Maya Rudolph interview: ‘Loot,’ ‘Saturday Night Live,’ ‘Big Mouth’
This post contains spoilers for “Loot” Season 2
The second season of “Loot” ends on a sizable cliffhanger: the unrequited romance between billionaire Molly (Maya Rudolph) and her foundation’s average guy accountant, Arthur (Nat Faxon), becomes requited with a kiss – only for the mutual show of affection to be interrupted by Arthur’s girlfriend. That sets Molly off on her private jet, where she tells her assistant Nicholas (Joel Kim Booster) to take them anywhere in the world.
“We’ve established so much great stuff between characters that I would love to just [keep it going],” Rudolph tells Gold Derby in an exclusive video interview when asked about what she hopes will happen if Apple TV+ renews “Loot” for a third season. “What’s so cool about the show is that I feel like the possibilities are endless. Having billions of dollars sounds like having a genie in a bottle. You can just rub it and anything’s possible. Truly.”
Created by Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard (both of whom worked with Rudolph on the Amazon Prime Video series “Forever”), “Loot” focuses on Molly Wells (Rudolph), who splits from her billionaire tech bro husband (played by Adam Scott) and comes to realize that there’s more to life than just her yachts and Alexander McQueen gowns. But what started as a showcase for Rudolph, a five-time Emmy Award winner and comedy legend, evolved in its second season to an ensemble-driven comedy not unlike “Parks & Recreation,” “The Office,” or “The Good Place.”
“The first season is about establishing the characters and getting to know them and obviously getting to love them and then I think once that that playing field has been established, then you really get to have fun because then you can combine the characters,” Rudolph says of the way the show has developed across its two seasons so far. “It’s like playing superheroes with your favorite toys – you can do different combinations of characters. That’s when these workplace comedies and shows with great casts start to pick up steam. So many of my favorite comedies are like that. You really get to know the characters but then once they get to know each other and start building their relationships, that’s when the fun begins.”
But while “Loot” is a traditional comedy – a noteworthy distinction in this era of comedy shows with a dramatic edge – it’s not without its serious intentions. Molly is on a path of self-discovery throughout the show, and despite her immense wealth, the way Rudolph plays her makes the character feel surprisingly relatable.
“The kernel of the story is this woman just gets to her whole world exploded and so she’s at a place in her life at the very beginning of the first season where everything she knows falls apart,” Rudolph says. “I liked that we established that vulnerability and that really human element of her, which I think is the most relatable part of her. No matter what your problems are in your life, they’re your problems. And we’ve all got them and they don’t have to be a messy divorce with a billionaire to relate.”
Emmys season has become a busy time for Rudolph. She’s an 11-time nominee across multiple projects (including “Big Mouth”) with five wins since 2020 – including two Best Comedy Guest Actress awards for her appearances on “Saturday Night Live.” The former cast member returned to “SNL” again this season for the third time as host, and her Mother’s Day monologue was an immediate breakout from the show’s 49th season.
“I didn’t expect the reaction that it got,” Rudolph says of the ambitious monologue, which had her roaming through Studio 8H while performing a hilarious original song. “It got a pretty wild reaction and people have called me mother everywhere I’ve gone since.”
Rudolph was a cast member from 2000 to 2007, but her affection for “SNL” goes back decades. “I’m such a fan of classic ‘SNL.’ I always loved it when the old cast members came back. I loved it when Steve Martin danced in the studio with Gilda Radner,” she says of the long-running, Emmy Award-winning series, which will begin its 50th season this fall. “It’s been my home and I’m a member of this historical place and I just love paying tribute to it and showing it love and giving it love. It’s been almost 50 years. I can’t believe I’m part of an institution like that. So it’s just all truly coming from a place of pure joy and love. I can’t believe I get to be a part of it. It’s very cool.”
All episodes of “Loot” are streaming on Apple TV+. “Big Mouth” can be found on Netflix. Episodes of “SNL” are available on Peacock.
