One of the most fun comedic pairings of 2023 has to be Awkwafina and Sandra Oh in Hulu’s Quiz Lady, which started streaming last month. But if you thought their project on the 2023 film schedule was the first time the pair of actors crossed paths, you’d actually be wrong. They first joined the same cast back in 2019 for Disney Animation’s Raya and the Last Dragon. When reflecting on their history of co-stars, the pair shared why they much preferred working together on Quiz Lady.
Prior to Sandra Oh playing Awkwafina’s sister in the R-rated comedy about a game show obsessive’s chaotic journey to becoming an official contestant, they both had voice roles in the Raya and the Last Dragon cast alongside the likes of Kelly Marie Tran, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim and Benedict Wong. Here’s how Awkwafina compared the experiences:
It’s interesting because Raya, we did a lot of that during the pandemic, so we weren’t ever really together. Sandra and I had crossed paths and we love each other … I personally always wished for an opportunity like this to work with her.
Unlike a live-action comedy like Quiz Lady, when actors sign up to voiceovers in Disney movies, especially in the time of a worldwide pandemic, they don’t always actually get to work with their co-stars. In the vocal booth, many times actors act against the other filmmakers rather than being in front of their co-stars. So, while they were both in Raya and the Last Dragon together, they didn’t get the kind of quality time that Quiz Lady provided them.
In Raya and the Last Dragon, Awkwafina played the magical dragon Sisu whilst Sandra Oh played Virana, the chief of Fang Land. The animated adventure was unfortunately greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic not only during production, but within its release as it dropped on Disney+’s Premier Access feature on the same day it came to theaters in March 2021. It made $130 million worldwide against a reported $100 million budget.
While Awkwafina and Sandra Oh were isolated from each other during the production of Raya, they had the chance to really play off each other in Quiz Lady. When CinemaBlend spoke to the movie’s director Jessica Yu, she recalled Oh in particular “pushing” the dislocated wrist gag in particular and we can imagine the pair had a ton of other hilarious on-set improvisation moments between one another.
While Awkwafina has definitely made a mark for herself in the realm of comedy in recent years, Quiz Lady definitely has us sold on Sandra Oh being part of more comedies in the future. And hopefully, the two star in another funny film like Quiz Lady in the near future. You can see both actresses in their favorite project together now with a Hulu subscription.