Natasha Rothwell

You know, I remember there's another moment that where in the show, the character of Mel goes toe to toe with some umlaut furniture, our homage to perhaps Ikea. And I had a similar situation where I had a shelf bonk me in the head. I didn't lose consciousness or anything like that, but it was just like,

I was fighting with aloneness, you know, and, you know, the pride I think I had with asking for help at the time. And so I wanted to write a character who had this wake-up call and wasn't fixed immediately. I think so often we see, you know... Fat girl gets bonked on the head. She wakes up and realizes, you know, she needs a man to fix her problems.

And then she needs to go to the gym and all is right. And for me, body neutrality is where I've arrived. And like, I didn't want to, you know, promote, you know, the never ending wheel of like the, you know, wellness industrial complex of like, let's just throw a workout at her and a man and it'll be solved. It's much deeper. Yeah.

Yeah. I went into many meetings, many Zooms over that word because, you know, folks were scared of it. And my journey with the word, you know, when I was younger, I used to cry when I was called it. And then, you know, cut to now. I wanted that word to no longer be pejorative. It's just a fact.

It doesn't has, it has no indication of my heart, my intellect, my creativity, my business acumen, my, you know, my kindness, like, so to me, to take back that word and put it in the description. And it's so often I've been in interviews where they won't say that part of the description because they feel weird about it. It lets me know how comfortable someone is with me being in their space.

And I had a meeting before we start production, which is very common that the show runners will talk to all of the staff and the crew. on this giant big call, you know, we're all on Zoom. And I addressed everyone on the call sheet. I said, The word fat is not pejorative. So when you are on set and you're using this word in a pejorative way, no, that is not accepted.

You know, if you eat a big lunch and you say, oh, I feel fat. Right. Which we're all want to do. But like that is something that tells me you feel uncomfortable with the idea that you are not a straight size or you are not small. And you're talking to or around or an earshot of someone who is plus size. It's telling them consciously or subconsciously that you are disgusted with them.

So if you want to use it in a positive light, go ahead. Call somebody a fatty baddie. Keep it pushing. But we are not going to create a space where anyone is going to be made to feel discomfort based off of that word.

Yeah. Yeah, they had their mission pretty clear. Yeah, but I was in New York at the time, and Had been working at this high school as a theater teacher for about four years. As I landed in New York around 2009. And... At this point, I had, you know, left my job teaching and was just like pushing all the chips in on my career. Had so many gig jobs.

Ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th. Okay.

I was working at, you know, community centers down in, you know, Flatbush. And at the same time, I started teaching at Upright Citizens Brigade. And so I became really enmeshed in the education program at UCB, this time with adults and improv. And they had way more understanding with this lifestyle of needing to leave to go do an audition than And one of those auditions was SNL.

And I got word that, you know, they were doing these special secret showcases with Black ladies because, you know, very famously, Kenan and Jay Pharoah didn't want to wear drag anymore. And I...

got a place on the showcase and yeah just shot my shot and you know in terms of what was your audition do you remember it was I had a lot of different things um that I auditioned with I had um a drunk Maya Angelou impression um I had uh why is that making me laugh just even thinking about it It's just fun. It's just fun.

And then I did an impression of Kenan, which was just making looks with my eyes. There was no dialogue and. After that, I did get a call back. And that meant we auditioned at Studio 8H. So we went down to 30 Rock. And of those who made it the second round of auditions, you would go into the famous Studio 8H. And in the audience is Lorne Michaels.

And then it's populated by, you know, past and present cast members, writers, executives. And it's famously a very, very cold room. And everyone tells you no one's going to laugh. It's going to be really quiet. And, you know, I was auditioning alongside, you know, Sasheer and Leslie Jones and all of these major, major comedians and. I was terrified. I was absolutely terrified.

But it was, again, one of those things where I was just like, just go hard or go home. And I did get laughs during mine, which gave me some feel goods. And it was the Kenan impression because he was in the room and he told me once I finally was in the writer's room, he was like, you were killing me because I was just basically pulling face, which is just like, you know, something he's known for.

And to do it in front of him got the room to laugh.

Yes. I worked with Taraji P. Henson on her monologue, which I'm so excited.

Yeah, like, it's a team effort there for sure. So I have not heard that since. It's so funny. I was like, oh, wow, I do remember. No, it was a team effort and the music was inspired. You know, I grew up in the church and John P. Key, you know, has some really early 90s, late 80s music. jams that would be like, you would be cooking.

