Everything Everywhere All At Once is changing the game in a very big way for breakout star Stephanie Hsu.

No synopsis can do the full film justice, but just in case you’ve yet to experience the phenomenon, Everything Everywhere All At Once focuses on Michelle Yeoh’s Evelyn Wang, a woman struggling to keep her family’s laundromat afloat with her husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan). Evelyn is so wrapped up in that, filing her taxes, and her father’s (James Hong) arrival from China that she fails to notice how much her daughter Joy (Hsu) really needs her. As though things couldn’t get more complicated, in comes another version of her husband, Waymond from the “Alphaverse.” The multiverse is in danger, and he thinks that Evelyn has the power to save it.

Everything Everywhere All at Once cast
Image via A24
 

Everything Everywhere All At Once began racking up positive reviews out of its SXSW world premiere and gained even more before hitting theaters on March 25th. From there, the film's star continued to soar, inspiring many to give this wacky multiverse adventure oozing with heart a go. In fact, it’s currently getting mighty close to becoming A24’s highest-grossing release at the domestic box office. It’s a marvel of a movie that could and should continue to make waves through 2022.

Admittedly, I was a little late to the game on Everything Everywhere All At Once, only catching the film two weeks into its theatrical release, but you can bet the first thing I did when I got home from the screening was send the necessary emails to get Stephanie Hsu on an episode of Collider Ladies Night.

Everything Everywhere All at Once Michelle Yeoh Ke Huy Quan Stephanie Hsu
Image via A24

Even if Everything Everywhere is the only Hsu project you’ve seen, it’s a performance that quickly proves her boundless range and potential. But even with all that raw talent, it took Hsu a good deal of time to fully embrace the possibility that she could build a thriving career as a commercial actor. She explained:

“I think it’s taken me a long time to have that feeling. I guess I just have felt really surprised all along the way that I get to do this. But I will say that there was one year where I was doing a show called Be More Chill on Broadway and at the same time I was filming Season 3 of [The Marvelous Mrs.] Maisel, doing eight shows a week and shooting a TV show and doing press for the musical. I never expected to see myself on Broadway nor did I ever expect to see myself in a period piece on television, so I think that was the year where I really just felt like, ‘Okay, I’m really doing this and I’m strong enough to do all of it at once.’ And it was really hard, but it really ignited some kind of internal strength in me.”

Stephanie Hsu in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Image via Prime Video

Hsu is clearly embracing that strength and making the most of it. Forget just juggling all of that work at once; Hsu shines in the Maisel ensemble, a cast filled with heavyweights like Tony Shalhoub and Rachel Brosnahan who both won Emmys for their work in the Prime Video hit. Hsu credited the Hulu series The Path for getting her Maisel-ready. “I really got to learn how set functions and what it means to be a part of a set family.” She continued, “I think if I had just never worked on set before and got spat into Maisel, I would have been like, ‘This is crazy!’”

But Hsu was ready, joining the well-oiled Maisel machine three seasons in and going on to win the SAG award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series with the cast. As a very big believer that Everything Everywhere All At Once deserves to have its own robust awards season run, I had to ask Hsu about winning the SAG award with the Maisel ensemble. She began by recalling:

“I think being recognized for a best ensemble is kind of the best gift because it’s all of us! That’s so cool! It was a really surreal moment. It’s so funny because that seems like quite some time ago now, but I just remember I had just booked Everything Everywhere and I had just moved to LA. I had no couch, no furniture, no nothing. I was living in an empty space and the first thing that furnished my space was the SAG award. [Laughs] It was a very LA moment!”

Stephanie Hsu and Michael Zegen in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Image via Prime Video

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Hsu also addressed her general feelings about what winning an award means in this industry:

“Awards are silly only because of what it means for people and what they get to do next. I think the only bummer about awards is it makes making art about this pedestal that is very limited actually, limited in its scope. But of course, when you’re being celebrated and you’re a part of something that’s celebrated, that’s awesome! It is such an honor, and I love the Maisel family so much and I think they are truly some of the best actors ever. I got to sit and watch Tony Shalhoub work and I was like, ‘This is crazy. I feel like I have front row seats to a master class.’ So I feel so lucky and very humbled to be included in that family.”

Michelle Yeoh Everything Everywhere All at Once
Image via A24
 

No, a statue isn’t necessary to prove a film’s worth, but is Everything Everywhere All At Once not the exact type of project that should be embraced and celebrated by the Academy? Not only did it light a fire at a box office struggling to regain strength during the pandemic, but it’s a true next-level creative achievement. Writer-directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert do the impossible; not only did they manage to bring this bonkers idea to screen in stunning fashion, but they did that so well that their story is rocking moviegoers to their cores. Everything Everywhere All At Once isn’t just a fun ride that you forget about once it’s over. The movie’s inspired me to reconsider some very difficult human truths and embrace the support of loved ones more than ever before. This movie inspired me to change my own reality, and that feels like something that warrants the highest level of celebration.

When asked about Everything Everywhere’s runaway success and the deeply emotional widespread response to the material, Hsu recalled having faith in the film while making it:

“Honestly, when we were making this film, I knew nothing. I had no concept of how Hollywood works. I just got so lucky, and I think was able to achieve that performance because I was fearless and I was not afraid of how people would perceive me to other work because it was just my first big feature. But I remember telling Dan Kwan at the time, I was like, ‘This movie is gonna bring people back to the movie theaters!’ And I had no idea what I was even saying because how could I possibly know? I knew nothing! But even then, I was just like, ‘This is real art and this is wild and people are gonna show up for it.’”

Evelyn split across dimensions in Everything Everywhere All At Once

Everything Everywhere is giving so much to so many, but how about Hsu herself? Is there anything about her experience making this movie and seeing it touch so many that’s upping her faith in her own craft in any respect? Here’s what she said:

“I pride myself on getting to do things that I care about with people that I love and taking big swings and making weird sh*t with a lot of heart, and the fact that it worked and I did it with my friends is giving me a lot of permission to actually finally, for the first time in my life, really embrace this career path that I have fallen into. And so I feel like I’m really taking the reins of my artistry because I know that there’s space for it, that the things that I am passionate about, people love as well, and it makes me really excited to serve and offer more. It’s been really wild and very healing in a way that I am so grateful for. And it’s very overwhelming too to put something out there that means so much to you and for people to hear it in the literal sense and then also the cosmic sense. But I also said to Daniels the other day, I think all of us are very overwhelmed with gratitude, but when I dig even deeper, I know that none of this is an accident. And I say that because everyone worked so hard to make this film possible. Everyone surrendered, believed and also, we did it with so much kindness and love in our hearts, and I think that the reason why the movie works and is touching so many people is because that transference of energy, like the wholeness of the process shows and you can feel that. There’s subliminal transference that happens when so much love it there.”

Ke Huy Quan Everything Everywhere All at Once
Image via A24
 

I’m certainly feeling that love, and given those box office numbers, it feels safe to say that many others out there are as well. If you’ve yet to join the club, what are you waiting for? Everything Everywhere All At Once is playing in theaters across the country.

And if you’re looking for even more on Hsu’s journey in the industry thus far, there’s loads more from where this came from! You can listen to our full 45-minute Collider Ladies Night interview uncut in podcast form below: