Rebecca Rittenhouse has an idea of what it's like to see into the future.
In the new Hulu series Maggie, the actress plays a psychic whose visions sometimes cause more chaos than clarity. Navigating one's thirties can be challenging enough but throw in unconventional powers and there are is sure to be some extra twists and turns along the way.
But that's exactly what drew Rebecca to the series and her titular character. "I just found her to be a very relatable character," she told E! News. "She has a career, which is based on this gift that she has, but she's also still finding her footing within that and being confident in that. And then she's also struggling in her dating life to find the right person and she feels like that's never gonna happen because she sort of stops before she starts."
The actress, who previously starred on The Mindy Project and Hulu's Four Weddings and a Funeral, also shared how playing Maggie has increased her comfort in following her own instincts, what it's like playing someone not living in the present, if she would want to see into the future and much more!
Keep reading to see what Rebecca had to say...
E! News: What made you feel connected to Maggie and her character's journey?
Rebecca Rittenhouse: I love romantic comedies as a genre. I'm drawn to comedy in general. I like that the show taught her that maybe she doesn't know everything, and she can't make assumptions. She just needs to be open to living in the present moment. I just like that message and I thought that I needed to apply it to my own life.
E!: There is a lot of internal push and pull with Maggie because of what she sees in her visions. What is it like to play a character not living in the present moment?
RR: She's living in the future and the past. She's not where she is and she's consistently having to learn that lesson over and over again. And I think we all do that in our lives. We can be aware of a mistake we've made but it's really hard to change that pattern of behavior. She's trying to control the outcome of everything, and she can't.
E!: Has playing Maggie led you to trust your instincts more?
RR: Honestly, I think it did in a way. It made me aware of the fact that everybody goes through this where you have these instincts and these intuitions, but you can also push them down and ignore them and push them away. Whether that's out of fear, or out of regretting a past mistake, or not wanting to get hurt or whatever it is, it's really easy to do that. Playing her brought that awareness to me for sure in my own life.
E!: In the finale as we watch Maggie put aside her feelings to help Ben and Jessie get back together, did you feel like Maggie was self-sabotaging herself?
RR: No, it's so much more complicated than that. In a way it's easier for her to self-sacrifice than to say ‘No, I believe this, and I want this for myself.' I think a lot of women do that. I know I've done that, where I've been like, ‘Oh well, I'll let this boundary go because I know I can handle it and I don't want to hurt this other person even if it's a boundary that I really need to keep for myself.' So, I think she just feels like she's trying to do the right thing, even if it's not in service of her.
E!: Would you want to see the future like Maggie?
RR: Absolutely not. I think that's just a recipe for disaster.
I've learned a lot from Maggie—she doesn't always see the whole picture. She thinks she sees one thing, but she doesn't necessarily see what happens after that thing, right?
E!: So Maggie sees the future, but if you could travel back in time and spend a day in the life of anyone from history, who would it be and why?
RR: I'd love to be Catherine the Great. She was such a badass. Talk about being plopped down in totally foreign circumstances foreign circumstances and being incredibly smart and handling her s--t I mean, wow!
E!: Is there a piece of advice you have received or a valuable lesson you have learned while working in this industry?
RR: I was leaving college and I was deciding whether or not I wanted to be an actor and I was really scared. I remember having lunch with my mom, and it sticks with me because, unfortunately, my mom passed a few years ago, but I think about her voice all the time. So She like put down her fork and she was like, "Rebecca! Stop being so afraid! What are you afraid of? You have nothing to be afraid of! Be brave! Do what you want to do with your life." And it's so straightforward. It's not profound, but she almost got mad at me because she was like, "Who is this scared girl? I don't know her. Stop!" And she really kind of stopped me in my tracks. I always think about that now because she really made me stop and think about when I'm making decisions based out of fear. I don't even know if I would be on this path if it weren't for that conversation.
Maggie is streaming now on Hulu.