Stephanie Hsu Is Ready to Keep Hollywood Guessing
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.