Natasha Rothwell, Jocko Sims & ‘How to Die Alone’ Cast Hint at Romantic ‘Rivalries’ in Workplace Comedy (VIDEO)

“Mel is a fat, Black, broke woman working at an airport, but hasn’t taken off in real life,” says Natasha Rothwell of her character on the new Hulu/Onyx series How to Die Alone. “And so being able to explore what it means to try to take yourself out of arrested development and start growing and blooming, that’s what she’s all about,” she continues of the show, which she co-created.

How to Die Alone follows Mel’s journey following a near-death experience. With a new lease on life, what will she do? Says co-creator Vera Santamaria, “We really are watching this woman go from spectator to participant in her own life, and we get to watch as she bumps into people and walls along the way.”

New Amsterdam star Jocko Sims plays Mel’s ex… and her boss. Says Sims, “I think what Natasha and Vera have done is just a beautiful job of creating this icky, uncomfortable but tense and funny situation.” He also promises that romantic “rivalries” could be on the horizon.

The show is somewhat of a workplace comedy set in an airport (and the first two episodes are directed by Shahrzad Davani, who has directed episodes of Abbott Elementary and American Auto). “When Natasha showed me, you know, her pilot, that was her setting because it was put the comic irony of a person who drives people to places but isn’t really going anywhere herself, and doesn’t even dream that big to go that far,” says Santamaria.

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KeiLyn Durrel Jones plays Mel’s coworker and close friend. He may have to provide some tough love as the series goes on and Mel discovers herself. Says Jones, “He believes in her when she doesn’t believe in herself and encourages her to flourish and explore and, you know, test her own boundaries gently.”

Watch the video above for more on the characters’ chemistry, the cast’s karaoke nights, and more.

How to Die Alone, First Three Episodes, Now Streaming, Hulu