Welcome to The Daily Show.
-These people are very nice. -They are very nice.
-They're very, very nice people. -Thank you.
-Um, welcome to the show. -Yes, thank you for having me.
Uh, congratulations on yet another show.
I feel like you are one of those people
that I have watched my entire life,
and yet you have never aged.
-Uh... -I just know you in every movie.
Like, you have the same face,
and you've played such a wide berth of roles.
You play villains. You play... You play good guys.
You-you play, like, extreme characters, like in Mr. Robot.
Like, one of the, like, the baddest people
and one of the most complicated characters.
Now you're playing a dad in a comedy.
-Yes. -Is this... Is this a big departure for you?
It is. It really is.
I don't play a lot of, like, kind of...
like, heteronormative nice guys
with, you know, a nice relationship
to his-his... his sweet but troubled daughter.
-Right. -It's-it's a new thing for me.
And it's also a comedy in a way that it's refreshing for me,
because I've been doing a lot of serious stuff.
I kind rediscovered... After I left Law & Order: SVU,
-which I was on for 11 years, I-I rediscov... -Uh-huh.
-(cheering and applause) -Thank you.
Um, I rediscovered that I was a character actor,
and then I really started really getting into, like,
re-reacquainting myself with that super creative,
kind of transformative kind of work.
And, so, then, after Mr. Robot,
which just finished its last season,
uh, this show came along,
and it was kind of the perfect thing for me
to kind of, uh, stretch different muscles,
comedy muscles that I hadn't used in-in decades
and, um, kind of, uh, a kind of a sweetness,
a warm quality, a-a family kind of quality,
-which I like. Which I really like. -Right.
The show has a really beautiful story line and arc to it
because it-it feels genuine.
It's about this family who is Asian,
but then it's not, like, about them being Asian.
-It isn't. Yeah. -They're just Asian.
And then they have a life, and they have a story.
And-and people... I don't know if people really understand
how rare that is for us, for my community,
the Asian community, that that...
For us to have a-a family that's not there
because they're Asian,
um, and-and because of a representation
is so kind of low
that-that it is a kind of meaningful thing
to see a family that's just being a family
-and having family issues that are not really... -Yes.
-Yes. -So, therefore, it's kind of even more universal
than, um, an-an Asian show
-that's super Asian specific. -Right.
And-and it's nice that way. I mean, we really...
As an audience member, I've craved it,
and so it's nice to be involved in it.
I was in Margaret Cho's show in the '90s.
-That was All-American Girl. -That-that was... I think that
-was the first Asian family. -First Asian American family.
-Yeah. -Yeah. And, so, you know, my...
When I compare the experience that I had on Margaret's show,
um, Margaret struggled a lot, and not...
and not for any reasons that were related to Margaret
-and Margaret's stardom or talent. -Right.
It was a different time,
and Margaret was kind of, in some ways, shoehorned
into a kind of corporate idea of what Margaret could be.
And Awkwafina is allowed to really do her thing.
A-Awkwafina has taken the initiative
to hire, uh, writers around her
and surround herself with many women writers
and with people of color as well as directors.
-Mm-hmm. -And it... I think it shows in the final product.
We don't... we don't flinch about all of the-the things
that we're describing in the show
that are either specifically Asian
or related to being Asian because they're all
kind of from and created by the people
who really know what those things are.
It comes from an authentic place.
-It does. Really does. -Right. It's interesting,
'cause I remember Michelle Yeoh said
that, you know, after Crazy Rich Asians,
which was really beautiful, she said,
"We have no problem laughing at ourselves,
-but laugh with us, not at us." -Yes, absolutely.
-Which... -And there was... there was a history of us
-being laughed at or derided or whatever that took us... -Yes.
It has taken us a long time
to even teach people that there's a difference.
You know, the difference between those two things.
You have a career that-that is now really...
I mean, it spans from comedy shows
all the way to giant movies.
You know, like, the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchise
-is one that you have been an intricate part of. -Yes.
Did you ever predict that you would become
basically the baddest person in the Jur...
-I mean, there's dinosaurs. -In the history of the world.
-Um... -Yeah. And, like, there's, like raptors
and T. rexes, and it's like, no, you're the bad guy.
-That's pretty wild. -Yes. Because I made them.
-Yeah, because they... Yes, yes. I'm al... -(laughs)
Yes. I don't... Well, I don't know what to say about that.
-What does it feel like being... -I mean, I... He was
-a very benign character in the first movie. -Yes.
-That's what I mean. -He was very sweet.
And he-he was kind of related to the original...
-The book, the first Jurassic Park book. -Yes.
And then he's taken a turn which is much more interesting,
uh, and-and who knows...
And there's another movie coming out,
you know, in-in a year and a half.
It's-it's... All of these things...
Trevor, it's like a... I feel very lucky,
and they just kind of come to me,
and I'm-I'm very lucky that I... that I don't, uh...
that I have this-this wealth of a menu
of things that I get to choose from and get to do them,
because it really does allow me to explore my creativity
as a character actor and as a-a creative person.
And-and I'm-- I hate to say the G-word--
I'm grateful, you know, for, uh...
Oh, I didn't know what the G... I was like, "There's a..."
I was like, "There's a G-word now? What is the G-word?"
I was like, "There's a G-word?"
Grate... I think you can say "grateful."
-I don't think we... -I know.
I don't think we bleep "grateful" on the show.
I've been talking about gratefulness in my therapy.
-Um, well, you know... -But you can say "grateful."
-Yes, and... I guess I have... -Is that, like, frowned upon
-in some places? -No, but I think I have an issue...
We shouldn't get into it right now, but it...
but it is a thing that I feel is overused.
-Easily overused, right? -I understand
-what you're saying. #Grateful. -#Grateful. Yeah.
-So grateful. -I say #Blessed.
-That's my thing. Right. -Yes, okay. Yes.
-Yeah. -But I think you are #Blessed,
and we are #Grateful for you,
seeing you on the screen in an amazing new show.
Thank you so much for being here with us.
I really appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens
premieres January 22 at 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central.
BD Wong, everybody.