Onyx Collective announces cast for Hulu Original Comedy series “How to Die Alone” with series regular stars Conrad Ricamora as Rory, KeiLyn Durrel Jones as Terrance and Jocko Sims as Alex, alongside Natasha Rothwell as Melissa, and recurring guest star Bashir Salahuddin as Brian.
Onyx Collective previously announced the eight-episode, half-hour Hulu Original comedy from ABC Signature with Emmy®-nominated Natasha Rothwell (“The White Lotus,” “Insecure“) to star, write and co-showrun via her overall deal with ABC Signature and Onyx Collective under the banner of her company, Big Hattie Productions. Natasha Rothwell and Vera Santamaria (“PEN15“) serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. Desiree Akhavan (“The Bisexual“) and Jude Weng (“Only Murders in the Building“) serve as executive producers.
“How to Die Alone” follows Melissa (Rothwell), a fat, Black neurotic who’s never been in love. After a comical brush with death, she refuses to settle for anything less than the life she wants, catapulting her on a journey to becoming “100% that bitch” in real life by any means necessary.
CAST:
Conrad Ricamora as Rory – Self-involved, boy-crazy, love-starved Rory is Mel’s well-meaning best friend. Rory loves to have a good time at all costs and is blind to his privileges – having been adopted by an über wealthy Upper East Side family. His father, the CEO of JFK, is embarrassed by Rory and his winding path in life. When his JFK crush, a bicoastal bae named Ben, shows interest in him, Rory finds himself experimenting with monogamy for the first time … and holding on for dear life.
Biography: Ricamora is best known for starring alongside Viola Davis in ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder.” He was last seen in Searchlight’s hit summer rom-com “Fire Island,” directed by Andrew Ahn, and recurred on the past three seasons of FOX’s “The Resident.” Ricamora has also garnered two GRAMMY Award® nominations for cast recordings of “The King and I” and “Soft Power.” This summer, Ricamorawill be returning to the Broadway stage in “Here Lies Love.”
Credits: “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Fire Island”
KeiLyn Durrel Jones as Terrance – Terrance is an Air Force veteran and one of Melissa’s closest friends on the tarmac at JFK. Terrance has a thirst for adventure that inspires Melissa. Their chemistry and his sense of humor keep Mel cracking up and hanging out with him on her smoke breaks. Mel is the brightest spot in his day, and he genuinely wants to help chase her dreams, but when he tries to hold her accountable, it sends her running in the opposite direction.
Biography: Durrel Jones recently recurred in the HBO Max series “The Other Two.” He starred in the short film “Sparring Partner” at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and completed filming Neil Labute’s feature film “Out of the Blue” opposite Diane Kruger. He recurred on HBO’s “Succession” and guest starred on “East New York,” “Chicago Fire,” “The Equalizer” and “Blue Bloods.” He’s had recurring guest star roles on the Netflix series “The I-Land,” Showtime’s “City on a Hill” and AMC’s “Better Call Saul.” He is a graduate of the grad acting program at NYU.
Credits: “High Maintenance,” “East New York,” “Shakespeare in the Park”
Jocko Sims as Alex – Alex is Melissa’s current boss and former fling. For Mel, Alex is the one that got away. For Alex, Melissa is the one who unceremoniously sent him packing. Engaged to be married but still working closely with Mel, Alex can’t help but audit what went wrong in their workplace situations as he gets closer to walking down the aisle with his fiancée Julie.
Biography: Sims most recently starred as Dr. Reynolds in the hit series “New Amsterdam,” which wrapped after a successful five-season run on NBC. In addition, Sims’ short film “Grown,” a comedy that he wrote and directed, will have a world premiere at SXSW this year.
Credits: “New Amsterdam,” “Grown”
Bashir Salahuddin as Brian – Brian is Melissa’s holier-than-thou, know-it-all, CPA older brother. Unhappily married with two kids, he resents Melissa for her aimlessness and his mother for depending on him as “man of the house” but still finds himself helping them out, against his better judgment. It’s no wonder he needs a drink or two to help him unwind every night.
Biography: An NAACP Image Award winner, Salahuddin is perhaps best known as the co-creator, writer, and star of HBO Max’s “South Side” as well as IFC/AMC+’s Emmy-winning series “Sherman’s Showcase.” Salahuddin was a staff writer on NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” where he wrote such notable pieces as “Slow Jam the News with Barack Obama” and “The History of Hip-Hop with Justin Timberlake” and was nominated for an Emmy Award. He and his writing partner Diallo Riddle will next reteam to executive produce, co-write, and showrun the Starz comedy “Book of Marlon,” starring Marlon Wayans. Salahuddin’s credits also include “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Cyrano,” “Marriage Story,” “A Simple Favor,” “Snatched,” “The Dropout” and “GLOW.”
Credits: “Top Gun: Maverick,” “South Side,” “Sherman’s Showcase“
