Awkwafina Gets Hot and Cold While Eating Spicy Wings ｜ Hot Ones [beJD7y1mGLA].webm.wav.txt

 Yeah, I've never been so hot and cold at the same time.
 [laughter]
 [dramatic music]
 Hey, what's going on everybody?
 For First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
 It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
 And today we're joined by Awkwafina.
 She's the Golden Globe Award winning actress, you know,
 from films like Crazy Rich Asians and The Farewell.
 Her latest project though is the highly anticipated
 animated film, Raya and the Last Dragon,
 which opens in theaters and on Disney+
 with premiere access on March 5th.
 Awkwafina, welcome to the show.
 Thank you. Thank you for having me.
 What's your mindset like going into this 10-wing gauntlet here?
 I feel like everyone, like when they come on Hot Ones,
 like everyone's a little scared, but like,
 like I saw this show called Champions
 and it was on, it's like an episode of Netflix
 where like they basically compete
 and they eat the ghost peppers
 and then they talk about this thing
 that happens to their stomach after.
 It's like a lot.
 What is the aftermath like, Sean?
 Well, you know what?
 It's funny that you mentioned Champions
 because I actually know that guy
 that features Smoke and Ed Curry.
 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
 And he's the guy who, he's the guy who did that episode.
 Yes.
 And he actually makes this hot sauce here at the end.
 Oh no.
 So we'll get the full pucker butt experience here today,
 Awkwafina.
 Oh no.
 Oh shit.
 (dramatic music)
 (dramatic music)
 Bring it on.
 Wow.
 That's nothing, dude.
 So I want to start by talking about your new film,
 which tells the story of a lone warrior
 tracking down your character, Sisu,
 as part of a last ditch effort to save humanity.
 As someone who oscillates between Nora and Awkwafina,
 did you feel a special connection in this film
 playing the role of a shape-shifting dragon?
 Oh, wow.
 Wow, that's a big metaphor to my life,
 but yeah, I mean, thinking about it now,
 I think that shape-shifting,
 definitely a duality with Sisu
 and also I think in my own personal life.
 So that's a really good observation.
 This is maybe an odd question,
 but I've always been curious about this.
 When you're cast to play an animated character,
 do they already have the art created for that character
 or is there any sort of reverse engineering
 after it's been cast?
 Well, I think for me, when you watch Sisu,
 you can see that the animators use my eyes and like my teeth.
 I saw maybe sketches of Sisu
 that I never saw her animated until I recorded
 and so that there were lines.
 I think that's the really cool thing
 about doing voiceovers, yeah.
 It's a really collaborative thing.
 Oh, this has no little hole.
 This has no little butthole on the thing.
 All right, let's do it.
 Mm.
 That's so good, I'm reopening that.
 So having been in close proximity
 to the great Go 90 experiment,
 I remember talk with Awkwafina quite well.
 You do?
 I do, I do, 'cause in Complex,
 you know, it was the Go 90 operation was on this floor.
 Oh yeah, oh right, yes, yes, right.
 So I remember that whole thing.
 What in your opinion makes for a good talk show interview
 and has your experience as a host at all informed
 how you approach being a guest
 now that you're on the other side of the table?
 It does all the time, yeah.
 I think it's, you know, it's not easy being an interviewer
 because you have to constantly adapt yourself
 to make that other person feel comfortable.
 As a guest, I'm so embedded in the host mentality
 that I wanna make the host comfortable too.
 So it just is, if you're already a pushover,
 it's not a great game to play, I guess is what I'm saying.
 So I remember when, you know, the New York City rap blogs,
 when your music started breaking on those,
 and now in recent years, you know,
 you're getting profiled for the cover of Vogue.
 As someone with a foot in both worlds,
 where do you find your biggest critics?
 Always yourself, dude, always.
 For me, like a big problem is that I,
 I feel like people don't know,
 people don't know me anymore.
 So that was like, it would be my personal life,
 that's like a big thing.
 Like, I just like, feel like I went through
 a lot of experiences that people assume were a certain way,
 especially later on, like when great stuff started happening.
 So it's always gonna be me, no matter what,
 'cause no one's really gonna know what's going on, you know?
 So far, really good.
 Yeah, I could do this all day.
 Oh, again, no little butthole.
 So that's, what does that mean?
 Does that mean that they're like, they're like rogue?
 Like they're the kombucha people that like,
 put all the pulp in?
 In this lineup, we are mostly buttholess, actually.
 That first one was tight butthole.
 I'm sorry, I poured so much.
 That's the problem, that's the dangerous game.
