Maya Rudolph’s ‘Hot Ones’ Scene in ‘Loot’ is a Fiery Treat

It’s no secret that actor, singer, and comedian Maya Rudolph is a woman of many talents. But her new Apple TV+ series, Loot, shines the spotlight on a nearly forgotten strength: her unmatched ability to bring sidesplitting parodies of First We Feast’s Hot Ones to life. 

In Loot, Rudolph plays recently divorced billionaire turned philanthropist Molly Wells. Her tech mogul hubby John (Adam Scott) cheated on her, and after some soul searching and an unfulfilling stretch of drinking, drugs, and partying around the world, Molly has an epiphany. She decides to start working closely with her charity foundation, but her well intentioned efforts spark a PR nightmare.

In Episode 3, “Hot Seat,” Molly sets out to rehab her image by booking interviews with 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper, and NPR. She holds a cram sesh to learn about her foundation, only to psych herself out and cancel at the last second. Don’t worry, though. Molly booked something “a little more her style” that she thinks will get people back on her side.

Cut to host Sean Evans saying, “Welcome to Hot Ones — the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.”

Fans of Rudolph or Saturday Night Live may remember her iconic Hot Ones sketch from 2021 in which she played Hot Ones guest Beyoncé opposite Mikey Day’s Evans. I thought the sketch was perfection, but Rudolph fine-tuned her parody performance in Loot to deliver one of the funniest scenes of the year.

Evans welcomes Molly to the show and they try the first wing doused in Howler Monkey hot sauce. Molly excitedly says, “Mmm, tasty! This is good,” but the mood quickly changes when the interview begins. Evans asks what the Wells Foundation is focused on, and Molly replies, “One of the things that we’re very passionate about — UGH!”

“Oh wow,” she says. “That one’s got a little heat to it, doesn’t it? My goodness.” She reaches for a glass of beer, chugs, burps, and tries to respond again. “The cost of living in Los Angeles is — FUCKER! I’m so sorry. It’s so hot. That’s the first one?” 

Evans and his comforting puppy dog eyes look concerned. He assures her the first sauce only has a Scoville rating of 600. Oh, and they still have nine more wings to go. Yikes!

Molly immediately regrets chomping the second wing. Evans asks what inspired her to become more involved with charity, and she says, “Sean, I’m gonna need you to do me a favor. I’m gonna need you to shut the fuck up.” Queen.

Rudolph’s delivery and portrayal of deep discomfort throughout the scene is outstanding, and dramatic Hot Ones flames and music transitions only enhance her performance. Sweat pours off of Molly as she attempts another wing. She screams for beer, hugs the woman who brings it to her, and mixes it with milk in hopes of achieving maximum cooling effect. Instead, it just makes her gag.

“So it seems like your ex-husband has been supportive of your efforts,” Evans boldly says to this visibly sweating woman. Wrong move, buddy. Wrong move.

Molly, now void of all composure and filters, screams: “FUCK THAT MOTHERFUCKER.” When Evans dares ask if the post-divorce relationship isn’t going great Molly delivers one of the sickest burns in history: “Good one, Sean. What’d you go to? Fucking school?” So simple. So bad. So good.

Rudolph successfully dials up the tension, anger, agony, and passive aggressiveness needed to convincingly pull off this scene. The dialogue effortlessly flows, the expletive-heavy outbursts catch you off guard, and the physical comedy (including Evans’ Jim Halpert-style looks to camera) inspires hearty belly laughs. Some lines feel like callbacks to Rudolph’s Saturday Night Live sketch, so it’s possible the majority were scripted, but I’d guess that some level of improv was present in the scene — especially since Evans looks like he could break at any moment.

Before they wrap up, Molly — in all her fiery fury — drags Evans to hell. “Let me tell you something, Sean. I have $87 billion. I could buy you and this whole studio and every motherfucker in it and I could shut it down. I could kill everybody in here and get away with it,” she says, shoes in hand. She explains she’s done getting her “face melted off while eating tiny, spicy pieces of shit” and blowing her “fucking shorts out,” and I dare you to make it through this scene without at least cracking a smile.

Over the years, the Hot Ones universe has seen stars including Gordon Ramsay, Shaquille O’Neal, Billie Eilish, and more struggle to handle the heat, but Molly Wells gives them all a run for their money. Loot gifts viewers a generous three plus minutes of Hot Ones footage, but a glimpse of the YouTube video shows the total episode was over 22 disastrous minutes.

Drop the full interview, Hot Ones. I could watch Rudolph parody this show all day.