Quiz Lady stars Awkwafina and Sandra Oh as two polar opposites sisters trying to repay their mother’s huge gambling debt. Anne, a shy and reserved accountant, has spent every evening since childhood watching Can’t Stop the Quiz with her pampered pug. She guesses every question correctly. The boisterous and older Jenny has never had a real job. She bounces between careers while constantly trying to be hip. Jenny has the crazy idea for Anne to compete on the game show and solve all of their problems. But she’ll have to beat the arrogant Ron Heacock (Jason Schwartzman), who has the most consecutive wins. Will Ferrell produces and costars as Terry McTeer, the kind host and only consistent figure in Anne’s life.

Oscar-winner Jessica Yu, known for her documentaries (Last Call at the Oasis, Misconception) and extensive television work (The West Wing, This Is Us), directs the all-star comedy with a heartwarming touch. The film cleverly mocks Asian stereotypes with humor “the initial script didn’t have.” Yu “workshopped” with writer Jen D’Angelo and her leads to add “that layer of the Asian American specificity.” The protagonists are very much “outsiders” even “within their own family.” The disparate sisters learn to work together and express their love for each other.

Quiz Lady marks the final performance of Paul Reubens. The iconic Pee-Wee Herman has a hilarious cameo that will have audiences rolling. Yu praises Reubens as “completely delightful.” He came “ready to play” after Sandra Oh gave him a call. Those “joyful” memories are now “bittersweet” since his passing. Yu feels “blessed” to have his “magical moment” in the film. You can read on for our full interview with Jessica Yu.

Sandra Oh and Awkwafina Play Polar Opposites
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MovieWeb: Awkwafina is so cool and hip. Sandra Oh is such a sophisticated actress. They’re frumpy and eccentric here, almost unrecognizable. Talk about creating their image and style.

Jessica Yu: Awkwafina plays a character who doesn’t like to be looked at, to the point where she’s kind of become invisible in her life. I was interested in making her kind of sink into the color palette, or lack of color palette of her environment. Her house has very neutral colors. When she’s at work, she’s wearing outfits that matched her cubicle. There were some conversations, what’s the color in between the cubicle wall and her skin tone. Let’s make her outfit that color. That was kind of fun and Awkwafina herself, she walks and sort of hunches over. It’s almost like she’s trying to be a little smaller.

Jessica Yu: Sandra’s character, her older sister, Jenny, is very much wanting to be seen. She’s somebody who’s also kind of stuck in the past where she had the height of her dreams. It’s kind of like the early aughts. She’s totally unabashed about wearing fashions that she probably shouldn’t be necessarily wearing at her age. Sandra was very involved in all the accessories, necklaces, hair extensions, how long should her eyelashes be. Those layers were also very character building. Those two, the contrast was just great fun.

Related: Quiz Lady Review: Game Show Comedy Gets Moderate Laughs

MW: Jennie’s mocking of Asian stereotypes is quite clever. The scene with the driver had me falling out of my chair laughing. Was that humor originally in the script, or added by you and the cast?

Jessica Yu: The initial script didn’t have that layer of the Asian American specificity and some of those jokes. It was in the process of workshopping together with [screenwriter] Jen D’Angelo, Sandra, and Awkwafina, that a lot of that humor came out. We love the idea of the sisters growing up Asian American in the Pittsburgh area. Maybe there are times that they felt like outsiders. But even within their own families, they were kind of the loser branch of the family. I love the idea of especially Sandra’s character, kind of manipulating, owning that gatekeeping, you know, the cultural knowledge, and using it to her advantage. We just thought we could play with that.

Will Ferrell as Terry McTeer
Hulu

MW: Will Ferrell produces and also plays the game show host Terry McTeer. Is he mocking Alex Trebek? Is there somebody specifically that he’s trying to make fun of?

Jessica Yu: I don’t think his character is actually mocking somebody. What I see about his character is that he’s somebody who really loves what he does, and presents himself as this very personable guy. We don’t know, is he as good as he seems to be? You know, see the man behind the curtain. It was kind of playing with that sort of folksy idea. I loved seeing Will create this character as someone who has almost like this avuncular kind of friendliness. There’s just a wonder behind it. There’s this really sincere, gosh, golly, gee behind it. He’s also smarter than everybody thinks. It was the kind of role where Will could naturally bring humor to it. And then also with his ability as an actor, bring some emotion to that characterization as well. One of the most heartfelt scenes in the film is between him and Awkwafina.

Directing Paul Reubens Before He Passed
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MW: Holland Taylor, the jerk neighbor with the 666 address, Will Ferrell, Paul Reubens, rest in peace, and Tony Hale, you have these really famous comedians in this film. Talk about getting the supporting cast together?

Jessica Yu: We did go and seek out our cast specifically. We were very lucky to already have the core of our amazing cast. That was what drew more talented people, but also just really good, fun people to work with. I had worked with Holland Taylor a few times. I was so excited about her living in the 666 side of the duplex. That 666 was actually there when we were scouting. I was like, this is fate. I knew that she would be terrific. Then getting Tony Hale, Jason Schwartzman, and Dumbfoundead, John Park, who plays our Asian gangster. It was just the best ensemble where everyone was bringing us a little something extra.

Related: Hulu’s Quiz Lady Boasts One of the Best Ensemble Casts of 2023

MW: Can you discuss working with Paul Reubens specifically? I saw the film cold and didn’t realize he had a cameo. Pee-wee Herman is such an iconic figure. What was he like on set?

Jessica Yu: Paul was just completely delightful. Sandra called him, and he said, yes, he would join our silly reindeer games. The minute everyone heard Pee-Wee’s onset, everybody got really excited and faces just lifted. He just came and was ready to play. He had a really good time, watching him and Holland Taylor, it’s such a joyful memory. That’s now bittersweet. We were just blessed to be able to have him come in and bring a magical moment to the film.

MW: What’s the best and worst day for you as director of Quiz Lady?

Jessica Yu: The best day was actually the first day. We had to shoot the very last scene on the first day. It’s an emotional scene. I was trying to not have it be on the first day. Sandra and Awkwafina, they’re such pros. What I loved is that they just they nailed it, and seeing the bond between the sisters, I thought, wow, we know where we have to get to. They gave us this beautiful scene. Now we’re going to earn this with the rest of the scene. We also know, as crazy as the humor gets, that’s where we need to go to. That was beautiful. And we had Paul Reubens on the first day too. So just tremendous feeling after the first day.

Jessica Yu: The worst day is probably when I got COVID. We were shooting in the hotel ballroom and I started not to feel so great. I was like, oh crap. That wasn’t great, having to monitor from afar for a few days. But we got through it and it wasn’t bad. It was my turn. So yeah, not a funny anecdote.

Quiz Lady, however, is full of funny anecdotes. Quiz Lady will have a November 3rd streaming premiere exclusively on Hulu.