 That's the dangerous game, Awkwafina,
 when you're playing without a butthole over here.
 Anyone ever go to the hospital?
 Chrissy Teigen said on the Tonight Show
 that after her episode, she went to the doctor.
 So that's the only known one that I have, but that happened.
 Wow.
 Wow, so that's the first time it kinda
 yells at you a little bit, you know?
 Awkwafina, we actually have a curveball for you
 on this swing.
 We've called in an old friend who's been with you
 since the release of Yellow Ranger
 and the early campus tours.
 That's right, without further hype building,
 we are gonna welcome to the show
 the host of First We Feats the Takeout,
 Jon Park, aka Dumbfounded is here
 with a set of questions for Awkwafina from Memory Lane.
 We've had many blurry nights at karaoke's
 from K-Town LA to 32nd and New York.
 What is your go-to karaoke song?
 My go-to karaoke song that he probably is thinking of
 is, well, we all like to do a little Hey Ma
 and Dreams by Fleetwood Mac.
 Dumb doesn't also do karaoke.
 Everyone probably sees him as this karaoke guy.
 He doesn't really sing.
 I think he enjoys being around,
 you know, with the fruit and whatnot,
 but I don't think he actually enjoys partaking,
 which is interesting.
 We've done our fair share of sketchy college shows.
 Do you have any memorable tour stories?
 Yes, we do.
 Can we share them here?
 I don't really know if that's the best idea.
 Dumb does this thing where he forgets all the lyrics
 and then he'll do a thing where he'll like,
 let's take it back and blame it on the audience.
 So he would do that, but then one time,
 I think even after he blamed it on the audience,
 he forgot, he continued to forget.
 Touring with Dumb is the best, man.
 Well, that was some of the best times of my life
 going on tour with those guys.
 All right, we have one more for you.
 I remember teaching you a lot of Korean words
 and you asked me how to say cat nipples in Korean.
 Do you still remember how to say that?
 I just remember ne kwayangi, which means my cat.
 Don't remember, I don't remember nipples though.
 Okay, yeah, it's talking.
 What's your relationship with hot sauce?
 I've eaten straight up Carolina Reapers before,
 so it's like wherever the ceiling is,
 I've hit it and I've survived it.
 So I think that that gives me some peace of mind, but.
 Do you ever think that you could do
 competitive hot sauce eating?
 No, no, no, those people are crazy.
 Like when we were talking about that show,
 like I ate one Carolina Reaper one time
 and it ruined my, or two times actually,
 but it was like giving yourself food poisoning for 12 hours.
 People in those eating contests, they'll eat like 15 or 16.
 I don't even know how that's possible.
 Oh man, I'm not panicking, I'm not, I'm fine.
 I'm totally, I'm chilling, dude, it's great, yeah.
 So I understand that you come from a long line
 of restaurateurs, your great grandfather,
 he opened a Cantonese restaurant in the 1940s
 in Flushing, Queens, and then of course,
 your grandmother, she ran a restaurant
 out in Port Jefferson.
 Yes, how'd you know that?
 That's cool, Port Jeff, how'd you know about Port Jeff?
 That's cool.
 Everybody knows that, everybody knows that.
 And then there's a part of your life
 that sounds like it was almost written for a sitcom,
 but I know that it's real, you worked at a vegan bodega.
 Between that job and then working
 at a very legit Japanese restaurant,
 which one of those hospitality gigs
 do you remember more fondly?
 Well, I think I remember them both,
 but the Japanese restaurant was like,
 like I remember spilling hot sake onto a woman's coat,
 like her beautiful coat,
 and she was on what looked like a first date
 where she was uncomfortable to really yell at me,
 like to really go off on me,
 so she kind of held it in and as I walked away,
 she went, "Oh my God, I've had so many bad waitresses
 "in New York City."
 And I just remember hearing that,
 and to this day, I still really haven't gotten that
 out of my head, it still kind of makes me feel
 like a really bad for doing that.
 So I didn't get a lot of that at the vegan bodega,
 I got more of that at the Japanese restaurant for sure.
 (upbeat music)
 - Halfway point, okay.
 Have you ever met the writer, the copywriter
 for hot sauce brands and what are they like?
 - You know, before I got this show,
 I was actually a copywriter,
 and I have to say that I really respect
 hot sauce marketing and branding, you know?
 Like you can have what kind of looks
 like cool craft beer labels,
 and then you have what are like hellish landscapes
 of like fire and brimstone and grim reapers
 and skulls on fire.
