Culture & Entertainment
You know that one character who might be on the sidelines to the A story, but the minute they are on-screen, their side quests immediately make the show? Or better yet, that character who steals every scene they are in? For me, that's Natasha Rothwell.
Whether she's playing a meme queen fast-talking podcaster Kelli on Insecure, or a more layered performance as Belinda in White Lotus, a hotel spa manager with a heart of gold who gets tied up in the manipulative hands of Jennifer Coolidge, Natasha becomes the focal point of most of her work side character or not.
Take a look at her credits, and you instantly understand how comfortable Natasha is behind the scenes as a writer or a producer or even flying a bit under the radar when in front of the camera as a supporting cast member or a series regular. However, in her latest role in Hulu's How to Die Alone, Natasha is stepping out of her comfort zone as a supporting character and getting the main character treatment.
As a storyteller, Natasha is in her bag. But as the new series' main character, the 43-year-old is getting real about the spotlight taking some getting used to but also being a place she's ready to shift into. In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, she shared, "I don't typically walk through life with main character energy, so it’s been a little awkward trying to get used to the spotlight in that sense. But I’m really happy to be here."
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How to Die Alone is almost eight years in the making for the multihyphenate who, in addition to acting as the series star, also serves as series creator, co-showrunner, executive producer, and writes. In it, she plays Melissa aka Mel, "a broke, fat, Black JFK airport employee who 's never been in love and forgotten how to dream," per Hulu. After a near-death experience, Mel vows to stop existing and start living her best life.
"I feel so grateful for the work that I’ve done before now," she shared with Harper's Bazaar. "I feel like it’s all been preparing me for this, but even with that kind of lived experience as preparation, nothing prepares you for being center frame and going on a press tour and promoting your show and having another show coming out following that. It has been really beautiful and amazing to see people show up for me and support me."
With How to Die Alone, Natasha is proof-positive of what happens when preparation meets opportunity. The actor said that her roles in shows like Insecure helped her stay ready so she didn't have to get ready, and said shifting the focus from sharing others' stories to sharing her own was "a natural next step."
"'Insecure' was an amazing training ground—being able to be front row and center for Issa Rae’s journey, and her being the star and creator of the show. I was definitely taking notes over the years."
As a plus-size Black woman, one thing that was important to Natasha when crafting Mel's story was to showcase the "multitudes" of the woman she walks through the world as. "I think so often, walking through the world as a plus-size Black woman, people have preconceived notions about what I can do and how I can behave, and I contain multitudes," she explained to Haper's Bazaar, "And the experience of being a Black woman is as varied as there are many of us. We’re not a monolith."
She continued, "I think that it’s important to show all of the colors that can be painted with characters and not just limit the expression of emotion and the expression of character to just comedy or drama. Life is a beautiful blend of both, and it was important for me to have that authenticity expressed and how the character purports herself in her relationships with others, and with herself."
Next up for Natasha is a television show based on TikTok star Reesa Teesa's Who Tf Did I Marry? saga that captivated millions when it went viral earlier this year. According to a Variety exclusive, Natasha will pull double-duty in the series as both star and producer.
"It was not her trauma that interested me and [made me] want to throw my hat in the ring, it was her — who she is as a person, how she survived all of it — and viral fame, how she's surviving that. I was like, 'Oh, now this is when I lean in,'" she told PEOPLE.
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Featured image by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images
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