And so I just remember working with the music director and I was like, we got to hit these. It has to have that sauce.

And I felt like she was singing for me for sure. Cause there was like writing for this iconic show that I just, I had no, truly no aspirations to be on because I didn't see myself on the show. You know what I mean? Like, I didn't see someone who looked like me.

No. I mean, Ellen Claghorn, who was in my show, How to Die Alone, I just remember her in early sketches and There was this whole period of time where it was just black men in drag. And I didn't see myself as being on screen there. And I didn't think it would be an option. So I was just like, well, I know I'm going to make it, but I don't know if it's going to be by way of SNL.

And so when I was there, you know, working on the sketch and it was just, yeah, it was for both of us. I was just like, well, this is both of us are here and we didn't think we would be. So it was pretty cool.

It was very different, you know, night and day. Because once you have SNL on your resume, it's like a stamp and a passport. And a lot of people want you to be a part of their shows. And Amy Gravitt, who's still a wonderful friend and still an amazing executive at HBO, was in New York and wanted to meet with me. for this show from the woman who created Awkward Black Girl.

Thank you for having me.

And I was like, I love that show. So yeah, I'll meet with her. What's this show about? And she's like, you know, we shot a pilot, but we're opening up a writer's room for Insecure. I was like, absolutely. I would want to meet because I just loved Awkward Black Girl so much.

That's what you were saying to yourself. I was shouting it from the rooftops. And so when I would see her show on YouTube, I didn't know it had the, you know, was heading to the, you know, to HBO to be on a bigger screen and. Jumped right into that and moved coasts and everything.

I had zero aspirations to try to jockey to be on the screen. I was just like, I just want to be the best writer possible. And about a month into the writer's room, And Ben Dugan, who was one of the writers on the show, had pitched, you know, growing Issa's friendship circle just for writing. And so that we could have, you know, diversified stories.

And that's where, you know, the characters of Tiffany and Kelly came along. And as a room, we're pitching their characteristics and things like that. And, you know, wrote a few scripts with her in it. And a part of Issa's process is to read all the scripts aloud. the writers reading the scripts aloud in the writer's room just so we can hear it and making sure that it sings.

And I was always being cast as Kelly because she would cast us in the writer's room. And I'm never not myself. And I obviously know I have the ability to like sell this character. And I thought I was selling it for its existence. You know, I was like not trying to sell myself for it. I was just like, I love this character so much. I want her to live.

And I just remember as we have these scripts generated and the casting process started, Issa and Prentice called me in their office and they're just like, you know you Kelly, right? And I like burst into tears because I didn't see it coming. I didn't see it coming.

I'm cracking up because that was definitely like a huge improvised moment. And so.

Some of it. I think it started off. But then I go on this tangent about wanting to make white people pay more in their taxes. And we were just going back and forth. And then I'm sure it ended with us with her breaking or one of us breaking.

I did. My dad was in the Air Force. And, yeah, I was born in Wichita, Kansas, and I was there professionally. for maybe the first year of my life, year and a half, maybe. So I have really no memories of that. My older sister was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. My brother was born in New Jersey. We lived in Florida, Illinois, Turkey, and the Incirlik Air Force Base there. Maryland. Yeah.

And then my dad was stationed at the Pentagon. And then he retired as a commander at Fort Dix. And so It was a lot of moving around. It's all I knew. So there's no kind of like, you know, I didn't lament my upbringing. I was just like curious of people who didn't live like that. You know what I mean?

Wow.

Yes. Absolutely. I mean, they have this unbelievable love story. And, you know, I wrote a show about how to die alone. I definitely... Yeah, I would be like, okay, you know, they set a pretty high bar. But I, you know, as much as I resented it, I think, especially in my early 20s, where I was just sort of tapping my watch.

I'm so grateful for them as an example, because they're just, they ride so hard for each other. And it gives me something to look forward to myself.

Well, now I know it means that I have pretty severe ADHD. I'm late diagnosed. And yeah, I've always known that I see the world a little bit differently. I've had previous therapists suggest that I might have ADHD, but I didn't really pursue that or identify as that. I just was just like, oh yeah, my brain works a It was heartbreaking a little bit.

I think I was like resisting the diagnosis because it meant like when I looked at my life in hindsight, there are all these moments of empathy I have for that girl that was struggling, who had no idea why. And I just took it as a moral failure, you know, coming from the church. I was like, oh, yeah, I need to pray this inability to sit still out.

