Natasha Rothwell & Conrad Ricamora tease Hulu's 'How to Die Alone'

hi Natasha hi Taylor how are you I'm good big fan uh we actually interviewed you back what was that 2018 for love Simon oh my God yes it's been a been a minute a minute been a minute but I'm so excited about um this show um we've come to know and love you from your supporting roles for from like inure love Simon um White Lotus what does it mean to you now to have this starring role in this TV show at this point in your career I mean it it is really a literal dream come true um I think when I started out on this journey uh in you know majored in theater in college I was doing theater in high school I was doing church plays when I was a little baby so I was always performing and I grew up I was raised by TV you know and to have my own show on television is just something that I didn't didn't even think to dream so it's just been a really surreal uh moment to have uh to be in this place now yeah yeah why was Melissa Story the one you wanted to tell what about this project ex because you're showrunning you co- created co- showrunning and starring why was this the project um well these opportunities don't come often especially to uh creators of color and so when given an opportunity I didn't want to I didn't want to leave any any chicken on the bone baby I wanted to really do the damn thing and um there was a real um need for me to to take the advice that I learned through improv which is follow the fear and so the things that scared me the most I wanted to run towards them and I think that's also a consequence of having been in therapy for 20 years and I wanted to share my experience and my journey um because you don't get you don't graduate from therapy they never told me that I thought you get a degree and you just done yeah I'm evolved I'm enlightened thank you so much but apparently you just keep learning the same mistakes over and over again but you learn them better each time and so I wanted to show a protagonist that is catalyzed to do the work but is makes mistakes because that's just what the real process looked like and yeah if I only got one shot to make a show I wanted it to be that H the show oscillates between like really somber and kind of dark at times to then really absurd and not too many spoilers but like one character dies and then you promptly throw up on her tell me about the tone and how that uh comes together um on screen because it's really fun to watch oh thank you well I think one of my favorite things is delighting and surprising surprising audiences and um it it it's also uh an opportunity to play a character into to be a part of a show that allows me a plus-sized black woman to take up space and to have the full range of emotion and have the depth to play you know the slapstick all and you know and have the moment to you know make you feel and make you think and um it was just a privilege to be able to do it because that's life that's life you know we we go to work we put on our mask then we go we're in the car we're talking to our friend we're laughing we're kiking then you go home and then you cry and then you laugh yourself you know we our our days are as frenetic as that and so it was important for me to have that reality reflected and to have someone look like me have those moments too yeah and then so I'm here for Out magazine and I one thing that the chaotic woman and her gay accomplice doesn't get enough attention on television I think why was that Dynamic um a role that you wanted to explore and why Conrad because also just love Conrad so much I mean honestly like that's the answer to the question like rura like anything that I can get him to do I want um but I also think like the dynamic between two people who are struggling with who they are and they want to be and I think that they are thick as thieves they have a toxicity that I think can sometimes be um a part of those relationships and to be able to explore how they hinder each other after Mel has her Awakening I think was really important and I mean what a i there's there's no one better than Conrad and um just to play opposite him it it's it's a dream come true I mean if I could write a letter to the version of me that was watching him um on how to get away with murder I'd be like girl girl you gonna be your best friend on the show and in real life um but I love him dearly yeah that's so funny and I'm like did you get to act with M or not Michaela H AA on um black girl sketch show I don't I'm not sure but fast forward last question for you is there a central theme or message you hope fans uh take away from the show after viewing yeah I mean I I really hope audiences watch the show and are reminded to keep going and that um it's a journey and it's it's it's it's an opportunity to and an invitation to have Grace with yourself and patience with yourself and empathy for others and hopefully it makes people feel less alone and I'm so excited about the show um there aren't too many TV shows with a black woman and Asian man leading it what does that mean to you as an actor and Creator well you know I wrote this show called no rice a few years ago that was uh based on because uh my friends and I my my two best friends that were are uh gay Asian men we came across this article that the dating apps released their data about who was the least desirable and it was Asian men and black women and uh my friends and I were like yeah this has been our experience we know why you got to say the Lou the the quiet part out loud um uh and but I I really wanted to do the show because I've been a fan of Natasha's ever since I