Jaylee Hamidi’s career is ascending to new heights as they takes on their breakout role on the new Hulu comedy series How to Die Alone. The Chinese-Kurdish-Iranian actor, writer, and creative stars as Allie, who separates from her husband and quickly becomes best friend and confidante to the show’s lead, played by Nathasha Rothwell.
How to Die Alone follows Mel (Rothwell), a broke, fat, Black JFK airport employee who’s never been in love and forgotten how to dream, until an accidental brush with death catapults her on a journey to finally take flight and start living by any means necessary.
PopWire recently landed an interview with the lovely Hamidi who speaks on queer representation on the diverse show, working with their show-creator co-star, and much more.
As early as the series premiere, we were immediately drawn to Hamidi’s character, Allie, who is introduced to viewers when Natasha’s Mel discharges from the hospital and heads straight to Allie’s bar. There we learn that Allie splits from her spouse and is back to dating women.
Though Allie is queer, her sexuality is not her whole identity, which was so refreshing to see on a series. When asked what it was like to play a character in the LGBTQ+ community while they themself identifiy as queer and gender-fluid, Hamidi says it was “exciting” to take on this role.
“She’s such a well-rounded, multidimensional character, which we don’t often get to see in queer characters without it just being the thing that’s just about them,” they says of Allie. “As we as we move through Allie’s identity, I think what’s really cool was getting to play her as this very real and open person, not going to hide any of her own issues, but also be very candid about the lessons that she learned along the way.
“I think that’s why her and Melissa bond so well as well as just Melissa being on that same journey. The two of them really unite in that unconditional love we all seek for ourselves, especially as queer folks. There’s a lot of isolation and a lot of loneliness that people can relate to that we see on the show.
“Loneliness is not a conditional thing. It is unfortunately an unconditional thing, but that’s we can also see — the beauty in, is that when we remember that everyone’s going through something challenging, we can be a better version of ourselves.”
While the ONYX-produced series is a comedy, there’s no shortage of dramatic and emotional moments. In that same scene at the bar when we’re introduced to Allie, Mel breaks down and opens up to the bartender. Hamidi shares that Rothwell as an “amazing scene partner” and a consummate professional, adding that scene was “super organic” when filming that scene.
“We are living this journey from the moment they said action to the end, it was so real and alive,” they says. “The reality of what it feels like for Melissa to be invisible in all these aspects for her to break down, and for my character, too, to have recently gone through such a similar, not the same situations, but this similar kind of reckoning of one’s self, an identity and what it means to not be living authentically, we we just flew together.
“We cried together in the scene,” Hamidi continues, and so all of those were not premeditated or designed for the scene. It was really that live acting moment where as she’s going through this arc in the scene, I’m on that journey with her. We’re so in it that the tears kept flowing take after take as we moved and as I ultimately could be that support person for her to hold her hand and be like, ‘I see you.'”
At its descent to the other end of the season, after all that Melissa went through, the closing seconds leaves viewers on a cliffhanger, which opens the series up for more. If Hulu decides to order another chapter from ONYX, Hamidi says that they would love for the series to delve deeper into their character.
“I’d love to get a little bit of exploration into [Allie’s] backstory and where she comes from,” they explain, “like who she is and what her previous relationship might have been like. But most exciting to me would be the exploration of her sexual identity as she navigates dating and relationships potentially and, you know, maybe some complex triangles or squares or rectangles that would ensue.”
Before that happens, however, be sure to check out Season 1, which the Vancouver-based actor says has something in it for everyone.
“It is a comedy, but it’s also a drama,” Jaylee Hamidi says on why viewers should check out the series. “It explores identity and loneliness and all of the things that are holding you back and how to let them go. And I mean, who doesn’t want to watch a series full of incredibly multi-talented, multi-diverse and just awesome characters that I think everyone can relate to across the board?”
Season 1 of How to Die Alone is now streaming on Hulu.