And I need to pray this lack of focus and attention out, you know. And now knowing that those were my brains just wired differently. Yeah, it was kind of a painful diagnosis in that respect. But then so freeing because it was just like, oh, I don't have to mask the fact that like, you know, I have no short term memory.

Like it's so terrible and I don't have to feel bad about it, but I can announce it, be like, hey, I have really severe ADHD now. So if you say something to me, I might have to write it down or you're going to have to tell me more than once or, you know.

I didn't know the full sort of scope of what someone with ADHD presents as, you know, like There's so it's so varied. It's so deep. It's so complex. And especially for black women, we are so high functioning that we can mask so many of the things that are markers for ADHD because we have trained ourselves to show up in a way that's acceptable. And so my whole life has been acceptability politics.

So I have known how to show up and pretend I hear you and, you know, pretend to be focused and to correct my behaviors and, you know, laugh off this mistake and, There's a whole sort of circus that I think that I was able to put down once I realized I had the diagnosis.

And every day I'm still learning more where I'm just like, and I'm forever inquisitive about myself, probably to the point that I shouldn't be. My therapist is just like, you don't have to have an explanation for everything. Some things just are. Some things just are.

But I love being in this part of my life where I get to ask those questions and be curious about my own behavior and embrace the fact that, yeah, I'm an ADHD baddie.

Thank you. I enjoyed talking with you.

I think in the time that audiences saw her before, as they just heard, you know, she's experienced some depression. And I think that happens naturally when you open yourself up vulnerably about your dreams to someone, especially if that someone is a stranger. You're taking kind of a big swing. And I think she felt really, you know, hurt and dejected after that rejection from Tanya.

But I do think we find her on the precipice of change. You know, she's taking a pretty big swing, going to a country she's never been to before. She's going there by herself at first until her son can join her. And I think when someone does something like that, it speaks to their optimism. And I think that it's really fun to meet someone when they're about to try again.

Yeah. No, I think, you know, season one, she, you know, swallowed a lot of blood, you know, and didn't say what was on her mind and everything. you know, was very, you know, obliging. And I think that that's partly because she's working in a place where she can't really articulate her POV and her needs and advocate for them because she's there to serve.

But I do think there's parts of that that she could have fought against. And I think when we see her now, she's sort of straddling that line of being an employee and the guest. And when she's leaning on that foot that's in the guest lane, she's allowing herself to speak up and advocate for her needs a little bit more, which...

I think it's always cool to see someone audition sort of that kind of version of themselves. And I think that's vacationing 101, right? You go and you're like, who am I going to be here? And so I think she does that a bit as well.

Yeah. Mike jokingly said that season one was basically a Zoom TV show comparatively. You know, we were, you know, we had one location. We weren't permitted to leave because of the COVID protocols. You know, we were shooting.

Yeah, pre-vaccination. So it was... And we were one of the first, if not the first, you know, production back and there was a lot of fear, you know, and fear is a really tough place to make anything creative, but Mike somehow created this environment that made us feel safe and Yeah, we were sold on a limited series. It was one and done.

And, you know, I watched season two with everyone from home excited and like there was really no expectation that I would come back. And I didn't have it. I didn't, you know, I'm not the type of, you know, creator or actor that fights for it because I have deference to the pen for sure. And so I watched and was excited.

And then when Mike asked me to be a part of season three, I was gagged, you know, because it's bigger. But I think. for me, what grounded me in the bigness of what the show has become are the people. And, you know, showing up on set, I'm seeing, you know, the same hair and makeup team. I'm seeing the same DP, the same AD. And, you know, it was just felt like returning home.

I was like, oh, yeah, like the heart and soul of the show is the same. It's the perception that's increased. So it felt very comforting to land in Thailand and remember that it is just at the end of the day, a group of people just trying to make some art, you know.

It varied per actor. I was there for about five months.

Yeah. It was not a short trip.

No, I think that you can't help but have a spiritual experience there. It's such a special place. I learned while I was there, Thailand has never been colonized. And so it's a really interesting juxtaposition to being from the States where we're constantly in this trauma response from our history. And to go to a place that doesn't have that, it brings out

I mean, at some level, a certain kind of levity of just being alive.

