In recent years, Natasha Rothwell has become a household name thanks to her work in films, TV series and miniseries. The former SNL writer has awards in writing, acting, producing and directing. While it may have taken a few years for Rothwell’s career to take off, the two-time Emmy nominee has quickly made a name for himself.
As a retired teacher turned actress, Rothwell has adopted her skills and played a few roles as a teacher. She starred in the 2018 movie Love, Simon as Mrs. X. She was able to reprise her role in the series, now called Love, Victor, which has just announced its third season. Rothwell also found success in Hollywood thanks to a few big roles such as within the Sonic the hedgehog franchisee. She starred in the first movie and reprized her role in the second, along with most of the original Sonic form.
Rothwell also appeared in Mike White’s Emmy-winning limited seriesThe White Lotus. Rothwell herself was nominated for her role as Spa Manager, Belinda, who will be led by Jennifer Coolidge’s character for the week, who expressed an interest in helping Belinda open her own spa. In an interview with DeadlineRothwell explained how she could use her role as Belinda to give a voice to the voiceless. A quality that you will find in many of Rothwell’s roles. Rothwell is indeed on the rise, recently… filming wrapped on wonka. Here are her best performances to date, ranked.
4/4 Love, Simon
In the movie of 2018 Love, Simon, we get to see Rothwell playing Mrs. Albright, the drama teacher at Simon’s school. Her purpose in the film is important because she stands up to bullies who make fun of Simon after he was laughed at. They made a huge spectacle in the cafeteria and Mrs. Albright rightly put them in their place. She reprized her role for one episode in the spin-off series Love, Victorwhere she was promoted to vice principal of the school.
Based on a novel, the film is about Simon Spier (Nick Robinson), a high school senior who is a gay teenager in the closet. He begins a love affair via email with a boy named “Blue” and spends most of the movie trying to figure out who he is. During that search, he is distributed to the entire school, which changes everything in his life.
3/4 Sonic the Hedgehog (1 & 2)
Rothwell’s Achievements in Both Sonic the hedgehog and Sonic the hedgehog 2 was unforgettable. She played Rachel, sister to Maddie (Tika Sumpter) and sister-in-law to Tom (James Marsden). She didn’t approve of Maddie and Tom’s marriage and spent much of the first film tied up so she couldn’t call authorities with Tom, who was wanted by the government for domestic terrorism. In the second film, Rachel is getting married and decides it’s time for her and Tom to bury the hatchet, as long as it doesn’t ruin her wedding day. It turns out that the wedding, including Rachel’s husband-to-be, was all a plan to capture Sonic.
Both films follow Sonic the Hedgehog from the Japanese video game series. He is a super-speed alien that Dr. Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey, wants to capture and perform experiments on him. Both films follow Sonic and his friends who fight to evade capture of the evil genius.
2/4 Insecure
Insecure is one of the few shows where Rothwell was a triple threat. She starred in 32 of the 44 episodes, wrote 17 and even directed one. The HBO comedy was created by Issa Rae, who starred on the show as a fictionalized version of herself. Rothwell has appeared in each of the five seasons as Kelli Prenny, a woman who is funny, supportive, and stood up for those who needed her.
The show mainly follows Issa and her best friend Molly, played by Yvonne Orji, as they deal with everyday life as modern black women. The show addresses social and racial issues related to the contemporary black experience, from love and romance to friendships and hardships.
1/4 The white lotus
The white lotus is an HBO Max anthology series that recently announced its second season with an all-new cast. Rothwell played Belinda, the spa manager, in the first season. During the first episode, she gives a spa session to Tanya, played by Jennifer Coolidge, which sparks an interesting friendship. Tanya keeps coming back to Belinda and explains that she would like to invest in Belinda and help her open her own house. Tanya is then distracted by a man and how she will spread her mother’s ashes, but continues to lead Belinda on. By the end of the week, Belinda has almost given up.
In perhaps one of her best moments, she tells another guest at the hotel to essentially “suck it up” and that she’s not a therapist. Until then, Belinda was understanding, kind and compassionate – which is a great character after all – but fans cheered for her when she finally stood up for herself.