Two estranged sisters are reunited for a unique twist on the family drama with Quiz Lady. The movie centers on a tightly wound game show-obsessed woman whose dog is kidnapped by mobsters looking for her mom to pay her $80,000 gambling debt. With the help of her chaotic sister, the two set off to get her an audition on her favorite game show in the hopes of winning the jackpot and paying for her dog back.
Awkwafina and Sandra Oh lead the ensemble Quiz Lady cast alongside Jason Schwartzman, Holland Taylor, Tony Hale, Jon “Dumbfoundead” Park, Will Ferrell, and the late Paul Reubens in a posthumous role. Mixing physical comedy with heartfelt character development between its lead stars, the Hulu comedy is the feel-good movie of the year.
Ahead of the movie’s premiere, Screen Rant interviewed director Jessica Yu to discuss Quiz Lady, collaborating with Oh, Awkwafina and writer/producer Jen D’Angelo to perfect the script, the themes that went into crafting its fictional game show, and the importance of Asian-American representation.
Jessica Yu Breaks Down Quiz Lady
Screen Rant: I’m very excited to get to chat with you, Jessica, for Quiz Lady. In the past decade, we’ve seen you work a lot on television, but it’s been a while since you’ve made a film. What about Jen’s script really spoke to you want to get in the director’s chair for this one?
Jessica Yu: I think what I loved is that it was comedy about sisters, which I realized we don’t really see that much of. So, there was something in that sibling relationship, the idea that your sibling knows you better than you want to remember sometimes. Also, the game show idea was really, really fun. She’s just a very funny writer, too, so it was that balance of that heart, and also the humor. Also, I knew when I read it that Awkwafina And Sandra Oh were already attached, so I had the pleasure of already imagining them in the roles, so yeah, it didn’t take a lot of convincing. I was just, “Yeah. Please. Me.” [Chuckles]
Speaking of Awkwafina and Sandra Oh, one thing I love about them is that they play against type very much in this movie with their roles. Obviously, they were very excited to tackle their roles by signing on before you came on board, but what was it like working with them on the day to really ensure that they didn’t maybe hold back too much and really leaned into their characters?
Jessica Yu: Yeah, I would say, especially with Sandra, there’s no holding back. She really wanted to push this character, and like, she said she liked the idea of playing a very inappropriate character who is very self-serving, so it takes a while to kind of get those layers and to see what she’s actually been to her sister, which is much more nuanced than it seems in the beginning. So with her, there was a lot, she does a lot of preparation, and we had a year to work together before we started shooting with her, with Awkwafina and with Jen workshopping together.
I think we really were able to have the building blocks of the working relationship, and also being on the same page with where the story lived, so all that worked. That said, they’re very different in their processes, but on set, I think they’re both very much wanting to keep that moment of when the cameras are rolling, “Keep it spontaneous, keep it genuine, keep it in the moment.” That’s all about them being in tune with each other, and really playing off each other, it was really cool to watch. I know this is a very long answer, but I remember Awkwafina said a cool thing where she said she really felt like she was actually related to Sandra, and I think that really comes across.
That’s incredible, their bond is so well-developed throughout this film, it felt genuine. That actually was going to go into my next question, which was about improv, because obviously Awkwafina has a comedy background already. How much room was there for them to just live in the moment and play off-script versus sticking to Jen’s writing?
Jessica Yu: So, because we spent a lot of time on the script together, everybody absorbing it, we always shot what was on the page first, and then there would always be room to play once we got that. So, there were some scenes that leant themselves more to improv than others, say the charades, there was just a lot of stuff flying back and forth. [Chuckles] But in every scene, though, we would always make sure to do justice to the words, and then we could play and order off the menu.
That’s a good balance. Especially when you have someone like Awkwafina, you want to let her loose occasionally.
Jessica Yu: Oh, yeah, and there’s just always jokes bubbling on the surface and physical comedy, and she just loves things to bounce against, and sometimes I would just really not want to call “cut”, because I was just enjoying it.
Another thing I wanted to talk about was creating the game itself. It feels like a nice departure from Jeopardy!, while still having some roots there. What was it like finding a unique approach to creating this game show for the film that didn’t feel too much like it was pulling from real-world shows?
