Yahoo Movies Joy Ride director Adele Lim on the Kat and Lolo scene that didn't make the final cut
The sexual tension between Lolo and Kat was not imagined, Joy Ride director Adele Lim confirms.
In a recent Collider interview, stars Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu revealed there was a deleted scene between Sherry Cola's irreverent Lolo and Hsu's soap opera star Kat in the film — in theaters now — that felt "a little gay." And, well: "If viewers felt sexual tension between Lolo and Kat, it's not in their heads," Lim tells EW in an interview conducted prior to the start of the SAG-AFTRA strike.
In the scene in question, Lolo and Kat put aside their difference at Nai-Nai's (Lori Tan Chinn) house and admit that their issues with one another stem from "a mix of secret admiration and insecurity, which is often the case with female frenemies," Lim shares. "It's an unexpected turn in their relationship but also feels real. It killed me that we had to lose that scene for pacing and time." But fret not! The scene will be featured in the DVD and streaming extras. Not to mention, the two stars preview that chemistry with a kiss during our Around the Table interview (starting at 8:10, in the video above) — surprising Hsu, who didn't expect Cola to go all the way.
Written by Teresa Hsiao and Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Joy Ride follows the exploits of four Asian American pals who embark on a life-changing trip across Asia. When Audrey (Ashley Park), a successful attorney and adoptee, is sent to China to close a deal with a potential client, she enlists her childhood best friend Lolo (Cola) to be her interpreter. Joined by Lolo's eccentric cousin Deadeye (Wu) and Audrey's former college roommate Kat (Hsu), the friends decide to track down Audrey's birth mother. A run-in with a fellow American and drug dealer (Meredith Hagner) leads to sheer chaos, paving the way for drugs, sexual escapades, and a genital demon tattoo reveal.
Below, Lim talks filming those wild drug and genital tattoo scenes, reclaiming female sexuality, critics claiming the movie "targets white people," and more.
Ed Araquel/Lionsgate Stephanie Hsu, Sherry Cola, Ashley Park, and Sabrina Wu in 'Joy Ride'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Hollywood has a history of hypersexualizing Asian women. Watching this, where you have Asian stars at the forefront, and it's directed and written by Asian women, was so jarring but refreshing. Was this something you were all conscious of when building the story?
ADELE LIM: It wasn't why we put the project together, but we were absolutely very conscious of it. Just speaking as a woman — it's not exclusive to Asian women, although Asian women have had to struggle with being exoticized and fetishized in that way — but all of us as women have had to deal with having our stories be told by other people, being told by men, being portrayed in TV and filmed frequently as just eye candy. There's nothing wrong with that per se, it's just that there's only that one perspective, and the solution to that isn't to deny our sexuality. The solution to that for us was [to say], "We are sexual people and proud of it." Let's celebrate it on our side. There's a very strong female gaze in this movie, of what we find funny, what we find sexy. And that's the thing I hope people go to the movies for — as a woman, these are the things that make me light up, just being able to hang with my friends and gawk at some hot ass guys.
The original working title was Joy F--- Club. What did those early drafts look like? Was it more or less explicit?
We've always known this was exactly what it was gonna be. The drafts, of course, change a lot because you're always trying to make it funnier, better, producible, all those things. But no, I don't think it got less explicit. If anything Point Grey and Lionsgate were incredibly supportive and we went even more explicit. We kept thinking, "Any moment now a grownup is gonna tell us, 'Well, you can't possibly do this in a movie,'" and to their credit, they said "We see what you're trying to go for and we are here for it. Go for it." Even that tattoo reveal in the middle of the movie, that was baked in from day one in the very first draft of the script. And it survived.
How did you arrive at that genital tattoo plot point? And why a demon?
It was not gratuitous at all. It came from a place of character. We had the character of Kat, inspired by people we know where, especially as an Asian girl, [they have] to act like the good girl for family, for friends, for career, for relationship, when deep down inside [they] are not that person. So we tried to think, 'How can we dramatize this?' What can visually encapsulate that shame about your past that you cannot shake, that you cannot lose? And this seemed like the most extreme version of that. She's trying to hide her past and we're like, "What is she trying to hide?" So we pitched all these different things: Is it an embarrassing video? Is it an embarrassing relationship? We went through all these things and nothing felt new or exciting. Celebrities have sex tapes out. Everybody has an embarrassing ex, but we thought, nobody has ever seen this before. That's how we landed on that. And also it's f---ing funny.
Lionsgate Sabrina Wu, Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, and Stephanie Hsu in 'Joy Ride'
Stephanie recently revealed there was "a whole gay track" between Kat and Lolo that was edited down, with Sabrina calling the scene in question "a little gay." What can you tell me about that scene? Do you have a response to folks who've made note of Lolo and Kat's chemistry?
