Summary
- Although Molly Novak in Loot may resemble real-life figures like Melinda Gates, the character is ultimately a fictional creation by the show’s creators.
- Molly’s story mirrors the experiences of rich divorcees like Gates and MacKenzie Scott, but the showrunners insist she is an original character.
- With a whopping $87 billion divorce settlement, Molly Novak’s journey in Loot highlights themes of resilience and altruism amidst personal turmoil.
Maya Rudolph has played several phenomenal roles in her career, from mesmerizing viewers as Caitlin in The Way Way Back to playing Lillian, a competitive bridesmaid in Bridesmaids. Over the course of her two-and-a-half-decade career, she has taken on numerous challenges, but her portrayal of Molly Novak, a rich divorcee in Loot, is new territory for the actress.
Nonetheless, she proved that no one could have played the role as she did, with a blend of comedy and emotion that resembled real-life individuals who had been through similar situations. This has raised questions about whether her role in Loot is actually based on real-life personalities such as Melinda Gates. So, how much of Loot is fiction, and how much is inspired by true events?
Loot
- Release Date
- June 24, 2022
- Seasons
- 2
Who Is Molly Novak in Loot?
Loot is a comedy series that revolves around Molly Novak’s life, which comes as no surprise. However, in order to determine if she is based on real-life people, we must first understand why her story inspires so many viewers. In the series, Molly Novak is the wife of a wealthy billionaire named John Novak (Adam Scott), whom she loves wholeheartedly. However, despite Molly’s everlasting love for him, John cheats on her, resulting in their divorce.
Once their divorce is finalized, Molly finds it difficult to stick to a new purpose, especially after learning that she has received $87 billion as part of the divorce settlement. She eventually decided to participate in charities that help the underprivileged, inspiring thousands of women around the globe. Despite being a comedy series, Loot is an inspirational narrative of an innocent woman who loses her world yet overcomes obstacles to serve others as a philanthropist. So, who is Molly Novak based on?
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Is Molly Novak Based on Melinda Gates?
Melinda French Gates is the ex-wife of Bill Gates, Microsoft’s co-founder. She was born in 1964 and has been consistently ranked as one of the world’s most powerful women by Forbes. In 2000, she also co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She married Bill Gates in 1994, and after spending 27 years together, she filed for divorce in 2021, citing sexual harassment allegations and undisclosed relationships with his employees, The New York Times reports.
Apparently, Melinda Gates had been trying to separate from her husband since October 2019, when Bill’s business dealings with Jeffrey Epstein became public, and it took nearly two years to get it done. While it was unclear whether Melinda divorced Bill Gates due to his affairs with other women, she did not seek spousal support but was allocated $2 billion worth of shares and stocks.
In a sense, Molly Novak’s story bears a striking resemblance to Melinda Gates’s, with both being deceived by their spouses and forced to find a new purpose in their lives. However, Molly Novak is not based on Melinda Gates but rather was inspired by headlines about the ex-wives of billionaires. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the showrunners Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard reportedly revealed how they came up with the concept for Loot. The magazine wrote the following:
Loot creators Yang and Hubbard join the show this week to discuss their Apple comedy series, which marks a reunion for the duo with the great Maya Rudolph. The duo were searching for a project that would reunite them with Rudolph following their collaboration on Amazon’s Forever and, at the same time, were obsessed with the headlines about the ex-wives of billionaires. And so an idea was born.
From the words of the creators, Melinda Gates appears to be one of the real-life personalities who inspired Molly Novak, but there are a few others, such as MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, who separated from their partner after years of marriage and eventually ventured into philanthropy. Similar to Molly Novak, MacKenzie Scott received almost $38 billion from the divorce.
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Not all of these comedy movies are strictly biopics, but they do incorporate the stories of real-world people.
So, Molly Novak is loosely based on both Melinda Gates and Mackenzie Scott. However, the creators denied drawing inspiration from certain rich women, stating that the character is purely fictitious and born out of an idea. In today’s world, many billionaires divorce for a variety of reasons, so it would be a stretch to say Molly Novak’s story is based on Melinda Gates.
Furthermore, Molly received $87 billion from her divorce in Loot, whereas Melinda Gates only gained $2 billion in shares and stocks, and MacKenzie Scott gained $38 billion. On the other hand, Molly was ranked as the third-richest woman in the United States in the series. While MacKenzie Scott is the fourth-richest woman in the United States, Melinda Gates takes the tenth spot.
Although the majority of the women on the list have inherited their family’s fortune and earned their way to the top, only Melinda Gates and MacKenzie Scott have been divorced from their spouses, but Molly Novak’s character is more similar to MacKenzie in terms of wealthy representation. To summarize, Molly Novak is not based on a particular real-life personality but rather on the inspiration of the ex-wives of billionaires who later turned to philanthropy to continue doing good for others despite their own suffering. Loot is currently streaming on Apple TV+.