I mean, they call it the land of smiles. You meet people, there's no preconceived notions of who you are, where you're from. And I think, you know, walking around the world as a Black woman, there's all these suppositions about who I am and where I'm from and what I believe in. And They wait for you to declare who you are, what you are about.

And even in the language, you know, I found so interesting. When I say swadika, the K is the feminine sort of identifier. And it's given, not received. So even the power to identify, when you say hello to someone, I say the ka to let you know how to receive me.

Even so it's not the other outside in sort of descriptor saying what you are. It's not the world telling you what you are. You're declaring it when you say hello. So it's small things like that. And I think that there's a warmth and a genuine, you know, spirit of acceptance there that just is pervasive.

Yeah, I pitched it to him. You know, we're close and, you know, I tell him about my travels and the like. And You know, with Belinda being in a foreign country, I was just, you know, reiterating the importance of Black travel and how once when I was traveling to Ireland, I was at some castle on the top of some misty hill. I can't remember.

But what I do remember is when I was there, I was the only Black person I could see. But this Black family... A mother, father and two kids that were like around 12 or 11 sort of walk up the hill and break through the mist. And I just looked at them and they looked at me and we just kind of walked towards each other and hugged.

And I was explaining to Mike, I was just like, when you see yourself reflected in a space that you, I mean, it just lets you know you belong there, you know? I think when Belinda in that moment sees this couple, it's just there. She sees that and it's this, I think, internal affirmation that, She can lean back and enjoy her wine in this moment.

She doesn't have to be in this servile position as a default. She can experience life from that perspective as well.

Yeah, I think that is such a great question because I think that when you're talking about servitude specifically and Belinda being in a servile position but stepping out of that this season, I think it highlights code switching. It highlights sort of the – passport you'd need to sort of move between those two spaces.

I think she's often seen as sort of like this moral compass, moral center, which I think flirts with the idea of sort of the magical Negro that, you know, doesn't have that any problem. She's there to like make sense of white mess. Belinda serves as such an interesting ruler to measure the other characters against.

Yeah. You know, I was pretty shocked. The landscape of Hollywood has been interesting, I think, in a post-strike world. But I think Even zooming farther out, I think television led by Black stars and shows that are centering marginalized voices aren't getting the support and placement that they need. I think it's unfortunate that

How to Die Alone didn't meet the metric that the studio was using to make their decision. But I'm so proud of what I've created. And I think for me, it just tells me that I'm just going to continue to fight harder. Yeah.

Yeah. You know, I've been fat and black my whole life. But outside of those two, no, I was I had like this toothache and I'm very famously allergic to acetaminophen and and other NSAIDs at varying degrees. And I took one because it was just, I had this dental work and it's been so long. And I was like, how bad can it be? I'm sure I'm over it by now.

And so I think my pain took over common sense and I took some NSAIDs and just started swelling up like hitch and drove myself to the urgent care because it was an ambulance is an expensive thing in the States. And, you know, they... shot me with an EpiPen and reminded me not to take NSAIDs. And I was like, yeah, I know.

But I just remember being in that waiting room and being even seen in the back. They were just like, you know, you have to wait for this medicine to take effect. Who can take you home? And I didn't have anyone. And I was just like, this ain't, this ain't, this ain't it. So it's little moments like that.

Yeah.

Thank you for having me.

Yeah. Mike jokingly said that season one was basically a Zoom TV show comparatively. You know, we were... You know, we had one location. We weren't permitted to leave because of the COVID protocols. You know, we were shooting.

Yeah, pre-vaccination. So it was, you know, we were one of the first, if not the first, you know, production back. And there was a lot of fear, you know, and fear is a really tough place to make anything creative. But Mike somehow created this environment that made us feel safe and Yeah, we were sold on a limited series. It was one and done.

And there was really no expectation that I would come back. And I didn't have it. I'm not the type of creator or actor that fights for it because I have deference to the pen for sure. And so I watched and was excited. And then when Mike asked me to be a part of season three, I was gagged because it's bigger. But I think...

For me, what grounded me in the bigness of what the show has become are the people. And, you know, showing up on set, I'm seeing, you know, the same hair and makeup team. I'm seeing the same DP, the same AD. And, you know, it was just felt like returning home. I was like, oh, yeah, like the heart and soul of the show is the same. It's the perception that's increased.

So it felt very comforting to land in Thailand and remember that it is just at the end of the day, a group of people just trying to make some art, you know.

It varied per actor. I was there for about five months.

