Zoë Chao is the Life of The Afterparty

Mixed Asian Media - July 14, 2023

By Erica Ito

*This interview was conducted before the decision for SAG-AFTRA to strike, in solidarity with the WGA.

Chris Miller and Phil Lord’s The Afterparty is a riotous, genre-buffet-style murder mystery where each episode dives into a different suspect’s version of events. Season 1 may have concluded with a happy ending for lovebirds Zoë (Zoë Chao) and Aniq (Sam Richardson), but Season 2 provides Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish), Zoë, and Aniq a new murder to solve. And this time, the mystery is a little too close to home…

We caught up with usual MAM suspect Zoë Chao ahead of Season 2’s premiere.

Hi Zoë!

Hi Erica! It's good to see you.

So lovely to see you. Congratulations on Season 2 of this most delightful show. You play a character who is also named Zoë. She is an artist who went to college in Rhode Island. And as we come to see in Season 2, she is a very passionate sister. As an actor, I feel like there are two kinds of roles: ones where you really step into someone else's shoes and ones where you just get to bring yourself to the screen. Was this one of those roles where you felt like you could really let yourself shine through?

Yes, totally. It's crazy how many similarities I share with Zoë in The Afterparty. I am an older sister in real life. I'm from Rhode Island. I have artist parents, an artist sister. I went to school in Providence, so it felt kind of like kismet to win this role.

Last time we spoke about the enduring power of the rom-com, a genre you've gotten to play with on both seasons of The Afterparty. So now I'm curious, in your own words, what is the enduring joy of the murder mystery?

Right! Well, you know, to err is human, right? We have been murdering each other since the very beginning. I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan. I read her books a lot actually. I listen to true crime podcasts. I think we're curious about why humans do what they do, and always in the back of your mind being like, what lengths would you go to to protect someone you love? Which is a big question for Zoë in Season 2.

I didn't think it was possible, but this season's “mind movie” genres really topped last season’s. In particular, the Regency era period piece and the Wes Anderson episode totally blew me away. Were there any genres you didn't work on in Season 1 that you were really hoping would end up in this season’s scripts?

Oh, I mean, Ben Schwartz's episode, the musical in Season 1 was so delightful. So I actually thought there would be a musical in Season 2, but I love the genres they chose. I think it's true that we really get to go deeper into those genres this season.

Also bringing it back to Season 1, your animated episode is obviously so creatively engaging, but it’s also very deeply affecting. Zoë tells Detective Danner about the many versions of herself that are jostling around inside of her, and I remember thinking, wow. It's very special to see this mixed actor portraying a character whose internal struggle is literally about reconciling multiple parts of herself.

Did TV Zoë teach real-life Zoë anything during that episode?

Oh, that's so nice. Yes. Actually, I think about that episode a lot. And how to let the different parts of us breathe and have space because resisting them feels kind of dangerous in a way, you know? To not fully realize yourself.

I think about that episode’s thesis and it lets me have more patience for the different sides of myself that are a little bit more passionate than the more polished sides. There’s more self-acceptance. That was a beautiful part of that episode.

I believe you said you hadn't done too much voice-over prior to recording the episode. Is Season 1, Episode 6, now your voice-over reel?

Yeah! I did just finish a DC animated series that I'm really pumped about! I would love to do more VO work. It was a real treat getting to flex [my muscles] and figure it out in the booth for that episode.

I imagine with Season 1 there was some amount of awe, maybe even intimidation going into filming with so many big names in comedy. Were there any lessons you learned on set for Season 1 — maybe from Chris Miller or from your castmates — that you took with you into filming Season 2?

Yeah, I mean, I’m always studying my co-stars, always learning from them. I was super intimidated going into Season 1 and honestly Season 2. I think every performer is different and has a different approach to work. But something that is shared with the actors from both seasons is the permission they give to themselves to really go for a choice.

I'm always really moved by that, by the space that they give themselves to explore. You really have to do that in any genre of acting, but especially in comedy. They’re just really brave performers. I think all of the actors I've gotten to work with in the comedic space just keep saying yes. And that's something I hope to keep working on.

“Yes, and...” Totally. At the end of Season 1, Zoë gets her own happy ending. But this season's murder mystery takes place at the afterparty of your sister [played by Poppy Liu]’s wedding so we get to know TV Zoë's family. What was it like having Ken Jeong and Vivian Wu play your mother and father? Not to mention John Cho as your uncle!

I couldn't have asked for a better TV family. We are a dysfunctional but very loving family. All so unique. I've been a fan of Vivian Wu and John Cho and Ken for a long time. So it was a real gift to get to work with them. John said on the first day that I met him, he was like, “In the past, I'd read about a character and if it said that they had a family, I just knew I wouldn't get that part. But now we're playing your family and that's really important.”

And that was a very moving moment for me. Just getting to play with someone who has really paved the way for so many of us felt really lucky.

Oh, that is deeply special. Thank you for sharing that quote. We’ve got time for one last silly question. You're a big sister. Would you go to any lengths to stop your little sister’s wedding if you felt like the match was not made in heaven?

You know, I think past versions [of me] maybe would have. I'd like to think that I've done enough work to trust my sister and to know that I can't control everything, that she's on her own journey and she's going to figure it out the way she needs to, and I will be there no matter what.

That's what I'd like to think… but who knows? If I thought the guy or girl were a bad match, I'd probably lose my mind and do whatever I could. Let's be honest. But I'm working to not be that sister.

Yeah there’s the therapy answer and then the right now answer.

Yesyesyesyes.

Well, congratulations again! This season is really so special. Thank you so much for your time today. 

It's great to see you again, Erica!

Season 2 of The Afterparty is now streaming on Apple TV on July.

New episodes are released every Wednesday through September 6.