 So I think like that kind of range,
 it offers great opportunity for like a good ad person.
 - You're right, it can go from like comedy to horror
 in terms of just their, that's really cool.
 I never thought about that,
 'cause you can't really advertise anything else like that.
 - I love the bottles, like I almost like love hot sauce
 as like a collector's item put on your shelf thing
 more than as a condiment.
 - Yeah, I actually still, the only thing
 that I have collectors in my actual kitchen at home
 is a collab that Hot Ones did with 88 Rising,
 and like I treat that thing like it's like a one big metal.
 - You have to drag it in the clouds.
 - Yes, I do, I like, I put it up, I don't know,
 I haven't opened it, it's just there.
 I'm very proud of it too, 'cause it's a cool collab, yeah.
 - At Aquafina, we have a recurring segment on our show
 called Explain That Gram,
 where we do a deep dive on our guest's Instagram,
 pull interesting pictures that need more context.
 So I'll show you the picture,
 you just tell us the bigger story.
 You gave a really touching tribute to Lucy Liu
 in your Saturday Night Live monologue.
 Do you remember the first thing that you said to her
 when you guys finally got a chance to meet?
 - I think it was probably like, hey.
 I think it was just, I think it was literally that,
 I think it was like, whoa, hey, whoa, what's up?
 That's when you, how you know I'm really nervous
 when my spine is in a complete C,
 and I'm just like, hey, what's up, yeah, cool.
 I was so nervous to meet her,
 but she actually has a very unnerving quality,
 which is good, right?
 I felt the warmth and then I, you know,
 straightened up a little bit, so she was really cool.
 My grandma gave me these
 'cause she knew I was doing this show.
 They're Chinese stomach medications.
 I'm gonna do that later.
 Oh, Tears of the Sun.
 Oh man, I'm very nervous.
 I don't know why.
 I think I'm nervous to meet you
 'cause I've been watching you for so long
 and like, I'm a fan, so there you go.
 You remember Go 90 and talk.
 I remember Go 90, I remember my vag.
 I go all the way back.
 Hell yeah, that's tight.
 Respect, okay.
 All right, so we're just gonna go into it.
 This is back half here.
 Back half here.
 So I get the sense that your creative spirit is rooted
 in a deep abiding love for storytelling,
 reading Bukowski at age 11,
 and then of course you had early musical influences
 like Tom Waits and jazz legend Chet Baker.
 What do you mean when you muse that embarrassment
 and humility are major sources of humor
 and creativity in general?
 When I was young, I felt out of place a lot.
 And then I also felt after my mom passed away
 that I was always just kind of like a symbolism
 of like sorrow of like a child that,
 his life is broken.
 And I didn't want to be that symbol.
 And at the same time, I realized that there were,
 people would laugh out of my inadequacies.
 So like when I was embarrassed or when I,
 I would humiliate myself or when I would do things
 without really thinking about them or say,
 saying crazy things that people would often
 be very amused by it.
 Those influences that you talk about,
 it wasn't that like, oh, I'm like so fucking cool
 that I read Charles Bukowski at 11.
 My dad had a book of his poetry.
 The thing about Bukowski that got me like,
 was that he absolutely hated himself in a lot of ways.
 And he knew the circumstances of his life.
 He knew that he just knew a lot of,
 he was self-aware in a way that I've never read
 any author be.
 And he was self-deprecating in a way that like,
 it really like to right now, it makes me excited
 because when I read that stuff, it just,
 self-awareness and wallowing in something that you know,
 that you won't change, that you should,
 I think is so beautiful.
 I've always been more attracted to like the kind of
 the tortured experience of things.
 'Cause I truly do believe that a lot of things
 are born out of really bad events sometimes.
 That's what shaped me.
 All right, the honey badger.
 You know when like a lotion,
 I wanna say like maybe a moisturizer,
 something that separates and it's been like since high school
 and it's like separated.
 I think that saved me here.
 'Cause I think the honey badger, it's separated a little bit.
 Like so at the top was just like the nice oil.
 Oh, nevermind.
 Wow.
 Oh wow.
 Oh, okay.
 Yeah.
 When I'm in pain, sometimes I tend to yell.
 So I'll move the thing over so you don't get any reds
 on your ears.
 - So as the creator of Nora from Queens
 and the author of a travel guide called Aquafina's NYC,
 you've long repped the city throughout your work.
 And recently there has been think piece
 after think piece after counter think piece
 after counter think piece, New York is dead.
 Do you pay attention to that trend
 and what do you think of it?
 - New York is not, isn't dead.
