BD Wong - Stretching His Comedy Muscles on Awkwafina is Nora from Queens | The Daily Show

Welcome to The Daily Show. -These people are very nice.. -They are very nice. -They're very, very nice people.. -Thank you. -Um, welcome to the show., -Yes, thank you for having me. Uh, congratulations on yet another show. I feel like, you are one of those people that I have watched. my entire life, and yet you have never aged. -Uh.... -I just know you in every movie. Like, you have the same face, and you've played. such a wide berth of roles. You play villains., You play... You play good guys. You-you play, like, extreme, characters, like in Mr. Robot. Like, one of the, like, the baddest people and one of the most, complicated characters. Now you're playing a dad in a comedy. -Yes. -Is this... Is this a big departure for you? It is. It really is. I don't play a lot of, like,. kind of... like, heteronormative nice guys with, you know,, a nice relationship to his-his... his sweet but troubled daughter. -Right. -It's-it's a new thing for me. And it's also a comedy in a way. that it's refreshing for me, because I've been doing. a lot of serious stuff. I kind rediscovered... After I left Law & Order: SVU, -which I was on for 11 years,, I-I rediscov... -Uh-huh. -(cheering and applause) -Thank you. Um, I rediscovered. that I was a character actor, and then I really started really getting into, like, re-reacquainting myself. with that super creative, kind of transformative. kind of work. And, so, then, after Mr. Robot, which just finished. its last season, uh, this show came along, and it was kind of. the perfect thing for me to kind of, uh,, stretch different muscles, comedy muscles. that I hadn't used in-in decades and, um, kind of, uh, a kind of a sweetness, a warm quality,. a-a family kind of quality, -which I like.. Which I really like. -Right. The show has a really beautiful, story line and arc to it because it-it feels genuine. It's about this family, who is Asian, but then it's not, like, about them being Asian. -It isn't. Yeah., -They're just Asian. And then they have a life,. and they have a story. And-and people... I don't know, if people really understand how rare that is for us,. for my community, the Asian community, that that... For us to have a-a family. that's not there because they're Asian, um, and-and because of. a representation is so kind of low that-that it is,

a kind of meaningful thing to see a family. that's just being a family -and having family issues that are not really... -Yes. -Yes. -So, therefore,, it's kind of even more universal than, um, an-an Asian show -that's super Asian specific. -Right. And-and it's nice that way., I mean, we really... As an audience member, I've craved it, and so it's nice. to be involved in it. I was in Margaret Cho's show, in the '90s. -That was All-American Girl.. -That-that was... I think that -was the first Asian family. -First Asian American family. -Yeah. -Yeah. And, so, you know, my... When I compare the experience, that I had on Margaret's show, um, Margaret struggled a lot,. and not... and not for any reasons, that were related to Margaret -and Margaret's stardom or talent. -Right. It was a different time, and Margaret was kind of,, in some ways, shoehorned into a kind of corporate idea of what Margaret could be. And Awkwafina is allowed, to really do her thing. A-Awkwafina, has taken the initiative to hire, uh, writers around her and surround herself. with many women writers and with people of color as well as directors. -Mm-hmm. -And it... I think it shows in the final product. We don't... we don't flinch, about all of the-the things that we're describing, in the show that are either. specifically Asian or related to being Asian. because they're all kind of from and created by the people who really know. what those things are. It comes from an authentic place. -It does. Really does.. -Right. It's interesting, 'cause I remember. Michelle Yeoh said that, you know,. after Crazy Rich Asians, which was really beautiful,. she said, "We have no problem. laughing at ourselves, -but laugh with us, not at us.", -Yes, absolutely. -Which... -And there was.... there was a history of us -being laughed at or derided or whatever that took us... -Yes. It has taken us a long time to even teach people, that there's a difference. You know, the difference between those two things. You have a career that-that is now really... I mean,, it spans from comedy shows all the way to giant movies. You know, like, the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchise -is one that you have been. an intricate part of. -Yes. Did you ever predict, that you would become basically the baddest person

in the Jur... -I mean, there's dinosaurs. -In the history of the world. -Um... -Yeah. And, like,. there's, like raptors and T. rexes, and it's like,. no, you're the bad guy. -That's pretty wild., -Yes. Because I made them. -Yeah, because they.... Yes, yes. I'm al... -(laughs) Yes. I don't... Well, I don't know what to say about that. -What does it feel like being... -I mean, I... He was -a very benign character. in the first movie. -Yes. -That's what I mean. -He was very sweet. And he-he was kind of related to the original... -The book, the first, Jurassic Park book. -Yes. And then he's taken a turn, which is much more interesting, uh, and-and who knows... And there's another movie, coming out, you know,, in-in a year and a half. It's-it's..., All of these things... Trevor, it's like a.... I feel very lucky, and they just kind of come. to me, and I'm-I'm very lucky, that I... that I don't, uh... that I have this-this wealth of a menu of things that I get to choose from and get to do them, because it really does allow me to explore my creativity as a character actor. and as a-a creative person. And-and I'm--, I hate to say the G-word-- I'm grateful,, you know, for, uh... Oh, I didn't know what the G..., I was like, "There's a..." I was like, "There's a G-word now? What is the G-word?" I was like, "There's a G-word?" Grate... I think you can say "grateful." -I don't think we... -I know. I don't think we bleep. "grateful" on the show. I've been talking about gratefulness in my therapy. -Um, well, you know..., -But you can say "grateful." -Yes, and... I guess I have..., -Is that, like, frowned upon -in some places? -No,, but I think I have an issue... We shouldn't get into it, right now, but it... but it is a thing that I feel is overused. -Easily overused, right?, -I understand -what you're saying. #Grateful.. -#Grateful. Yeah. -So grateful., -I say #Blessed. -That's my thing. Right., -Yes, okay. Yes. -Yeah., -But I think you are #Blessed, and we are #Grateful for you, seeing you on the screen. in an amazing new show. Thank you so much, for being here with us. I really appreciate it.. Thank you very much. Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens premieres January 22, at 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central. BD Wong, everybody.