Natasha Rothwell on ‘The White Lotus,’ ‘Insecure’ and More
The Last Laugh
The Daily Beast
4.6 • 661 Ratings
🗓️ 6 September 2022
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Emmy-nominated comedian and actress Natasha Rothwell talks about her very big year, from facing off with Jennifer Coolidge in ‘The White Lotus’ to stealing scenes in the final season of ‘Insecure.’ And things are only looking up from here, with two new shows in development at HBO, a third in the works with Disney-ABC and a mysterious role in the upcoming ‘Wonka’ movie starring Timothée Chalamet. In this episode, Rothwell opens up about auditioning for ‘Saturday Night Live’ as part of that show’s “clunky” search for a Black female cast member and ending up as a writer instead, getting hired as a writer on ‘Insecure’ before landing her breakout role as Kelli and returning to her dramatic roots as Belinda in ‘The White Lotus,’ a role that became very different after she was cast.
This episode was originally published on November 16, 2021
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the Last Laugh. I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast, and with the Emmy Awards coming up next Monday, September 12th, I want to highlight one more conversation that I had on this show with one of my favorite nominees. |
| 0:19.5 | Last fall, I talked to comedian and actress Natasha Rothwell about her roles as Kelly |
| 0:24.7 | in all five seasons of HBO's Insecure, as well as her performance as Belinda in another |
| 0:30.6 | great HBO show, The White Lotus. |
| 0:33.5 | It was that part that landed Natasha her first acting Emmy nomination. |
| 0:38.4 | She is up against four of her castmates from that series, |
| 0:42.2 | and let's face it, we'll probably lose to her scene partner Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya. |
| 0:46.8 | But I still think that she gives the most subtly funny and heartbreaking performance |
| 0:51.7 | on a show that is full of supremely talented actors. |
| 0:56.0 | Here's a clip from the first episode of Belinda giving Tanya her first treatment. |
| 1:02.0 | I'm hearing as you're having a lot of fatigue. |
| 1:06.0 | Yeah. |
| 1:08.0 | I feel like taking a nap right now. |
| 1:11.6 | Why do you think you're so tired? |
| 1:14.6 | I think it's because I'm so close to the floor. |
| 1:18.6 | I'm my own phallic mother. |
| 1:21.6 | I'm my own phallic mother. |
| 1:24.6 | I'm my own vaginal father. |
| 1:28.3 | My own vaginal father? |
| 1:31.3 | I fill my own cup. |
| 1:34.3 | I fill my own cup. |
| 1:37.3 | My failing body is immaterial. |
... |
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