Actresses Sandra Oh and Awkwafina bring winning chemistry to film Quiz Lady

TORONTO – In the new comedy Quiz Lady, Awkwafina and Sandra Oh star as siblings who turn to a television game show to solve their money woes.

And for the film’s Oscar-winning Chinese-American director Jessica Yu, having the two actresses tell this funny but touching tale of Asian-American sisters was a dream come true.

The story follows a brilliant but shy young woman, Anne (Awkwafina), and her more free-spirited older sister, Jenny (Oh), as they scramble to cover the gambling debts of their mother, who has run away from her nursing home.

When the duo cannot satisfy the bookie, Anne’s beloved dog is kidnapped - but her knack for answering game-show trivia questions might be a way to get the windfall they so desperately need.

Yu – who won an Academy Award for Breathing Lessons: The Life And Work Of Mark O’Brien (1996), a short documentary about the titular disabled journalist and poet – spoke at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier in 2023, where Quiz Lady premiered to glowing reviews. It premieres on Disney+ on Friday.

She says Awkwafina, the 35-year-old star of the romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and Oh, the 52-year-old lead of spy thriller Killing Eve (2018 to 2022), were already committed to the project when she was brought in to direct.

“We thought (American screenwriter) Jen D’Angelo’s script was incredibly touching and funny, and when I heard Awkwafina and Sandra were attached, I was just, like, ‘Yes, pick me.’

“So I didn’t really take any convincing, it was just a dream project,” says Yu, who has also directed episodes of hit television dramas such as This Is Us (2016 to 2022) and 13 Reasons Why (2017 to 2019).

She and the actresses collaborated to further develop the characters in the year before filming began.

“We had the great fortune of having some time to work on it together and just unpack some of the layers of the characters that build the foundation of their chemistry.”

Yu had already worked with Oh when she directed six episodes of Grey’s Anatomy (2005 to present), the hit medical drama that launched the Korean-Canadian actress’ career when she appeared on it from 2005 to 2014.

“Sandra can do anything,” she says of the acclaimed star, who also appeared in the comedy-drama film Sideways (2004) and the comedy series The Chair (2021).

“So it was not a stretch at all to see her as the more outrageous sister.”

And despite Awkwafina having cut her teeth in comedy, the film-maker knew – from the star’s more dramatic turn in The Farewell (2019) – that the actress, who is of Korean and Chinese descent, “has incredible range”.

“So I was just excited to see the chemistry between the two of them.”

Yu could relate to the story on a personal level too, and believes many in the audience will as well.

“I also have a sister named Jennifer, so there were some parallels there.

“And what really attracted me was the sister dynamic. I haven’t seen a lot of comedies about sisters and the fact that these were two Asian-American sisters was fun to explore, and I felt I had something I could bring to it.”

Yu also has a pet theory about siblings, which is that “you cannot be anybody but your childhood self with your sibling, and that happens in this film” – hence the childlike dynamic the two estranged women instantly regress to when they are reunited.

“Anne thinks she’s a grown-up, but when Jenny shows up, all of a sudden, they’re squabbling like they’re kids again.

“That was something I felt was universal and I loved bringing that dynamic into the film.”

And while the sisters’ Asian background is “not the sum of their identities”, Yu sought to weave in as much of their culture as possible.

“There were some specific jokes that came out of our discussions, and some of it had to do with the Asian-American experience, and details like the kind of food they eat,” the director says.

“But I hope the sibling dynamic is something everyone finds they can relate to, even through the specificity of what the sisters have been through.”