saw her in the bit part in love Simon she's stole the yeah she's incredible um and then everything from getting tased at Coachella to uh to then being you know surprising us all by playing Belinda in season one of White Lotus I really was like oh this is we've only seen five% of what this genius can do and so I'm so happy that she is now creating world for her to express these different characters that live inside of her and these different worlds that she so uh brilliantly lays out for all of us to enjoy yeah and your character Rory gets to be really funny gets to have multiple love interests what was your favorite part of the character to play or you know favorite scene um from the show that without spoiling too much sure no I mean if I'm being completely honest when the trailer dropped and I go no you know woman King when it because that was I I improved that line uh because it was around the same time as uh Ariana deos at the Bas and I I and I and I of course being from had to good away with murder I loved watching uh woman king um so I loved sneaking that like in there uh and I was so happy that it made it in because I was like oh yay I got my little my little writing credit for that one joke in and made it to the trailer yeah yeah yeah but shooting those scenes where Natasha and I get to be friends because uh I think that we actually uh were're our like soulmates in a way because we from the moment I met her it felt like I'd known her for years and years and actually funny story because we are friends now when we were hanging out one day we realized both of our dads were uh in the Air Force and come to find out she went to a high School in uh Northwest Florida that was only like 15 miles from my high school at so we might have crossed paths when we were in high school because we're about the same age uh so yeah it's it's I being able to be friends with her on screen and now offscreen has been the the biggest gift of this show yeah a that's so sweet I can't wait to see how the story plays out um and also so you also like you kind of mentioned this before you played one of the most in one of the most iconic gay couples on television and how to get away with murder um what does representation mean to you um like lgbtq representation as well because you know I've been seeing you you know this show how to go with murder Fire Island on Broadway what does that mean you uh going into these roles yeah no that's something that I've Loved about uh you know doing this on the back of first how to get away with murder and then with Fire Island to see that because as Asian Asian-American men we are so often taught by our own you know parents and our own Asian-American culture to just be behave and be very you know keep your head down and work hard and don't make waves and so to be able to play somebody so sloppy like like Rory um uh on the heels of you know being a part of Fire Island where where Joel got to play somebody extremely sloppy um and then uh you know years before that playing Oliver who was so buttoned up and so like timid and shy and scared of the world uh I really love that we're able we're seeing now this diversity of portrayals of of expressions and representation within our own community so we're not just you know uh existing in any one capacity we're we're multifaceted and and layer like we are all like we all are in real life yeah imagine that I know it's czy it's crazy what happens when you show uh what we're all capable of yeah when we can tell our own stories um and can you just give us a little hint about the arc that Rory is about to embark on just before the show premieres uh next week right yeah no I you know when we meet Rory he's living unabashed uh a very non- monogamous life and uh you know that's the thing I love to me uh Rory is not committing and proud of it but I also think deep down inside it's because he's scared nobody's gonna love him back so he before they can reject him he can reject everyone else which I've definitely been there in my own relatable yeah yeah yeah and so what do you what happens when you're confronted with somebody that's like I'm not going anywhere so what do you want to do um and I that comes with its own challenges because then you have to like accept love accepting that somebody loves you accepting that somebody loves you is is a lot harder than it seems like it's going to be oh yeah um yeah I'm so excited for this show I do have my last question I do have to ask about the idea of a Fire Island too I don't I don't know if it's coming or if you know any of the plot or if anything's happening right now now but what do you have like a fantasy storyline for your character on that show anything that you just think would be really funny and silly I think it would be funny for a Fire Island to for my character and Joel's character not to be married but to have like adopted kids I I just it would be so unexpected and then it becomes this not only like a you know a friend's uh Vacation movie it becomes like this you know Cheaper by the Dozen like like wild like family trying to keep your family together like keep track of your family type uh story as well I think that would be it would be really fresh and unexpected but uh yeah we'll see I mean I were on a group thread all the time and and spitballing like Joel hurry write something so that because it was like it was the best time hanging out with all of those guys so I hope to get to do it again yeah yeah well thank you so much for your time today we love you so much and be released into the world thanks so much for talking to me it was great talking to you yeah of course