What's next after earning an Oscar nomination for a film that swept the Academy Awards? For Stephanie Hsu, with success in Everything Everywhere All at Once in hand, she's keeping Hollywood guessing. She's starting with Joy Ride (July 7), a debaucherous comedy about four friends who travel through Asia to find one of their birth mothers while also getting into all kinds of trouble. "When I read it, I just felt, 'Wow, that sounds like so much fun. What an amazing opportunity to just be completely unhinged,'" she told me on Newsweek's Parting Shot.
She plays Kat, an aspiring actress. "I wanted to make sure she wasn't just a pretty face.... It was fun to just be totally ridiculous and kind of mean."
The ridiculous part is what's most exciting for Hsu, because "we've seen men do it time and again," but this time, women are in on the action.
As for how the Oscar nomination impacted her career, Hsu, while grateful, takes a more balanced view of her future. "Even though I do believe that there has to be different ways of measuring success and worth, no question that that nomination and the movie changed my life."
How did Joy Ride come your way?
I shot an episode of Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens. [Executive producer] Teresa Hsiao, one of the writers for Joy Ride, pulled me aside on set and was like, "Hey, I'm working on a really debauchery comedy. And I think it would be really great for you."
What did you relate to about Kat?
She's an aspiring movie star. I had an association in my mind of what that character would look like and who would typically be cast. I thought to myself, "Well, I would never play a movie star." Don't get me wrong, I think I'm beautiful, I just don't think I'm traditionally Hollywood beautiful. Because I felt like not stereotypically Hollywood beautiful, I had to find a way to make her insane. It was fun.
How exciting is it to be doing a big, raunchy comedy?
I feel like I am on the campaign trail for bringing the Hollywood studio comedy back. It feels so good to laugh, and we need it. Someone said to me, it takes really smart people to make humor that is so stupid. It's not easy to do that.
Have you recovered from Everything Everywhere All at Once's success?
Last year was wild. I remember, at every point along the way, including Ke [Huy Quan] including Michelle [Yeoh], including Jamie [Lee Curtis], we were like the little engine that could, it just kept growing and growing and growing. I just feel grateful.
This week on the Parting Shot podcast, I'm talking all things Hollywood health fads, from the obsession with the weight-loss drug Ozempic to hallucinogenics. I chatted with Thomas Fairman, leader of WYLD, a 3-day naked retreat in nature for men to discover "what it takes to live a life of confidence and fulfillment in the modern world - without being overwhelmed, distracted, or burnt out." I also chatted with Clayton Farris, an actor and content creator, about his use of hallucinogens to manage anxiety and depression. (How LA is that?!?) Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. And follow me at HAlanScott on everything.
BY PAUL BOND
An unusually contentious Pride Month is drawing to a close.
Not only has it been overshadowed by boycotts of brands that had trumpeted their support for transgender rights in particular, but opinion polls have suggested falling support for the LGBTQ+ community in general after years of growing acceptance.
On June 6, the Human Rights Campaign declared a first-of-its kind national state of emergency for the LGBTQ+ community while leading advocacy group GLAAD has dubbed 2023 "a year of unprecedented challenge," and there's plenty of evidence to back that assertion.
"The threats are becoming tangible, terrifying, and can no longer be ignored," NYC Pride said on its website, noting that an escalation of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric is "disproportionately targeting our trans siblings."
The criticism of Pride Month has been led by the political right at a time that LGBTQ+ matters have taken a central place in the U.S. culture wars between conservatives and progressives.
Pride Month had become an increasing opportunity for brands to signal their social awareness, whether through genuine commitment, to show solidarity with staff and customers or for the benefit of big investment firms demanding respect for environmental, social, and governance criteria.
But this year companies and sports teams found themselves under fire for taking pro-LGBTQ+ positions, most prominently Bud Light and Target, with both seen as wavering in the face of boycotts.
Disney viewers appear skeptical of some moves to include more LGBTQ+ representation in its movies, according to exclusive polling conducted on behalf of Newsweek.
John Boyega, who starred with Foxx in the upcoming film, They Cloned Tyrone, told People magazine that he recently chatted with him.
James Holzhauer made light of how replacing Pat Sajak with Ryan Seacrest was virtually drama-free compared to finding Alex Trebek's replacement.
The New York Police Department has confirmed to Newsweek that the woman who accused the Creed III star of assault has not been arrested, following his claims that she assaulted him first.
The singer's manager said she is out of the ICU and recovering at home after developing a serious bacterial infection.
The comedian, 36, addressed allegations she was inappropriate with young fans and also used some of them for free labor. The video is captioned: "This is not an apology."
The British monarchy has failed to meet its own target of diversifying its workforce to have 10 percent of its employees be ethnic minorities in 2023, new data has revealed.
Nil Patel's "proposal" sparked a lot of negative comments online but he told Newsweek it was actually not as bad as people thought. Find out why.
JOCELYN CHIA
On June 5, the Comedy Cellar posted a clip from a show I had done in which I depicted Malaysia as the ex who broke up with Singapore—the country I grew up in—and Singapore was now having a "glow-up."
The clip was performing very well, but when I posted the same one on my social media on Tuesday morning, things started to take a nasty turn.
I first saw someone sharing my clip in an Instagram story—the words were in Malay, which I didn't understand, but ended with a "wow!" Funnily enough, thinking it was a compliment, I reposted the story. However, as negative story shares and comments rapidly piled up, I soon realized that "wow!" had not been meant as a compliment.
By Tuesday night, I was getting calls, messages, and emails from Malaysians cursing me out, issuing threats, and demanding an apology for my "offensive" joke. Queries from media outlets in Asia were starting to pour in.
My Google alerts that notified me whenever my name appeared in the news, a bi-annual occurrence at best, were going off like a popcorn machine.
I knew what I had to do. I am not like some comedians who can just ignore or block nasty comments. I used to be a lawyer, and in the face of a verbal attack, the lawyer in me will rear her argumentative head and engage in battle.
With this kind of massive onslaught, however, engagement would have been both futile and emotionally destroying. Instead, it was time to play defense.
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