IN CONVERSATION WITH SABRINA WU
interview by JANA LETONJA
Actor, writer, and stand-up comedian Sabrina Wu made their feature film debut in the critically acclaimed Lionsgate comedy ‘Joy Ride’, and can currently be seen alongside Alexander Skarsgård in the Apple TV+ series ‘Murderbot’. Next up, Sabrina is developing their semi-autobiographical half-hour script ‘It Gets Better’.
You’re starring opposite Alexander Skarsgård in a sci-fi series ‘Murderbot’ that’s both thrilling and existential. What drew you to this project?
I was very excited from reading the books. I’m completely in love with the character of Murderbot. Murderbot is so disaffected and dry and deeply funny. It understands the dissociative quality of what it feels like to be alive right now. It feels so relatable and timely. The big draw of this series are two things, that there is an incredible character at the center, and it strikes such a unique tone that I’ve never seen in a sci-fi series before. I knew this was going to be a special show. On top of all the action, it’s so weird and sweet. It’s so easy to love these characters and feel like they are your friends. I like that. I like that ‘Murderbot’ is so many things, and it’s above all else, a comfort show.
Your role in ‘Murderbot’ is very different from your wild ride in ‘Joy Ride’. How do you shift gears between genres like sci-fi and raunchy comedy?
The shift wasn’t so dramatic because ‘Murderbot’ is a comedy on top of being a sci-fi action thriller. And oddly enough, my character, Deadeye, in the raunchy comedy ‘Joy Ride’ is much more wholesome than Pin-Lee. In ‘Joy Ride’, I play the only character in a sex comedy that doesn’t get to have sex. In ‘Murderbot’, I play a character that gets cucked. What a natural next step, don’t you think? But on a more serious note, I did have to make a lot of conscious adjustments. Deadeye was a very deadpan stiff character in a broad comedy. Pin-Lee requires a more grounded performance, but in a much looser character. I was letting myself go bigger in some ways to be smaller in other ways. It was confusing for me as an actor. Kind of like patting your head and rubbing your belly. That feeling.
Were there moments filming ‘Joy Ride’ where even you couldn’t keep a straight face?
Yes, all the time. Everytime Sherry Cola went off-script and started riffing. Sherry is the quickest person I’ve ever met. I feel like I have to be on a dangerous level of adderall to keep up with her. During the big friendship break-up scene in Korea, Stephanie Hsu’s character Kat throws a fit and goes “humph!”. The way she fully embodies her character and makes that dramatic little “humph!” so annoying and real made me need to take a quick walk off the set to make sure I didn’t ruin her takes. This wasn’t while we were filming, but I got to give a shout out to Ashley Park for always making me laugh the hardest when we were off-set. There was a time when the movie ‘Joy Ride’ was still unnamed. It was originally titled ‘Joy Fuck Club’, but there was some understandable hesitance around actually naming the movie that. We were sitting around pitching new names, and Ashley suddenly went ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’. And that joke is something I still laugh about.
What kind of roles are you excited to play moving forward? More action, more grounded drama, or always comedy at the core?
I just really want to play characters that are complicated and surprising. I want to play characters that feel familiar in the sense that you might know someone like that in real life, but unfamiliar in the sense that you haven’t seen it on screen yet. I’m not married to any kind of genre or show, but if you held me at gunpoint, I guess a project that straddles the line between comedy and drama is something I’d get down on one knee for.
Your Fallon set and Verified Stand-Ups appearance were major moments. What’s your writing process like when prepping for a televised stand-up set?
Well, for Fallon, I had to cut out all my favorite jokes about killing myself and animated porn. That was a real bummer. Besides that, I spent a lot of time just trying to create a set that was as efficient as possible. There’s a hard time-limit when you’re doing a televised set, and it’s usually just 5-10 minutes. I went through my material and tried to weed out any set-ups that felt too long or small jokes that took time away from some of the bigger jokes that had better laughs. But doing a televised set ultimately isn’t all that different from doing small local shows around New York City. The goal is to introduce yourself to strangers, potential new fans, so be funny, memorable, and uniquely you quickly.
As someone named a “Comic to Watch” by both Variety and Vulture, how do you keep growing and challenging yourself onstage?
