Natasha Rothwell has appeared in some of the most popular movies and TV shows that have remained in the zeitgeist for years. Your friends and family have probably recited her character's lines or sent a gif featuring her memorable quotes. From Insecure to The White Lotus to being a seasoned writer and producer, Natasha has paved the way for underrepresented voices to thrive. Big or small roles, she's truly a treasure on the big screen.
Now, she has a new inspirational and dynamic character to join the roster with How to Die Alone on Hulu. The new series follows a dispirited single woman who gets a second chance at living her life on her own terms after a near-death experience. Natasha stars as Mel, a JFK airport employee who is afraid to actually fly but finds the courage to finally take off after a terrible accident.
In honor of How to Die Alone, Natasha sat down with me to discuss the character's inspiration and purpose. She shared how her personal journey connects with Mel, what living truthfully looks like, and more. We also had a chance to glance back at her past career milestones.
Here's everything we talked about:
NOW: How to Die Alone centers around the difference between simply being alone and loneliness. What was the driving force behind wanting to tell this story?
Understanding the difference for me wasn't something that came naturally. I kind of misunderstood them for a long time, until I started therapy in my early 20s. I often think stories of growth are presented in a before and after picture, and we don't really get to see process. That's sort of why I wanted to do a show about doing the work and discovering that we can't control how we die, but we can control whether or not we die lonely.
THEN: You're a certified scene stealer based on your unforgettable guest appearances and notable costarring roles in popular TV shows and movies from "Girl, you standing in shit" in Search Party (2016) to "Jojo, put on my Fitbit, so I can at least get some steps" in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Which of your smaller roles do you feel had the most impact on your career?
Oh, my goodness. So many... Love, Simon was incredible. I just loved that role because I was a high school theater teacher. It ticked a lot of boxes. And [the director] Greg Berlanti, that's when we started our love affair with each other, creatively. He's been such a champion of my work and a huge support. So yeah, that role and that experience was really meaningful.
NOW: You're an inspiration for writers and producers who also act. What do you find is most challenging when working from script to screen?
Script to screen is hard. It's just hard. That's just a fact. But, when I was coming up, there was a real sense that you could only do one thing, and it really wasn't until I started working with Issa [Rae] that I saw a multi-hyphenate in action firsthand. I was relieved. I was like, "Oh, I can do all the things I wanted to do."
You know, I'd written for SNL and had done the character sketch show, so I knew [what] I wanted to do and produce the sketch show as well. I was like, I want to do all of these things. I'm not sure how to make it happen. I think if you find you're out there and you're looking for encouragement in the area of being a multi-hyphenate, don't ever feel like you have to just decide on one.
There's a real gift in that the folks coming up today have iPhones, which are essentially a movie studio in your pocket. Waiting for someone else to give you permission to make art is not a position you want to be in. Make your own. Allow yourself to be your biggest advocate and use what you can to do what you love.
THEN: Insecure is a cultural phenomenon, and your contributions as a writer, producer, and one of the most memorable TV characters will forever be a part of that. There are obviously dozens of iconic Kelli Prenny quotes and moments from Insecure. Which scene from all five seasons that included Kelli resonated with you most?
Ooh, that is a great question. I love them all. You're asking a Libra to choose. This is not fair. It's just not. There are so many that are my favorite for different reasons. I'm trying to think of one specifically. There's a scene, and again, I'm not saying it's my favorite. I'm saying it's one of my favorites.
I forget which episode it is, but Kelly is helping Issa with her finances at her office, where she's a CPA. Me and Issa improvised in the scene. You know, obviously, I cut my teeth in improv. I love doing it. It's sneaky. Not a lot of people know this about Issa Rae, but she is an incredible improviser. And when I'm across from someone who knows how to do that craft, it lights me up from the inside because I'm like, "Oh, we get to play." So, when we were going through her receipts in that scene, and I was saying what she bought, there were so many that made the outtakes of just her making up why she bought those things. And it was just a fun ass day. And it lit me up from the inside to be like, you know, being across from an excellent tennis player.
NOW: In How to Die Alone, Mel's near-death experience inspires her to reevaluate her life and live it to the fullest. What does living life to the fullest look like for Natasha Rothwell?
To me, it's honoring my needs and being unapologetic about it. It's also not waiting to do the things that I want to do because I thought life would look different at this point. I love traveling. I love solo traveling. I love going to concerts by myself. I've really come to understand that I'm an introvert in the truest sense of the word, which a lot of people are surprised by, but I get my energy from solo time.
That solo time, for me, for a long time, was lonely because I felt like I was not having the fullest experience because I wasn't in a relationship. There wasn't a man going to this...Broadway play with me — I'm going by myself. There wasn't a man walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and going to Grimaldi's. It was me by myself.
Once I realized that life isn't meant to be lived on pause for romantic relationships, it opened up my world. I began to understand that I actually do love being alone, but the loneliness piece is what I need to work on. I realized the loneliness piece was able to be satiated, not just by romantic love — there's familial love, there's platonic love. It opened up my world a great deal and allowed me to feel like I'm living fully. God bless therapy.
I think it's a lot of people who make that mistake. We put sort of a pause on certain aspects of our life because our life doesn't look how we thought it would, you know, in order to do those things. That's really been my experience with living my biggest, best life, loving where I am, and doing what the fuck I want to do.
THEN: You were an active voice during the 2023 Writer's Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes. In your opinion, what were the biggest challenges creatives faced then, and how did it impact your perspective on the future of entertainment now?
