If there’s one movie that you have to see this year, it is Everything Everywhere All At Once. The Michelle Yeoh-led dive into the multiverse of Yeoh was written and directed by the duo known as the Daniels and brings about a return to acting for The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom star Ke Huy Quan. The movie also gives us an absolutely brilliant performance of Joy from actress Stephanie Hsu.
I got to speak to the Be More Chill and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star about her character and what drew her into the project in the first place. “It still remains to be one of the best scripts I’ve ever read,” Hsu said. “Because everything that you saw on the screen is actually right on the page as well. And I just couldn’t believe that I was reading something that was like as funny and dumb and wacky as it was incredibly soulful and heartfelt and like deeply vulnerable. While also asking these very, very big philosophical questions that I think often come up in our lives.”
Hsu plays Joy, the daughter of Evelyn (Yeoh) and Waymond (Quan), who is struggling to find her own purpose in her life and almost believes that nothing matters before revealing that she is a version of a greater evil coming for Evelyn in alternate universes.
The thing about Everything Everywhere All At Once is that it is a film that takes your expectations of each of its characters and changes them over and over again. It’s something that Hsu noticed within her character as well as all the actors who are a part of the movie. “And this, I think just blows people’s expectations of what they thought or think I should be in, you know? But everyone brought that,” she said. “I mean, Jamie Lee Curtis, I’ve never seen her look like that before. And she is so singular in everything that she does. And it was just amazing. I feel like I was walking into a masterclass every single day and [it was the] same with Michelle. I’ve never seen her as a really, like, normal woman. I think we all kind of entered this hive mind of what this project is.”
What does Hsu hope the movie inspires in us all? “I hope that artists are inspired to make more art, which I think is already happening,” she said. “And also I hope that people have their brains exploded. I hope people have their brains exploded and their hearts melted and that it inspires people to go out into the world and be kinder to one another. And to fix those broken bridges within your family or within your dynamics of loved ones.”
Stephanie Hsu shines in Everything Everywhere All At Once
You can see our full interview together here! Speaking to Hsu, and watching her shine was as Joy, was a huge treat. Everything Everywhere All At Once is a must-see. Tell everyone you know.
Everything Everywhere All At Once is in select theaters now and this is definitely one you won’t want to miss!
(image: A24)