I say yes to anyone who asks me to perform stand-up on whatever show they’re putting up, no matter what the audience will be like or what level the other comics on the show are at. And I always try to watch the other people on the same show as me. I think it helps me grow so much to watch people doing stand-up at all different levels, and with such different styles and figuring out what you love about what each person is doing. I like feeling in awe. And I like expanding my understanding of what is possible in stand up. I’m trying as hard as I can to not cocoon myself up in the comfort of performing for only my fans or friends.
What topics or truths are you most drawn to right now in your stand-up?
Right now, I’m working on a bit about my younger brother introducing me to porn. I hope I become interested in something else soon, honestly.
Do you feel like your comedy is shifting as your career expands into TV and film?
Honestly? My big fear is that my comedy will get more and more boring if my career keeps expanding into TV and film. So much of my material is personal. I like feeling like I’m sharing a real part of myself. I like to tell stories and jokes pulled from my day-to-day life, and I think the audience gets something out of having an authentic connection to the performer. I think that changes though if my entire life is just about “set life” and “writer’s rooms”. I want my comedy to speak to something larger than the ins-and-outs of Hollywood. When I’m less anxious about whether acting and writing success will lead to the demise of my stand-up, I get excited about what ways I might creatively decide to shift my style. Who knows, maybe I’ll go full Demetri Martin.
You’ve written on Doogie Kameāloha ‘M.D.’, ‘Dying for Sex’, and now you’re developing ‘It Gets Better’. What inspired your semi-autobiographical script ‘It Gets Better’? How personal does it get?
Really persona. The whole script was born out of this one bizarre sleepover I had when I was in high school. I was an out-lesbian at school, but closeted at home, and I had a sleepover with a new “straight” best friend whom I was in love with. We were into each other, but we didn’t necessarily know how to express that feeling. We were young teenagers in Michigan with homoerotic urges and internalized homophobia. And somehow that led us to scratch each other’s bare backs for an entire night in silence. Like until the sun rose. I’ve just always felt like that night captures something so universally coming-of-age, but also so unique to being a gay teenager. I decided to build out a whole world and story around that scene.
Do you feel more in control of your voice when you’re writing for yourself vs. writing for a room or a network show?
Totally. When you’re writing for yourself, you can just write without thinking much about your voice. Your voice is just what comes out of you, naturally, I’d hope. It’s only when I’m writing for a room when I really have to start reigning in my own ideas. I’m always a bit self-conscious at the start of a room, checking if my instincts actually align with the tone of the show or the showrunner’s vision. The hope, I think, is to find that balance, to find the target. Once I have a clearer sense of what we’re aiming for, it’s easier to throw out some ideas that feel more “yours” than the showrunner’s. And sometimes, an idea out of left field is just what the show needs.
How has your identity shaped your path in the industry, and are you seeing real progress in how stories are told?
As an actor, being queer, Asian, and trans means that my path might be more winding. I might have to jump back and forth between writing gigs, stand-up gigs, and acting gigs. It doesn’t feel possible to me to have a sustainable career by being solely an actor. Realistically, there aren’t that many meaty roles out there that I’m really right for. But knowing this gave me a much needed push to really value myself as a writer and recognize the impact I could potentially have for other marginalized artists by writing stories for people of marginalized identities.
I feel like I entered the industry right as the streaming bubble was bursting, so I am definitely seeing change. I’m noticing a tightening of the belt. Fewer shows getting made. Less willingness to invest in shows that might not be “commercial hits” or shows that don’t have “broad appeal”. And even though shows that center marginalized voices can totally be commercial hits and have broad appeal, I’m worried that executives are scared to take a chance on them.
What’s next for you? Any dream projects, people you’d love to collaborate with, or corners of the industry you’re itching to explore?
I want to be involved in any way possible on the reboot of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. I will be a grip on the new ‘Buffy’ series. I’m also hoping to do some acting off-screen. I love performing stand-up for live audiences. I think it could potentially feel great to act in front of them too. I live in New York City and I’m hoping to get more involved in theater.
CREDITS
photography SAMANTHA BROOKS
styling WILTON WHITE
grooming STEVIE BARBIERI
