Quiz Lady director Jessica Yu discusses working with Awkwafina and Sandra Oh, and Awkwafina's shocking but brilliant story idea.
The Big Picture If you’re looking for a heartfelt, star-studded comedy about a dysfunctional family, Oscar-winning director Jessica Yu’s Quiz Lady is hitting Hulu just in time for the start of the holiday season. It’s the filmmaker’s first feature-length project in nearly 10 years, and in that time she’s been hard at work directing for television on series like Parenthood, This Is Us, and most recently, American Horror Story.
Quiz Lady A gameshow-obsessed woman and her estranged sister work together to help cover their mother's gambling debts. YU: Oh, gosh! I have not really thought about that. I mean, I would say certainly anywhere where there’s comedy. So, for example, a little bit different , but some years ago I did an episode of Lady Dynamite with Maria Bamford who makes a cameo in Quiz Lady, and there’s something about the whimsical sort of goofy, yes-we-are-going-there nature of some of those jokes that I felt are akin to some of the humor in Quiz Lady where we just push things a little bit.
I have to follow up on that. Can you walk us through that day you were having that conversation where she just randomly suggested that of all things? It takes it to an 11 for sure, but I have to imagine that literally every person on this planet has had the fear of clogging a toilet in a strange home.
YU: Really great question! With Sandra, she prepares like no one else, and she has her own methods of inhabiting her character and movement work and all that. I wish she were here to talk about that. But I would say that it was really interesting to watch her go into detail about what is Jenny wearing, what does her makeup look like, how long are her lashes, what’s she doing with her nails – all those things. It’s like your armor; you put it on and then you go into battle.
YU: That’s a thing about visual effects is that it’s amazing what can be done. Sometimes you’re thinking, “Oh, I just hope that they can do this,” and you describe it, and then as it comes along, you get something and you’re like, “Whoa! That’s even better.” I had the idea that I wanted to split-screen their experiences so we had both POVs in one shot.
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