in that moment saw.
Me as a creator. She didn't limit her vision of.
Me to my vision of me in that time because I didn't even aspire to act on the show.
I was that in it.
And so one of the ways that I've chosen to replicate that is CP Powell, who's on the show.
Of that Sean and DeShawn Duo on the tarmac.
He's a writer in the room, and so being able to pass the baton to someone who is so funny, so like side splitting funny and such a just a powerful contribution to the room and an amazing writer. I knew that I wanted to see him as a whole creator and not limit him just to being on screen. And so that's something definitely I took from Issa, is to use the gifts that are in front of you and not allowing other.
People to get in their own way.
And I think that was just very generous of her to not allow me to get my own way and really saw me and wanted to use me. And of course when she did, I activated, because of course I love to do both. You know, That's what I'm doing with the show now, and so I'm just really grateful for her ability to see through my bullshit and allow me to flourish as a creator and not just you know, staying in one lane.
Okay, So I heard you have a frame Steve Martin quote and it says, be so good they can't ignore you.
Yeah.
Why did you frame that quote?
I think primarily for me again, walking through the world as a plus size black woman being overlooked was something that was par for the course of having people fully walk into me on the street because they're not looking or not seeing myself represented on TV, and feeling like I had no power in this situation, that I was powerless.
And I remember coming across that quote very early on in my time at.
University of Maryland, and it sparked in me this agency that I didn't know I had. Where it's just like, I can't control other people's willingness to see me, willingness to support me, and I don't want to exhaust myself in trying to appease their idea of who I should be or live within those limitations. But I know what I love to do, and I'm just going to do it the best fucking way I know how, and I'm going to invest in myself and I'm going to read
the books and take the classes. And it wasn't about proving other people wrong. It was proving me right, being like, oh, I'm.
Good at this. I'm really fucking good at this.
So even though my existence might be something that you're wanting to ignore or are predisposed to ignore, my talent is going to make you sit up and take notice.
And that's it.
That is a word that is I'm going to frame that quote. Wait, give it to me one more time, Natasha, be so good.
They can't ignore you, And yeah, that's the quote, and that's that's the one you gotta frame. But you just got to tap into the fact that you're going to be a bad bitch by yourself for yourself, and people will take notice.
I have a question about that voice, the proving yourself right. I interviewed Kevin Hart a few years ago and I asked him, like, you know, he was finding this incredible success that other comedians hadn't found monetarily financially, and I was like, did you always know when you were in Philly selling shoes?
Did you have that voice?
And he looked at me and he was like, no, I had no idea my life was going to turn out like this. And I didn't freaking believe him. And I want to know if you had that voice and have that voice still.
Here's what I've always known. I've always known I've been called to do this work. I've always known that my purpose is to put myself in a position of visibility so other feel seen.
Those two I know to be true.
This life that I currently have, I didn't know that it would happen, and I think that's just true. But and I understand why he said that. But I'll tell you what I did do. When I was in New York, broke as can be, I wrote a check to myself in the total amount of my college debt that I could never cash less go to jail, and I kept it in my wallet.
That's how big my dreams were. My dreams were.
I just want to be able to pay off my college debt and do what I do for a living, and to me, that really was success. I wanted to be able to pay my rent and do my art and not be in debt. That was the trifecta of my goals at the time. And so to be in a position where I have a production company, I'm starring in my own show, at the distinct privilege of being a part of some of the most iconic shows that have been around in the last ten years, it is
so unfathomable to me that this is my life. And I think this is where I the Taylor Swift all Shucks sort of analogy comes in, because it just's I feel so lucky, I feel so blessed, and.
It's overwhelming to wake up every day to this life.
And yes, it's a life that I worked for and that I've prayed for and did vision boards for and got crystals for. But even still, it's a humbling thing. It's a humbling thing to have a dream come true in front of people.
It's a humbling thing.
It's amazing how dreams will make you so well because you need to believe in something larger. It's like otherwise it's crazy making.
It is crazy making, it really really is.
And like before I moved to La, I didn't know any like I knew my birth sign, I didn't know anything.
Now a bitch got crystals.
I'm invested in the mystery of life because I can't
explain my good fortune. And I'm not gonna cry. But I just had my premiere last night, and I took a moment just to stare at the audience, and I asked them for permission, just to be weird, because and I didn't plan on doing it, but I was just standing there and I was about to get into the thank yous, and I looked out and I saw the faces of all these people that I love and have supported me showing up for my own show, and I was in a bit of disbelief, so I needed to
pause and take a look at it. And yeah, it's crazy making to think that life led me to that moment when I just I have all of these acute memories of the struggle and being in New York and leaving an improv show and not having enough money on my Metro card and picking up cards on the subway floor just so I could get home because I had no money in my account because I've overdrawn it because I needed a prop for a sketch, you know what
I mean. And to go from that to last night, it could be crazy making if you don't acknowledge that there's something else going on.