I think the biggest impact that creatives faced, in lieu of the strikes, obviously, is the financial hardship that comes from being on strike. When giants fight, the grass gets trampled. Having the giants fight meant that not only actors but also hair and makeup teams, catering, transportation, crews, publicists, you name it — the people that hold up that industry — were out of work.
It was incredibly difficult, but it was incredibly necessary to get the gains that we got. But there's still more work to do. We're still recovering from it. I saw in the trades that it was called the "great contraction." Now, studios are tightening their belts and canceling projects left and right, a lot of projects of color. I do think that there is a consequence of the strike that is hard to reconcile for a lot of people, for the gains.
I firmly believe and stand by my unions and their decision to strike, and I think it was necessary, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the incredible lasting impact of those hundreds of people out of work for months and the industry's slow recovery from that. It's a self-inflicted recovery because they could have just given us a deal earlier, but it's been an interesting time to make television. That's also why I feel so, so, so incredibly grateful to have a show coming out, an original show at that, in the midst of all of this. I don't take it for granted.
NOW: Representation matters, and your work as the dynamic character Mel in How to Die Alone promotes visibility for marginalized groups and inspires many. Who would you say is your biggest inspiration?
Again, I'm a Libra. I can't choose. This is going to sound so cringe, but honestly, the students that I used to teach at KIPP NYC College Prep High School. I saw myself because I did theater in high school as well, and to be in front of those students day after day, week after week for four years, and encourage them to be creative, encourage them to follow their dreams, and express themselves. I really feel that I definitely got everything out of it. It wasn't just one way in terms of gaining something and having my students come out of the woodwork with this show dropping, and it's amazing to see them light up and see what happens when you bet on yourself. And so they've been a true inspiration.
THEN: Speaking of inspirations, I'm a UCB-trained improv actor, so I resonate with some of your earliest work in comedy. How did those experiences in sketch comedy and writing prepare you for the career you built for yourself today?
Oh, totally and completely. I've been doing improv for a long time, probably just as long as I've been doing theater. I started out doing it in high school. Improv for me was my therapy before I had therapy because it's obviously, don't think, trust yourself. All of the principles that allow you to be a good improviser, a good sketch writer, a good sketch performer, were all principles that are actually good to live by, like supporting each other, "Yes, And?" and all of that.
It was definitely impactful in prepping me for this career because it's so much of what I do. It requires you to be agile and pivot on a dime. When you're in production for something, you lose a location, and it's okay, let's find another one. It's constantly "yes and-ing" as you work this industry of "Okay, let's build on that idea."
When I'm writing, I use improv when I write. I'll write down something, and then I'll read the dialogue, and then I'll improvise more dialog after that to see if that's where I want to go. In writing sketches, you know, there's so much about the game of the scene you talk about at UCB and sort of understanding what the character's tick is.
There are all sorts of ways that my time at UCB and at Washington Improv Theater affected my approach to comedy. It helped me find my comedic voice. It really gave me a place to allow my brain to function at its highest operating speed. I'm very neuro-spicy... My cognitive processing time is freakily fast, so to be able to live in that flow...it was affirmation that I'm doing the right thing.
NOW: You have some big projects coming up! Belinda's returning in White Lotus, and Rachel's returning in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Also, word on the street is you're going to be Tareasa "Reesa Teesa" Johnson in an adaptation of the 50-video-long viral TikTok series Who TF Did I Marry. What were your initial thoughts or reaction to Reesa's story?
My initial thought was that this is the most radical act of vulnerability I'd ever seen. I think that's why 450 million impressions happened to her eight-hour series because people were locked in on that level of honesty and vulnerability. I think that who she is and what she's done is right in line with the mission for Big Hattie Productions and being able to center marginalized voices, focus on stories from great storytellers, and being a beautiful blend of levity and gravity.
Her stories were at times hilarious and then heart-moving and devastating. That's a hallmark of a great storyteller and someone who understands that's what people lean in for. It's that real, honest portrayal of life and life's experiences. So, yeah, I'm excited about it. It's in a very nascent stage, so there's no tea to spill, but you're gonna decide to get in on it.
THEN: Without giving too much away, Mel has a habit of taking things she's not supposed to. Have you ever taken a prop home after wrapping one of your projects? If so, what have you kept?
My character of Mel in How to Die Alone, if you look closely, she has this braided string bracelet that's truly just some yarn. I had my character have that, and the motivation was that it was like a gift from her niece and nephew because I have a braided bracelet from my niece from when she was younger (she's a senior in high school now, so it was a long time ago) that I still have, and I keep [it] on my key ring. I thought, since Mel is an auntie, it's super cute that she has something like that. So when I left, I took it. I've been traveling with it. I have it up on my little hook on my nightstand as well.
That's adorable. For a second, I thought you were going to say "I took all the furniture from Insecure."
I wish. I wanted all Molly's furniture. We used to talk on Insecure being like, we need to go shopping in Molly's apartment, because it was like she had all the baddest furniture. I was like, yesss.
And finally, THEN & NOW: Your roles from Kelli in Insecure to Belinda in The White Lotus and now Mel in How to Die Alone allow you to portray different careers and stories of growth. What would you say is the biggest difference between 2014 Natasha and 2024 Natasha?
I think the biggest difference is confidence, speaking my needs, and advocating for them, unapologetically. Being a boundary baddie.
My 2014 self dreamed of my 2024 self, and my 2024 self is now in a place where she's just trying to figure out what to dream next.