Yeah. It was not a short trip.

No, I think that you can't help but have a spiritual experience there. It's such a special place. I learned while I was there, Thailand has never been colonized. And so it's a really interesting juxtaposition to being from the States where we're constantly in this trauma response from our history. And to go to a place that doesn't have that, it brings out

I mean, at some level, a certain kind of levity of just being alive.

I mean, they call it the land of smiles. You meet people, there's no preconceived notions of who you are, where you're from. And I think, you know, walking around the world as a Black woman, there's all these suppositions about who I am and where I'm from and what I believe in. And They wait for you to declare who you are, what you are about.

And even in the language, you know, I found so interesting. When I say swadika, the K is the feminine sort of identifier, and it's given, not received. So even the power to identify, when you say hello to someone, I say the ka to let you know how to receive it.

Even so it's not the other outside in sort of descriptor saying what you are. It's not the world telling you what you are. You're declaring it when you say hello. So it's small things like that. And I think that there's a warmth and a genuine, you know, spirit of acceptance there that just is pervasive. Yeah.

Yeah, I pitched it to him. You know, we're close and, you know, I tell him about my travels and the like. And, you know, with Belinda being in a foreign country, I was just, you know, reiterating the importance of Black travel and how once when I was traveling to Ireland, I was at some castle on the top of some misty hill. I can't remember.

But what I do remember is when I was there, I was the only black person I could see, but this black family, A mother, father and two kids that were like around 12 or 11 sort of walk up the hill and break through the mist. And I just looked at them and they looked at me and we just kind of walked towards each other and hugged.

And I was explaining to Mike, I was just like, when you see yourself reflected in a space that you, I mean, it just lets you know you belong there, you know? I think when Belinda in that moment sees this couple, it's just there. She sees that and it's this, I think, internal affirmation that She can lean back and enjoy her wine in this moment.

She doesn't have to be in this servile position as a default. She can experience life from that perspective as well.

Yeah, I think that is such a great question because I think that when you're talking about servitude specifically and Belinda being in a servile position but stepping out of that this season, I think it highlights code switching. It highlights sort of the passport you'd need to sort of move between those two spaces.

I think she's often seen as sort of like this moral compass, moral center, which I think flirts with the idea of sort of the magical Negro that, you know, doesn't have that any problem. She's there to like make sense of white mess. Belinda serves as such an interesting ruler to measure the other characters against.

Yeah. Yeah. They had their mission pretty clear. You know, they were doing these special secret showcases with Black ladies because, you didn't want to wear drag anymore. And I got a place on the showcase and yeah, just shot my shot. And, you know, in terms of being on stage.

It was, I had a lot of different things that I auditioned with. I had a drunk Maya Angelou impression. I had... Why is that making me laugh?

It's just fun. It's just fun. And then I did an impression of Kenan, which was just making looks with my eyes. There was no dialogue and. After that, I did get a call back. And that meant we auditioned at Studio 8H. So we went down to 30 Rock. And of those who made it the second round of auditions, you would go into the famous Studio 8H. And in the audience is Lorne Michaels.

And then it's populated by, you know, past and present cast members, writers, executives. And it's famously a very, very cold room. And everyone tells you no one's going to laugh. It's going to be really quiet. And, you know, I was auditioning alongside, you know, Sasheer and Leslie Jones and all of these major, major comedians and actors. I was terrified. I was absolutely terrified.

But it was, again, one of those things where I was just like, just go hard or go home. And I did get laughs during mine, which gave me some feel goods. And it was the Kenan impression because he was in the room and he told me once I finally was in the writer's room, he was like, you were killing me because I was just basically pulling face, which is just like, you know, something he's known for.

And to do it in front of him got the room to laugh.

Yes. I worked with Taraji P. Henson on her monologue, which I'm so excited.

Yeah. Like, it's a team effort there for sure. So I have not heard that since. It's so funny. I was like, oh, wow, I do remember. No, it was a team effort and the music was inspired. You know, I grew up in the church and John P. Key, you know, has some really early 90s, late 80s. jams that would be like, you would be cooking.

And so I just remember working with the music director and I was like, we got to hit these. It has to have that sauce.

And I felt like she was singing for me for sure. Cause there was like writing for this iconic show that I just, I had no, truly no aspirations to be on because I didn't see myself on the show. You know what I mean? Like, I didn't see someone who looked like me.

