Between ‘The Love Hypothesis’ and ‘Adults,’ Rachel Marsh’s Breakout Moment Is Here

“I love anytime women are funny,” actress Rachel Marsh declares. Thankfully, the 34-year-old has been able to be in plenty of projects that showcase this, most recently Prime Video’s romantic comedy The Love Hypothesis .

Marsh plays Anh, a graduate student and best friend to Lili Reinhart ‘s Olive in the streamer’s adaptation of the wildly popular Ali Hazelwood novel. The actress was not looking to become the quirky best friend character, a trope that director Claire Scanlon and writers Sarah Rothschild and Hazelwood were not interested in rehashing. Related Stories TV 'Adults' Defies Sophomore Slump With Ratings Growth Next Big Thing Xolo Maridueña Wasn't Planning to Be an Actor, But Has Been "Pleasantly Surprised by the Journey"

“She is important in this story,” Marsh tells The Hollywood Reporter on a recent Zoom. “She also is funny.”

Marsh feels like the friendship between her character and Reinhart’s Olive is the foundation for the entire story, something that’s also true in Hazelwood’s book. The two women had a wonderful time finding that on — and off — screen friendship. “Building that trust was pretty easy. Lili is so amazing. She’s so sweet,” the actress says. “She’s such a good actor and a great scene partner. It was really fun for us to get to develop their best friendship over the course of the summer in Montreal.”

The upcoming romcom is not the first time you’ve seen Marsh on your screen. Her turn as Carly, the girlfriend to leading player Samir (Malik Elassal), in Adults has gone viral over the last month. It’s mostly thanks to a ridiculously catchy fake K-pop song in the series — if you haven’t heard “Hiccups (Body Go Crazy),” it’s time to look it up . “When I was reading it, I was like, ‘You guys know this is too good,'” she says of the song.

It all started when Marsh got a call from series co-creator Ben Kronengold telling her that the show was thinking about making Carly a K-pop star and wondering if it’s something she’d be comfortable with. “I was just tears in my eyes, full body chills,” she says cheekily. “No one’s ever asked me this before. My dream.”

Former Saturday Night Live video director Paul Briganti directed Marsh’s turn as a K-pop star on Adults , helping bring some SNL music parody vibes to the scene where she shoots a music video for the song. The director cheered her on as she made “the stupidest hand moves or facial expressions,” something she loved.

“It sparked something in me, which I think every single girl has. Where I wondered, ‘What if I can sing and I just haven’t been vocally produced in the right way,'” she says.

There’s an entire choreographed version of the song that didn’t make the cut. Maybe it’ll be released, she muses. But “Hiccups” fans, don’t worry. Marsh is also pleading for a version of the song to be released on streaming platforms.

“I really think they should put the song on Spotify or something,” she says. “I think people yearn for things like that, to just have a moment of joy.”

I feel good. It’s been really cool. We had our first fan screening the other night for The Love Hypothesis and it went really well. It’s fun, this waiting period.