Hollywood star Stephanie Hsu, best known to international audiences for her role in Oscar-winning "Everything Everywhere All at Once", says her latest comedy series "Laid" is modelled on traditional rom-coms but has a "weird angle" that speaks to today's audiences. Hsu plays the role of Ruby Yao, a 33-year-old single Seattle-based party planner who is trying to solve why her former partners are dying in the order she slept with them.
For the actor, it was a no-brainer to be a part of the series, which is an adaptation of an Australian show of the same name.
"I love comedy so much. I started in sketch comedy and it's so fun to be on a set and be silly and make each other laugh. So it was kind of a no-brainer to have a good time and make this show. Obviously this is a very extreme version and twisted version of that but it was really fun to get to tell a love story for our times," Hsu told PTI in an interview.
The actor, who also starred in Prime Video's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", said she was craving to be a part of a love story that would "speak to the time that we're in now".
"I do have this theory that we haven't had... we are not in the golden age of rom coms because the way people come to love and the way people find relationships is so different. And I think that maybe we're not as rosy-eyed as we were in the nineties," she said.
"Our show is a twisted way of thinking about everyone you've ever been with... Like, when we want to watch the feel good rom coms, we like head to Nora Ephron, but for something to feel really new and fresh and appropriate to what it feels like in modern day dating, I think you need like a fun, weird angle, which our show definitely has," Hsu added.
Nahnatchka Khan of "Always Be My Maybe" fame and Sally Bradford McKenna have developed the series, which currently streams on JioCinema Premium in India.
Actor Zosia Mamet, who essays the role of AJ, Ruby's best friend and roommate, said she had a blast playing the character and finding her story.
"Natnachka and Sally did such an amazing job of creating this person who, on the surface, seems to really march to the beat of her own drum, and doesn't necessarily care what other people think, and she maybe has these bizarre fringe interests.
"But as the season progresses, and maybe as Ruby sort of plays with her heart a little bit, this vulnerable person emerges from inside, and I thought that that was a really fun arc to play around with," she said.
"Laid", produced by Universal Television, also stars Michael Angarano, Tommy Martinez and Olivia Holt in pivotal roles.
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