Jessica Yu: Sure, I think what we liked is the idea is that it was a smart show that was also trying to be friendly, right? Terry McTeer, the host, is always like, “Learning is fun,” that’s kind of his idea, but it’s also a show where you see that, over time, the producers have gone, “We better jazz this up, we have better have this giant coin spinning at the end, and the audience chanting, and lights.” So, you can see that’s how that show has evolved. We wanted to make it a familiar show, but have this element at the end where there’s something that’s less controlled, and that’s the charades idea where Anne cannot do it alone, so leaving the door open for her to need her sister. It was that kind of construction that really, I think, mirrored what we wanted to do with their relationship. We couldn’t do that, I think, with existing game shows, it needed to be created.
Another thing I loved about this film in regard to both Awkwafina and Sandra’s characters is seeing Asian-American women take the lead in a comedy and be given the spotlight. Obviously, Everything Everywhere all at Once has made that a new thing in the mainstream, but this was done well before that. What was it like getting to help bring that new form of representation and authenticity to the screen?
Jessica Yu: I think we were really excited about the idea of the sisters’ identity being layered into everything they did, but not having them have to explain themselves, right? It wasn’t like we needed to have them have a monologue where we go, “Oh, we understand their experience, now we can proceed with the story.” That’s part of the humor, too, where occasionally, Jenny will kind of manipulate a moment by gatekeeping the Asian-American experience, we had a lot of fun with that. [Chuckles]
So, it was almost like we were using that kind of humor, that sort of self-referential humor, it felt like a little step forward, for me, at least, in terms of the depiction of Asian-Americans on screen. Being able to have those tongue-in-cheek jokes., it was really a lot of fun to find those moments.
I grew up with Two and a Half Men, so seeing Holland Taylor as Anne’s neighbor was just such a delight, and it feels like a character that’s both wholly in her wheelhouse, but also something very new. What was it like finding her to play this part and then discussing the layers to her?
Jessica Yu: So, I’ve worked with Holland a few times, absolutely love her. And so in this, you know, her question was, “Well, is she someone who hates life, what is her deal?” I said that, “The secret to Francine is that she feels like she’s got all the answers, she’s the only one who’s not a sucker. She’s figured out life’s just not worth bothering with.” So, to me, it’s like she represents the ghost of Anne’s future. If you just keep living in your little world, the insulating layers get thicker and thicker, and is that where Anne wanted to be?
So, that was kind of the idea for Holland, and also, I love that her humor is in timing. It’s also physical, but there’s just so much subtlety in the ways that she is funny in this, so you can look and think she’s just completely playing it straight — which she kind of is — but she’s so skilled that these little moments, she could just twist them a little bit and then they become hilarious.
I did also want to ask about Paul Reubens’ cameo in this movie, especially now that he has unfortunately passed. What was it like getting to work with him, and how did the idea for him come about?
Jessica Yu: So, Jen had this great idea of a doppelgänger for Francine’s crush, Holland Taylor’s crush, and we were really excited about the idea of, “Would Paul Reubens want to do something like this?” One day, Sandra just called him, she came up and was like, “Paul’s on the phone!” He was just so delightful, he wanted to come out and play with us, and everyone was so excited, “Pee-Wee’s on set!” It just was like a reminder of how much joy he brought to people, and we had this magical [moment], it was our first day of shooting, and it just felt like, “Ah, this is going to be good, we have Pee-Wee!” [Laughs] No one knew that he wasn’t well, so it’s just this lovely memory that now is quite bittersweet, but yeah, I could not imagine the film without him.
About Quiz Lady
Anne, a tightly wound, game show-obsessed woman, must come together with her chaotic sister Jenny in order to help pay off their mother’s gambling debts. When Anne’s beloved dog is kidnapped, they will have to set off on a cross-country journey in order to get the money they need. In order to do so, they will have to tap into Anne’s skill set by turning her into the game show champion she was always meant to be.
Check out our other interview with writer Jen D’Angelo as well.
Quiz Lady begins streaming on Hulu on November 3.
