The Good Place's Maya Rudolph has weighed in on the challenges of portraying Molly Novak in Apple TV+'s new comedy series Loot.
Story-wise, her billionaire character's husband is a cheat, which sends poor Molly into a very public downward spiral.
Upon realising that she's got a charity foundation to deal with – run by the down-to-earth Sofia Salinas (Golden Globe winner Michaela Jaé Rodriguez) – Molly embarks on a journey of self-discovery, acknowledging how giving back to others might just change her life.
Related: The Good Place and The Goldbergs stars join forces for new series
Catching up with Digital Spy and other press, Rudolph spoke of juggling this character's unlikeable personality traits.
"Absolutely it was a challenge because it really was important to me to find a balance for her, and to be interested and invested in her story. It was important that she wasn't just a billionaire, because what we really wanted to discover was how she got there," she said.
"And once all of that is removed, she's forced to ask herself those questions of: what do I really want? Is this the direction I wanted my life to go in, because it's so based on someone else's dreams?"
Related: The Good Place star almost starred in Killing Eve
"And I think it's... whether we're talking about billionaires or not, we find ourselves, sometimes in life, asking ourselves, 'Is this really what I want to do with my life?' or 'Who did I want to be before I chose to sacrifice it for someone else or something else?'"
Away from the realm of the uber-rich, Rudolph will soon be seen in Disenchanted as the nefarious Malvina Monroe. This sequel to Enchanted hits Disney+ in November.
Loot is now streaming on Apple TV+.
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Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
