On the flip side of that, as much as Stella can call out the flaws at UBA and see what the optics are like for diversity, she still sometimes upholds the culture of gatekeeping. What do you make of that?

Ah. It was really important to investigate this question of what someone like her in her position is willing to and not willing to compromise in order to run a business effectively and to be part of this corporate world. It’s very humbling for her, and she’s failed in a lot of different ways, too. Particularly around race, as an Asian American, where we are placed within the system of white supremacy—not to get too heavy—is tricky. On the one hand, she’s really fighting for diversity and equal opportunity, but she’s put in this position where she’s still having to choose and pick her battles in this very heartbreaking way that I thought was true to life and what we are seeing around us. It’s not always as simple as, Right. We need more people of color. Done. That’s never how that goes down. Hopefully people can see and relate to that.

This season takes place during COVID, and you participated in that storyline onscreen while living through the pandemic, which brought about a lot of pain for the Asian American community. What was that like for you?

It was hard. I tried to be truthful about very painful things that were happening in real time. And I also didn’t want to take that for granted—the chance to tell the truth about what was happening, even though it was incredibly uncomfortable. And not an easy thing to not just talk about, but to show on TV. We had a lot of conversations about how to do that and the importance of doing it, even though it’s tricky and risky and uncomfortable. If we didn’t include that in a story about COVID, that just wouldn’t be honest. I’m grateful everyone was able to recognize that.

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning

On that note, it was really exciting to see that some of your upcoming projects are centered around Asian characters and storylines, like Past Lives and Minor Feelings. Was that important to you?

I feel like what has happened is it’s just become inevitable not to pretend that I’m Asian. I’m Asian American. And it’s something that I am trying to figure out, whether I want to or not. It’s such a natural, organic part of my existence that it would feel inauthentic for me to not turn to it and look at it and try to figure it out.

And I love [how there] was an unexpected platform and opportunity to do that here [on The Morning Show] too. Kerry Ehrin [the showrunner] was so collaborative in wanting to know what I thought, and her voice, making sure that Stella sounds different from the rest of these people and the way she would say things, and it was great. She’d be like, “Would she say ‘hi’ or she would she say, ‘What’s up?’” And I’d be like, “Well, she probably wouldn’t say ‘what’s up’ but maybe ‘sup?’” Those conversations were amazing and important.

Can you share anything about Russian Doll season 2?

I can’t say anything about that! This is the tricky part about this. No. Just that it’s coming and that I’m excited.

Do people still come up to you and say “sweet birthday baby”?

Yes.

All the time?

It sort of ebbs and flows. It’s gotten a little bit less intense now, but when it first dropped, that was a pretty wild time to be walking around New York City and have people scream that line at me.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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