No. I mean, Ellen Claghorn, who was in my show, How to Die Alone, I just remember her in early sketches and... There was this whole period of time where it was just black men in drag and I didn't see myself as being on screen there and I didn't think it would be an option. So I was just like, well, I know I'm going to make it, but I don't know if it's going to be by way of SNL.

And so when I was there, you know, working on the sketch and it was just, yeah, it was for both of us. I was just like, well, this is both of us are here and we didn't think we would be. So it was pretty cool.

Thank you. I enjoyed talking with you.

Thank you.

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.

Thanks for having me.

I would delete Outlook because now I have to check it. And then I feel like with $5 million, I wouldn't. And I'd likely go to a resort. Of some kind. I don't like to be too hot, but I like to be near the hot with air con. So maybe a white lotus. In Hawaii or Thailand, perhaps.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think she's trying to adjust to this sort of shot into this upper echelon of society. I think that, you know, she get out of Dodge pretty quick. You know, she's worried about, you know, being pursued by Greg. And so I think she wants to go off grid, perhaps. Maybe she'll go by her middle name.

She's going to go full Gary, exactly.

Melinda, yeah. You remember Melinda? Yeah, Melinda.

I mean, maybe. Maybe she's a little bit of both. But I think, yeah, that moment is so heartbreaking with her and Pornchai at the end there. And I think, you know. There's less. I think there's more grief on Belinda's part than perhaps Tanya's part. Tanya's about to go get dicks. So she's like, bye, girl. I gotta go.

And, you know, Belinda's a little bit more heartbroken that and she doesn't say no. She's just like, just right now. Right now I have to get my bearings. And. I do think that maybe she'd circle back. Okay, that's nice to know.

Yeah, porn chat, come on. Let's get out of here.

Let's globetrot, honey. No, I thought about this a lot. I think that, like, you know, Belinda, she spends her life giving to other people and taking care of other people. And I think her attraction to porn, you know, initially was he was pouring into her and seeing her. He was pouring into her. Oh, come on, guys. Keep it classy. No, but he was emotionally. Yeah, for sure. And I think...

to bring him along with her, it would be sort of getting another dependent. And I think that she even says to Zion, she's just like, can I just be rich for five minutes? She just is like, Like right now, no one is asking anything from me. And, you know, because the first thing Zion's just like, you're going to make your spot.

He's just she's just like, let's just pump the brakes and let's just like sit in the space where I'm not doing something for someone else and I'm not making plans. I'm just enjoying, you know, the comfort of security. And so.

Yeah, I think that that's I think that's why she doesn't bring porn chai on the journey for this next chapter, because she's she doesn't know who she is outside of trying to work, you know. So I think she'll come back to herself. Well, you're right.

I was very, very broke when I was working to become a professional actor. And I remember thinking back in those times when I was going through the New York City subway and picking up cards off the ground in case they had money on them. Yeah. Those moments in my life I go back to and I couldn't imagine not being, you know, in this never ending dread about money.

You know, and I think that like when you have that switch turned off, there's just like so much more room in your brain to discover who you are outside of that sort of dire need. And I think that, you know, she had her son very young, you know. Bills to pay. He's still a defendant. And I think, yeah, for her, she's just like, well, what do I really want now?

And I think that's an amazing question that we can ask ourselves, even if it's hypothetical, you know.

You know, in her old self.

It's like now you have to reevaluate what is possible with that kind of, you know. financial security and I think that moment will feel like deja vu to the audience because of what happened to her but I think if they look at it closely you'll see you know there's she's departing with kindness and really she reiterates multiple times, like, some things have changed.

And she's just like, needs to wrap her head around those things, because her life just got really big, you know?

Yeah, no, it's actually a scene I pitched to Mike and a part of our process, like we work together and originally he had, you know, Zion negotiating without Belinda's help. And I was telling Mike, I was like, I want to see Belinda tap into her agency and risk it for a biscuit, man. I want to see her like, you know, shoot her shot.

And, but, and Mike's genius, he took that pitch and it was just, I was just thrilled because it walks that line and, Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. , , , , , ,, P. P. P. P,實,實, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , sol a Like many takes, like, you know, when we were shooting those dinner scenes at night, ruined by like elephant roars. And like, you know, there were these massive toads that would just have huge conversations in the middle of scenes.

