Natasha Rothwell
Appearances
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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,
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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...
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
And to do it in front of him got the room to laugh.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
Yes. I worked with Taraji P. Henson on her monologue, which I'm so excited.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
I'm cracking up because that was definitely like a huge improvised moment. And so.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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?
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
Thank you. I enjoyed talking with you.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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...
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
It varied per actor. I was there for about five months.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
I mean, at some level, a certain kind of levity of just being alive.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
She doesn't have to be in this servile position as a default. She can experience life from that perspective as well.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Natasha Rothwell Checks Back Into 'The White Lotus'
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
Thank you for having me.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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...
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
It varied per actor. I was there for about five months.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
Yeah. It was not a short trip.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
I mean, at some level, a certain kind of levity of just being alive.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
She doesn't have to be in this servile position as a default. She can experience life from that perspective as well.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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?
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
And to do it in front of him got the room to laugh.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
Yes. I worked with Taraji P. Henson on her monologue, which I'm so excited.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
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.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
Thank you. I enjoyed talking with you.
Fresh Air
Best Of: Jazz Clarinetist Doreen Ketchens / 'White Lotus' Actor Natasha Rothwell
Thank you.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
She's going to go full Gary, exactly.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
Melinda, yeah. You remember Melinda? Yeah, Melinda.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
Yeah, porn chat, come on. Let's get out of here.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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...
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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?
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
And I think that's an amazing question that we can ask ourselves, even if it's hypothetical, you know.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
And she's just like, needs to wrap her head around those things, because her life just got really big, you know?
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
Likewise. Thanks for having me.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
some things have changed for me, and I'm going to be leaving Thailand tomorrow.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep.8: “Amor Fati” with Natasha Rothwell
I thought she was going to take him.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Episode 5: Tanya with Jennifer Coolidge
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Episode 5: Tanya with Jennifer Coolidge
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Episode 5: Tanya with Jennifer Coolidge
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?
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Episode 5: Tanya with Jennifer Coolidge
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.
The White Lotus Official Podcast
Episode 5: Tanya with Jennifer Coolidge
I'll do something for you. Because she's not just used to receiving.