Thats whats really cool about playing her and exploring her as a character.
Its just exceptional storytelling of love at its purest, Rothwell says.
You gotta find that job to pay the bills.
Credit: Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic
I always gravitated towards teaching and doing things as a teaching artist.
And then I found a job teaching theater.
So I truly lived the life of Ms. Albright.
Its just such a huge part of my background, she says.
And so we would do a take as written, and I would ask to play around.
And he was so willing to indulge me and even participated in that.
Like, hed run over and say, Try it this way.
Theres so much Ms. Albright love out there, Rothwell says.
Its been really overwhelming.
Rothwell is far from new to the scene.
It was about three months into the writers room for season 1, Rothwell says.
I was called into the office with Prentice and Issa.
And I, of course, am just a goody-goody, so I thought I was in trouble.
They were just like, Would you want to play Kelli?
We would love to cast you as her.
And I cried instantly.
Theres a grandiosity of just delivery, Rothwell says of playing Winfrey.
She feels almost like deity.
Which theyre all too willing to give because its Oprah, hello.
So it was very fun to play her.
But long before that, Rothwell always knew she was funny.
I was constantly trying to make my family laugh and my parents laugh, she says.
Its just something that always felt natural to me.
And then I learned how to use my powers for good in high school.
Im a military brat, so I moved around a ton.
When youre making friends and youre funny, it makes that easier.
He was just like, Youre resisting something that youre naturally good at.
It takes a lot of skill to do.
Its not easier to do comedy; its actually harder.
You just have a gift for it.
And just accepted what Id been doing all along.
Theres not too much I can say, but its a comedy, she says.
And its something that I havent seen before.
Im interested in stories being told by marginalized voices and specifically people of color.
I think its something that will be really fun to see and something we havent seen before.
So Im excited to share my point of view with the world.
Its the same reasonLove, Simonis so relevant, she stresses.
I think its an important movie because of the time that were living in, she says.
Thats exactly whatLove, Simondoes.
It celebrates love and it speaks to everyone.
Its the tagline of the movie: Everyone deserves a love story.
Visibility is so huge right now, she continues.
Its not just huge, its crucial to maintaining and trying to keep alive democracy.
And this movie does that in a funny, heartfelt way, and its just so relatable.
So I felt all of my old insecurities come back.
And Im just like, This is so, just so relatable.
So I think people will connect to it.
Love, Simonopens in theaters on Friday.