If viewers felt sexual tension between Lolo and Kat, it's not in their heads. But it's something deeper, too. There was a scene between Kat and Lolo at Nai-Nai's house where they both put aside their bullshit and basically admit that their agita towards each other actually comes from a mix of secret admiration and insecurity, which is often the case with female frenemies. It's an unexpected turn in their relationship but also feels real. It killed me that we had to lose that scene for pacing and time. There were many late-night agonized discussions about that in [post-production], but we all felt strongly enough about it to make sure it was on the DVD and streaming extras.
Tell me about the drug bust scene on the train. What was the powdery substance in the condom?
[I need] to double check with props, but the powder, I don't wanna say it's corn starch, but it was some similar substance because it had to get blown on our actors' faces. So you wanna make sure it's something that's not gonna give them a huge coughing fit or get sucked up into their lungs in some unsafe manner. But the funny thing about that scene is, our actors who are super fun and gregarious, they don't actually do drugs. So we had to have people on our crew explain to them, "This is how you light a bong. This is how you cut lines of coke." Somebody had to be next to Sherry Cola coaching her with a credit card [and say], "That's too big a line of coke. That's too little of a line," and even explaining how to act when you are completely heightened on way too many drugs. The scene on the side of the road, that was the first scene we shot, when they're all completely drugged out of their mind on that roadside in China. So you have four actors who've never worked with each other, having to act like they're completely out of their f---ing minds, high on drugs. It was a big mish-mosh on day one.... There was a lot of improv. I think it was Steph Hsu's idea to have Deadeye hide the bags of coke up her butt.
Going back to Joy F--- Club, which is a play on Joy Luck Club, it's interesting to look back at that, which was a critical success, and confront the fact that it took decades for another theatrical release with an all-Asian cast to follow with Crazy Rich Asians, which you were also involved in. Were there obstacles to bringing Joy Ride to the screen?
The wonderful thing about Joy Luck Club and Crazy Rich Asians and Everything Everywhere [All At Once] or even Squid Game is that it just proves again and again that the audience is so much more open than the studio system thinks [they are]. If you have a compelling story that is entertaining and authentically true, people will show up for it. It was heartbreaking with Joy Luck Club because it was such a huge success. I was a little girl watching it in Malaysia thinking, "Oh my god, this is amazing. America must be the place where dreams come true and you can be the lead in a movie." I think the difference now is we have so much up-and-coming talent and there's an openness with the studio system.
We should be able to have all kinds of different projects, whether they're bigger, more sweeping epic stories, whether they're raunchy, ridiculous R-rated comedies, whether it's animation. We should be able to have stories that fail like everybody else. When an action movie doesn't do well, nobody says it's because people don't wanna see another white action star. Nobody thinks that. But if an Asian-led project doesn't do well, the knee-jerk reaction, even if people don't say it out loud, is maybe it's because it had a minority lead. Audiences are so much more open than we give them credit for. I just want this new generation of minority filmmakers to be able to keep at it and get our stories out there, because if we don't tell our stories, the stories either don't get told or somebody else is gonna do it.
Ed Araquel/Lionsgate Sabrina Wu, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Ashley Park in 'Joy Ride'
A critic recently claimed that the movie "targets white people" and "objectifies men." Do you have a response to that beyond your quote retweet?
[Laughs] Oh, god. I think it speaks for itself. We have had a whole history of film objectifying women and fetishizing women. I don't think our movie targets white people at all. We're just honestly speaking our truth that, as a minority growing up in some communities that are not very tolerant, we've all had to deal with racist, misogynistic things being said to us. And if us being able to just say that makes it seem like we're targeting white people, that's their perception. We are just speaking our truth. This is how our lives are, day to day. And if you feel targeted, maybe take a closer look at yourself.
Would you be open to a Joy Ride sequel? Have there been talks yet or is it too early?
Oh my god, it would be a dream. Everybody who's gone to see the movie has loved it. It reminded them of being with their best friends. I think people have fallen in love with our four because the bond of friendship they have in the movie is a reflection of reality. The four of them, even after 12 hours of shooting, would hang out, just playing games and staying up all night. People wanna see them on the next adventure, but, we've only just gotten through this movie. It's like being pregnant for five years and putting your baby out into the world. We're excited for people to discover Joy Ride and enjoy it. If it has enough resonance, hopefully we'll see another one. We're [too] early [to have sequel talks].
I wanted to briefly touch on Crazy Rich Asians. Jon M. Chu previously released that statement about standing with you and leaving the door open for a return. Would you be open to that should the studio present better conditions?
Jon Chu, he could not be a bigger supporter and mentor. I would not have the career I had if it wasn't for him. He was actually my mentor, coaching me through this first directing gig I've had. I love Crazy Rich. I love Jon. I'm still friends with a lot of the actors. I love that franchise. I want nothing but the best for it. Of course, if everything was right and the conditions were right, it would be a dream and a party to get the gang back together and make something magical. There's so many variables and uncertainties in the world, but if the conditions were right, I think all of us would love to get back together and make it happen again.
Joy Ride is in theaters now. Watch our full Around the Table with the cast above.
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