Uniqueness is What Makes Jaylee Hamidi Shine in “How To Die Alone”
In Hulu’s original series, How to Die Alone, Jaylee Hamidi radiates as a spunky bartender. They portray Allie, a friend and confidante to Natasha Rothwell’s character, Mel, a JFK airport employee who decides to start living outside of her comfort zone after a near-death experience. Hamidi chatted with EnVi over Zoom to talk about their acting background, breaking stereotypes, and their key to staying motivated in an industry full of rejection.
Childhood Influences
Hamidi first began acting as a child. “I started out in my living room with empty boxes and my younger brother at the mercy of my imagination,” Hamidi recalled. They credited Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Daniel Dae Kim, and other “actors of color taking risks in an industry that isn’t always the best for that.” Hamidi noted their excitement to witness their role models’ career trajectory and explosions since childhood.
Hamidi explained, “I was always kind of a tomboy as a kid… growing up as not only a kid of color, but mixed race and knowing that I was queer, but not really having the language for it. I always didn’t really feel seen.” They mentioned their excitement from watching Kayvan Novak, who is of Iranian descent, speak Farsi as an ancient version of his character in an episode of What We Do In The Shadows. As a Chinese Kurdish Iranian actor, Hamidi looks forward to seeing more Kurdish representation on screen.
True Intentions
Though no rookie in the Hollywood industry, Hamidi has remained selective in their projects. Jaylee’s key to maintaining their mental health space is being cognizant of what they don’t want to put out into the world. They mentioned navigating prejudices and racism, “and so if a project comes along that has these stereotypes, [they] usually will not even tape for it.” Jaylee beamed about breaking more stereotypes, “especially like what Asians are supposed to look like — body wise [and] feature wise.”
They shared that they didn’t have mentorship or parents that supported them in the industry. “A lot of my younger years were trying to put myself in the boxes that a lot of people in the industry made,” Hamidi disclosed. They champion the cultivation and nourishment of whatever makes someone unique. Jaylee’s advice is to “use it as your superpower because it really is, and the right roles will come to you.”
Bringing Realness To Characters
In How to Die Alone, Hamidi plays a recent divorcee while growing into their pansexual identity. They comfort and debrief with Mel, who decides to drastically change her love life and push the boundaries of her comfort zone. “I would describe Allie as just that person who has witnessed a lot of hardships in her own life, and so, is looking to be there for other people in whatever way that means,” they said.
With the bartender role being parallel to a therapy session in the show, they tried to incorporate this kind of realness into Allie. Hamidi recalled their experience working in retail, “helping [customers] get over a bit of body image issues or these perceptions around the very real issues of ageism, [in terms] of what they felt like they could or couldn’t wear.”
Jaylee added that they would love to explore more of Allie’s backstory. Being mixed race, Hamidi shared that it could be interesting to delve into that as more of Allie’s identity, the history behind the relationship and divorce, and growing as a pansexual person. They noted, “it would be really fun to collaborate with the writing team on certain aspects, if they’re open to it.”
Maintaining Inspiration
Hamidi expressed various interests in other creative avenues as well. Writing poetry, painting, and crafting with a friend group are what fills their cup. Since being in the industry, Hamidi touched on how it can be hard to block out the noise.
They said, “The rejection doesn’t matter because I know I’m on the right path, and I would not survive doing a different career.” Hamidi added, “the best way to thrive in your work is by never losing a sense of childhood curiosity.”
When asked about their travel bucket list locations, Hamidi named Italy and Greece as the top spots. “I just want to eat pasta and drink wine [for] seven days. I would love to experience all of the ruins and all of those incredible sites that archeologists have uncovered.”
More To Come
Fans can also stay tuned for a poetry book and children’s novel that Hamidi is working on. They dished, “I also worked on a show recently that I cannot discuss, but that’s coming out next year… so I’m looking forward to when I can share more about that.” For now, you can catch Jaylee Hamidi on Instagram and tune into Hulu’s How To Die Alone, a dramedy series that highlights loneliness while reinventing yourself.
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