Maya Rudolph, ‘Loot’ Team on Building a Strong Cast: “Everyone in the Show Could Be the Lead of Their Own Show”

Money can’t buy happiness — but stacks of cash with Maya Rudolph’s face printed on them can get you pretty close. Happiness was certainly in the air on Wednesday evening at the West Hollywood premiere for Apple TV+’s upcoming comedy Loot, especially for star and executive producer Rudolph.

“It was a joy,” Rudolph told The Hollywood Reporter about working on the project. “Making any production in COVID is stressful and can be scary, and knowing that we were going to have those days where I got to be with the group was truly the joy. I feel really lucky that we got the group that we got, and I think they do too.”

She’s talking about the show’s crew and ensemble cast, which features Adam Scott, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Joel Kim Booster, Nat Faxon and Ron Funches. Led by co-creators Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard, Loot follows Molly Novak (Rudolph) who must figure out what to do with her $87 billion divorce settlement after she finds her rich husband (Scott) cheating on her. She decides to reengage with her charitable foundation and reconnect with the real world, all while finding herself along the way.

“It’s a miracle to assemble a cast these days, especially one this good, because there’s 500 shows, and everyone has a show,” said creator, writer and executive producer Yang. “We really feel like everyone in the show could be the lead of their own show. Obviously, we start with Maya. And once we had her, we’re building off of that. One of the big key pieces was Michaela Jaé.”

“Writing the character Sophia was tricky because we wanted a counterbalance to Molly’s character. But once the idea of Michaela Jaé came up, it really helped us decide who that character was,” he continued. “She had this sort of moral gravity, this sort of authority that even though she doesn’t have the wealth and status of Molly’s character, she’s someone we could see in scenes with Maya to play as an equal in that way.”

Coming off an Emmy nomination for her performance in Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s Pose, Rodriguez plays opposite Rudolph in Loot.

“I never thought in a million years I would be working with Maya Rudolph,” said Rodriguez. “I thought Pose would happen, and I was probably going to fade out — I had those insecurities about myself, but that comes with being a woman of a certain experience. These insecurities just come in your head, the traumatization of all of that. And then you have a silver lining, and you realize, ‘Oh, I am deserving of being next to this amazing, outstanding Emmy-winning actress.’”

In creating the show, Yang and Hubbard had Rudolph in mind for the lead role from the get-go: “She can do comedy, she can do drama, she can do anything,” said Hubbard. Inspired by society’s obsession and interest with billionaires and their interior lives — like real-life magnates Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, who both recently experienced public scrutiny of their relationships — the co-creators crafted the Loot story.

“It’s so nice to just feel so safe to play,” Booster, who recently wrote and starred in the Hulu’s gay rom-com Fire Island, said of the on-set environment of Loot. “Everyone has your back comedically… and it’s been so nice to come to work every day and get to stand across from Maya Rudolph, like inches away from her every day and just have her warmth and her humor just envelop you. It really was an escape for me every day to go and work.”

Rudolph added, “I was given the gift already of this storyline, which is that as much as you think she’s got everything, she’s obviously going through a complete turning point in her life. She’s going through a divorce. She’s having to ask herself really hard questions that she never really thought about before, which is like, ‘What did I want to do with my life? I spent my life supporting someone else’s dream. Now I’m faced with my own life, and what is it that I want?’ And I think those are great questions to ask and great dialogues to have, especially for women.”

Loot premieres on Apple TV+ on June 24.