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Actress Natasha Rothwell says her self-confidence has improved since playing the unapologetic and larger-than-life character of Kelli Prenny on the HBO hit series “Insecure.”
“It’s made me live that way in my own life,” Rothwell told Page Six about the impact playing Kelli has had. “I get into a moment where I’m, you know, wanting to go down the path of self-doubt or imposter syndrome [and] I’m just like, ‘No, I can do this. I’m enough.'”
“And, I’m so grateful for that, because it’s definitely, it’s… done a lot for me,” the actress said. “I’m so glad it’s doing it for other people too.”
Rothwell mentioned not always feeling embraced by society before playing Kelli, despite her achievements. She highlighted that there’s a lot of “insidious” messaging pointed at those with “brown t*tties” that “seeps in ways you don’t really know.”
“And it wasn’t until I started playing Kelli where it was just — she’s so sure. There’s this worthiness that she doesn’t question, and that is, you know, they say, ‘Fake it until you make it,’ and it’s that thing,'” Rothwell explained.
Rothwell — who’s also a writer on Insecure — said that playing Kelli has been life-changing for her in other ways as well.
“I refuse to accept that it’s ending,” the actress said about the show. “It’s changed my life in no uncertain terms. It’s so meaningful to me professionally and personally. And I moved to L.A. for the show. I don’t have family in Los Angeles and so it [the cast] was an instant family, and they continue to be.”
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Rothwell also currently acts in HBO’s “White Lotus” as masseuse Belinda Lindsey and is filming in London, for the forthcoming film “Wonka,” which stars Timothée Chalamet.
“It’s wild,” she said of her successful journey. Rothwell added, “I have very vivid memories of struggling in New York and putting cereal on credit cards and worrying about how I was going to be my rent. So to be in the position I’m in now feels like a fever dream sometimes. And it’s not lost on me, the journey that I’ve taken to get here.”
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