De Lulu is the Sululu.
Lululu is the Sululu. I'm trying to look. I have this beautiful beat.
I'm trying not to waste the face, and I'm holding back tears, but I'm just trying to enjoy the ride.
But yeah, I think De Lulu is the Sululu.
We need to take another short break. We'll be right back.
We're back with Natasha Rothwell, Natasha, we saw that you're going to be developing an adaptation of a very wild TikTok series that went viral earlier this year. Simone and I watched many many clips from it. It's called Who Who the F? Did I Marry? It's a fifty two part series from Reesa Tisa all about her ex husband who was a compulsive liar or pathological liar. What did you see in it? Why did you want to bring this to life?
A couple of things.
One in February when she dropped the series, I was in Thailand.
I was working, and I was being tagged.
On her story like constantly on social media, and I didn't have the time because I was working to explore what it was. But then it popped up on my cousins, like all the cousins in my family we have a chat in on our phone, and I was just and it was someone mocked up the cover of what an adaptation would look like and had cast me in the part of her. And I was like, Okay, I'll go check it out. And I watched all eight hours and I was blown away by this act of radical vulnerability.
She did not know that this was going to turn into what it was. She just knew that she had to tell her story for herself. Uninterrupted with the details as a way to cleanse it and to get it out of her. And when I saw that, I was just genuinely moved. I understood why it had four hundred and fifty million impressions and how she gained three million TikTok followers in the span.
Of three weeks.
People are attracted and become addicted to that vulnerability, that honesty, and not only that, she's an amazing storyteller, and that's a hallmark of what Big Hattie Productions like, what we look for is centering a marginalized voice and telling a story that we haven't heard from that specific pov.
And it was a very intense battle to.
Get the rights because a lot of people through their hat in the Ring, and this was a really trust the universe moment because there are a lot of bigger.
Names than mine that tossed their hat in the ring.
But when I sat down with her to do our pitch of like what I was thinking about for the series, we just connected and I let her know that as moved as I was by her act of vulnerability and how compelling the story was, I was more interested in the woman telling the story, and I wanted to approach it from that pov of not just what happened to you as a result of having married a pathological liar, but what has happened to you after viral fame and
people are eating up your trauma like capital t trauma for sport.
And how does that affect you as a person?
And I think we just connected on that really wanting to not just capitalize on a hot moment, but to really use this as an opportunity to do what I did with how to die alone and really work out some shit and get real with some shit and have fun with it at the same time.
And so yeah, I'm just really grateful for the opportunity.
You seem so clear on what your production company wants to be a part of. To me, that signals like a very strong value system. Personally, I'm wondering what your most deeply held belief is that guides your life's work or guid's your life and your work.
Let me put it that way.
Yeah, I operate from a place of kindness and being nice and kind or vastly different.
One is hollow and one is you know, substantive.
And it's not because I want something from someone. It's because I'm operating from that place of empathy and understanding first and grace.
It's how I was raised.
But outside of that, it makes the most sense of me as a person. And so I think that kindness can sometime and be looked at as weakness, and.
I can say fuck you in a very kind.
Way, do you know what I'm saying. So don't mistaken for weakness, but for me seeing people, meeting them where they are, looking at them in the eye, auditing what it is that I have and how it might be of service to someone else, Not because I want something back, but because it.
Feels good to do. I just.
It's literally it's who I am, and I think the world could use a little more of it. But yeah, I think it's kindness can be sometimes an underrated sort of guiding principle.
But I think it's very important.
Natasha.
It's been such a pleasure getting to know you a little bit better over the course of this interview, because of course I've only gotten to see your work on TV and you've had me in stitches. There are three words that come to mind when I think of you now that we've had this conversation. Kindness, for sure, expansiveness, that act of taking up space. And then finally it's this phrase that you disdropped, radical vulnerability, And I feel like that's the title of this episode, Danielle.
I don't know, let me know.
What a radical vulnerability because I see that in your characters, the kind of work you want to do, what you want to be known for.
That seems to be the through line.
Thank you. That means a lot.
I feel very seen by you two, and I'm just so appreciative for this conversation. I love to chinwag about deep things and this has been just such a treat. And yeah, just thank you for your support for this show and for always. It's lovely to hear and it means everything.
Thanks for your heart, Natasha, thank you, Thank you.
Natasha Rothwell is an Emmy nominated actor and the creator and star of Hulu's new show How to Die Alone. She'll be reprising her role on The White Lotus in its upcoming third season.
That's it for today's show. Tomorrow, we're popping off with the co host of the Talk Amanda Klutes.
Listen and follow the bright Side on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Join the conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect with us on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram and at the bright Side Pod on TikTok, and feel free to tag us Simone Boys and Danielle Robe See
You tomorrow, folks, Keep looking on the bright side,