'Quiz Lady' director celebrates Sandra Oh going to 'extremes' for her character
From a floppy wrist to a dog named Linguine, Oh and Awkwafina shine in the laugh-out-loud comedy on Disney+
After making crowds holler with laughter at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Quiz Lady, starring Awkwafina and Sandra Oh, comes to Disney+ in Canada on Nov. 3.
Where to watch Quiz Lady: Disney+ in Canada, Hulu in the U.S. on Nov 3
Director: Jessica Yu
Cast: Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, Holland Taylor, Will Ferrell, Jason Schwartzman, Tony Hale, Jon "Dumbfoundead" Park
Runtime: 99 minutes
Watch Quiz Lady on Disney+, subscriptions starting at $7.99/month
What is 'Quiz Lady' about?
Directed by Jessica Yu, Quiz Lady is a story about two sisters, Anne (Awkwafina) and Jenny (Oh).
Anne is the more reserved sister, whose favourite activities include spending time with her dog Linguine and watching the TV game show "Can't Stop The Quiz," hosted by Terry McTeer (Will Ferrell).
Jenny is more of a free spirit, seemingly living in her car when we first meet the character in the movie, when the sisters are called to a retirement home after their mother leaves the residence without notice.
Things get more complicated when Anne and Jenny find out their mom owes $80,000 in gambling debt to a bookie, who has also taken Linguine while he waits for his money.
In order to get the funds, the sisters set off on a road trip so Anne can compete in "Can't Stop The Quiz" and win enough money to get her dog back.
Yu highlighted that Jen D'Angelo is an incredibly funny writer and the script was a "pleasure" to read right from the beginning.
"I hadn't really seen a comedy about sisters and so that was interesting," Yu told Yahoo Canada during TIFF, speaking about what drew the director to the project. "And of course that they were Asian-American sisters, that felt very new."
"Then I was just super excited that we already had Awkwafina and Sandra Oh attached, so literally it was a dream project."
'She was so game to push her character to extremes'
Even though Oh has certainly shown her comedic acting chops in projects like the movie Sideways, and Awkwafina has taken on more serious roles, like in The Farewell, many were still expecting the casting to be swapped for this movie. But Quiz Lady is really a testament to the wonderful range of both these actors.
"For Awkwafina, she's more known for her comedy in some ways and for having a louder persona, but I've also been a big admirer of her work in The Farewell and also in Swan Song, and other places where she's kind of the emotional pivot," Yu said. "So I was excited to show that side of her more, in a comedy."
"Then with Sandra, I've worked with her a few times, the woman could do anything. She has so much physicality to her work and she can be extremely funny. ... I felt like all of that could come out and she was so game to push her character to extremes. So if she wants to go there, it's like, 'Oh yes, this is going to be great.'"
Watch Quiz Lady on Disney+, subscriptions starting at $7.99/month
While we won't spoil all the comedy, there's one particularly funny scene where Jenny has a very dislocated wrist and she's waving it around. It's a hysterical physical comedy moment that set the TIFF premiere crowd into hysterics in September.
"What was funny about that moment is that we had, in making the prosthetic, we had one that was not quite as floppy, that was a little more realistically dislocated," Yu explained. "Sandra was like, 'No I've got to be able to flop it!'"
"What I like about that though is that it starts with that absurd moment and then that scene goes to some place very personal, which also has humour to it."
While the comedy is definitely there, Quiz Lady also strives to balance that with emotional moments between two sisters who have grown apart, and come back together to support each other.
"Comedy can be disarming in a way that makes you weirdly relate more to an absurd situation than something that is told with very specific, dramatic handling," Yu said. "So here, it's almost like comedy can allow you to get closer to the truth sometimes."
"Through humour you can get to the heart of the thing and speak a truth that, in polite company, we don't usually go there. ... I do think that it can make unusual situations seem more universal."
