Watch: Stephanie Hsu’s ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ audition is an everything bagel of awesome
Before you read:
Stephanie Hsu’s beautifully chaotic audition for A24’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” has fans itching for another viewing.
Released by Deadline on Thursday, Hsu’s audition for the character Joy/Jobu Tupaki went viral on Twitter the same day, garnering nearly 70,000 likes.
Hsu’s audition consists of two scenes from the film: Evelyn’s first encounter with Jobu Tupaki and the introduction of the universal “everything bagel.”
In the final seconds of the clip, a member of the casting crew asks Hsu to sing the line “sucked into the bagel,” prompting Hsu to improvise a tune that causes everyone in the room to burst into laughter. Her improvisation eventually made its way into the actual film.
Notably, Hsu refers to Evelyn, who would eventually be played by Michelle Yeoh, as “Michelle” in her audition. Yeoh recently revealed in a Variety “Actors on Actors” interview with Australian actor Cate Blanchett that she told directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known collectively as the Daniels, that if the name wasn’t changed she would walk.
In an interview with Deadline, Hsu said she hadn’t seen the clip herself until the Daniels surprised her by airing it during the Hamptons Film Festival, during which she received the Breakthrough Artist Award.
“The Daniels and I did so much deep diving, developing the character and story once I was officially on board. It felt really special to witness that even in the early stages, before bells and whistles, there was something I really understood about the philosophical and emotional core of this film. Or perhaps that is also just something I wanted to bring to life on screen: the porosity of a villain/non-villain on the thin ice of hopelessness; a daughter at heart.”
Hsu called her viewing of the clip a “groundbreaking and full circle moment.”
“Our script has a strong soul that attracted like-minded souls to tell its story. … It made me feel really proud of Joy/Jobu. Grateful that she found me.”
Both those who had watched the film many times before and others who have never seen it praised Hsu’s audition on Twitter, with many expressing an interest in watching the film for the first time or watching it again.
“Just another indication that I need to get around to finally watching Everything Everywhere All At Once…” wrote one user.
“Me getting ready to watch EEAAO again for the 12th time:” wrote another user, paired with a reaction video of American sports analyst Shannon Sharpe enjoying a Mountain Dew (like, really enjoying it).
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