So, you know, our AD is running around stomping and trying to get the toads to be quiet so we can get the lines out. Yeah. During the day, it was cicada season. So they're screaming and Josh is laughing. He was there. He was just like, he knows. It was just like for as beautiful as people think the experience it is.

It is beautiful, but it is a lot, a lot of work to pull off recorded television when you can't control the environment. I do not like reptiles. And I did have to meet one for one of the scenes. So that was nature that did not.

And then I tried to like, yeah, it was just, yeah, some Rube Goldberg like traps trying to set them. So they like go out on the balcony and I was just, yeah.

What will happen today

Likewise. Thanks for having me.

you

some things have changed for me, and I'm going to be leaving Thailand tomorrow.

I thought she was going to take him.

100%.

Yeah, really?

I think that... When Tanya makes the offer to Belinda, she is genuine. And she really is inspired in that moment to be one of the good ones. And I think that Belinda was very vulnerable in sharing her hopes and dreams with a client of the White Lotus. While I know audiences were so angry and frustrated with her, I think that both Belinda's expectations were probably a little bit too high.

And I think also that Tanya was blinded by trying to find a solve for her pain. What Jennifer does brilliantly is she plays the empathy first. Obviously, she's such a comedic genius. But I think that the reason why we root for her, even though she's doing all of these terrible things, is that we see the pain that birthed the action. Do you know what I mean? We see the catalyst for how she moves.

And... Her feeling that, like, relationships are transactional and no one wants her for her. They just want her for her money. And her trying to constantly kick the tires on every relationship that she has to, you know, trust that it's authentic. And... Once you've been burned, how do you love again? Once you've been burned, how do you, like, open yourself up again?

And she's running from something, you know? So all of those wounds are so visible. And I think it makes it hard for people to write her off completely because she's so nuanced in how she moves through the world. And I think that... Belinda saw her wounds and addressed her wounds and healed some of those wounds. And so immediately, Tanya turns the relationship transactional.

I'll do something for you. Because she's not just used to receiving.

Thank you.

Yeah, I was hired to write. I think I was one of the first people hired to write, and a few months into the writer's room, the character Kelly was created, and I was called into their office, and I thought it was because I made one too many naughty jokes. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I wrote for Saturday Night Live right before, so that kind of was the passport stamp I needed to sort of open a lot of doors. But I feel like, you know, Instagram was the wind at my back for sure.

Yeah, at the Crocodile Club in downtown Tokyo for a lot of expats. Yeah, I found my comedic voice there for sure because you have to translate, the humor has to translate, you know, regardless of what language was being spoken by the people in the audience. And so it tapped into that idea of universal humor.

Oh, status jokes. Oh, if the secretary was meeting to the boss, watch out. Really?

Oh, man. Yeah. Anytime you subverted expectations in that way, it was really, it hit home.

I don't want children. Damn. Yeah, I'm child-free and I'm so, so love, you know, I love children. I loved teaching. I just like other people's children.

I do, I do. They used to actually try to find when I was performing at UCB in New York because it was kind of like this weird superhero where I was a high school theater teacher by day and doing UCB comedy at night. And they would just be like, yo, miss, you swore. We heard you cuss. So that means I can cuss. And I had to let them know that that wasn't the case.

When they see that I blocked them, I think they get the message.

It was a beautiful five-star prison. Hear me out. You don't have to go home with your coworkers most days.

So it's kind of like... Yeah, just imagine just going to go get ice and Jennifer Coolidge is there. It messes with your mind a little bit.

Absolutely. It was lovely, and I think that, you know, that's what made season three such a shock to my system because it was a larger cast, you know, and we could obviously be wherever we needed to be, and so Mike has really figured out the formula for the show, to be sure.

I won't complain, but I will say we all got very adept at putting ice packs in places you would have never dreamed. Really? Yeah. Ice packs can go a long way. But they say want is the root of all suffering. And so after the first couple of weeks, I had to stop wanting it to be cold and cool. So I had to accept it and just put ice packs in a lot of places.

My therapist is very well paid.

Yes.

I'm going to say Google how much caffeine consumption can kill you, baby.

Oh, okay. I'm going to say the eggplant art.

base camp of Mount Everest feels too specific not to be true. So, see?

Or, like, you would have to deliver it, right?

Oh, no! I misheard. I misheard. My ADHD's on fire. So, I will say... Mmm... Boring confessions? Is it the Vatican?

I don't know what you heard before this very moment, but I have been saying the CIA this whole time.