Hulu Originals will be streaming “Quiz Lady” on Friday that tells the story of a game show obsessed fan who dreams on being a show champion.
The film features Awkwafina (“Crazy Rich Asians”), Sandra Oh (“Sideways”), Will Ferrell (“Old School”), Jason Schwartzman (“Rushmore”), Holland Taylor (“Legally Blonde”), and Tony Hale (“Toy Story 4”).
“Quiz Lady” is directed by Jessica Yu, which it’s her latest directorial film after six years directing “Maria Bamford: Old Baby.” Yu has directed other TV shows that notably included FX’s “American Horror Story”, AppleTV+’s “The Morning Show”, Showtime’s “Billions”, and ABC’s “The Rookie”.
The story tells of Anne (Awkwafina), and Jenny (Oh), who two estranged sisters who find out their mother was kidnapped over her gambling debts.
Anne receives a phone call from the senior housing facility that her mom has gone missing. She reunites with her estranged sister Jenny after receiving the news about her missing mother.
It is found that her mother was in trouble over her gambling debts, Anne dog has been kidnapped and won’t be able to get her pet back until her mother’s obligations are paid.
Anne and Jenny are watching Anne’s favorite game show and the only way to help her mother is tapping in Anne’s skill set. The sisters drive cross-country for Anne to be in a game show in order to win back everything that was taken from them.
“I was aa big fan of Awkwafina, not only for her comedy, but her acting jobs,” said the director Jessica Yu about Awkwafina for the lead role. “She’s a very fine dramatic actor.”
This will be Will Ferrell’s third movie in 2023 after his stellar performances on “Barbie” (2023) and “Strays” (2023).
“Will Ferrell, a legend, he like the idea of playing Terry McTear,” said Yu about casting Ferrell in the film.
Ferrell will continue to make audiences laugh as he has over the years from Saturday Night Live to the big screen.
Yu’s storyline is a connection not just with Asian American families but reaching out to various audiences that can relate.
“One of the big differences I see is that a few years ago, there were not very many Asian-unrelated / Asian American-related projects out there,” said Yu about the film. “They were sparse. I know they’re sending them to me because ‘here’s the shortlist of Asian American directors.’ Now, there’s a lot that’s out there and you could see the variety and the types of stories that are coming out where a character is Asian American — that’s not the whole point of their character.”