 I don't think, I will say that New York
 is constantly changing to the point where,
 you know, from when I was young
 and that New York that I loved was someone's version
 of a changed, not the same New York, right?
 And I think that's the kind of thing about,
 well, New Yorkers are always gonna complain
 about how much New York is changing
 and New York won't stop changing.
 You know, we're all going through something
 as like a nation, as a globe.
 Once we're able to kind of see our way out of that,
 whatever these think pieces think New York was,
 it'll return to it.
 - There's been a grassroots movement to save businesses
 and in particular restaurants that have been hit
 especially hard by the pandemic.
 How intertwined is the food in New York City
 to the essence of what makes New York City great
 in your opinion?
 - So intertwined.
 Someone has asked like, what's your favorite food city?
 And I think that, you know, New York is the city
 to prepare you for all of those food cities.
 So that when you go to, you know, like Oaxaca
 or you go to India or you go to Singapore,
 all these places, like you kind of understand the basis
 because you've had them at some point, you know?
 So yeah, New York won't exist without it.
 It's not, it has to, yeah.
 It won't exist without the food culture.
 It's not New York.
 (dramatic music)
 All right, yeah.
 Yeah.
 Wow.
 (humming)
 That's what that is.
 Yeah, yep.
 That's what that is.
 Wow.
 Wow.
 (dramatic music)
 Immediately.
 - Wow.
 Wow.
 You know what that tastes like?
 I'm super into mukbang.
 And there is a noodle with a very innocent looking chicken
 on it.
 And it's not even chicken flavored, but
 it's called like chicken bulldog.
 It's like a cheese chicken thing, but this specific noodle.
 Oh, wow.
 How come it doesn't go away?
 Wow.
 I think if anything, it just keeps getting worse
 and worse and worse.
 So before you ever created a garage band beat,
 I know that you were somewhat of a wunder kid on trumpet,
 gaining admission to the highly selective
 New York City Arts High School LaGuardia.
 And you know, I think brass instruments,
 similar to maybe the accordion or the bagpipes,
 I feel like sometimes people goof on them.
 You know, they don't get the respect that they deserve.
 For someone who has seen the light,
 what to you is most sacred about the trumpet?
 What's sacred to me about the trumpet is that
 it carries your own voice through it.
 So you're able to sing through it.
 So your individual voice is carried through it.
 People can rag on, you can rag on all you want,
 but I'm going to blast you away with the volume.
 LaGuardia is often called the fame school
 for its formidable list of A-list alums
 that go from Al Pacino to Jennifer Aniston to Nicki Minaj.
 Was that kind of setting, that environment,
 with those expectations, was that a blessing
 or a curse for you at that age?
 I think this is a story with a lot of people
 and it's really a testament to who you are.
 Like, are you going to sing or swim?
 Because I was like the best trumpet player
 in my junior high school,
 but then like probably the least best trumpet player
 in LaGuardia, which essentially vets
 the best trumpet players out of the entire city.
 I think it could be both.
 I just kind of missed having kind of a no strings relationship
 with the trumpet rather than having to practice
 all the time and stuff.
 All right, Awkwafina, are you ready to move on?
 No, no.
 Does it get worse?
 It doesn't get worse.
 What's it called when your mouth sweats?
 Oh, drooling, duh.
 There's no butthole on it, so it's like it comes out so much.
 I know, but the butthole one,
 sometimes if you shake it, just, I'm going to,
 you know what, fuck it.
 Ready? Are you ready?
 I'm ready. I'm ready.
 All right.
 Mm-hmm.
 Yup.
 You ever been so hot you're cold?
 Yeah, I get those chills and those sweats all the time.
 Oh, wow.
 Just part of being me.
 So it's hard to overstate your meteoric rise
 from winning awards to red carpets
 to the string of powerhouse films
 that you've been in over the last few years.
 Lulu Wang, the director of "The Farewell,"
 said you sent her an audition tape
 that convinced her to cast you.
 How much did you channel your own experiences
 with Graham-Affina for that audition?
 100%.
 It was also like the beauty at which
 Lulu was telling the story, but also she was my,
 what I think is like a totem or an anchor
 for me to get in the zone,
 for me to feel like the true seriousness
 is like what's at stake here.
 My grandma, it was only my grandma, you know?
 The entirety of the shoot,
 I think about my childhood with my grandma.
 My mom first went and my grandma kind of came in
 and when I got sent that script,
 I really had just never imagined
 that anything like it would come to me.
 Sorry, I'm just gonna dab my forehead.
 I never thought that I'd have to do that.
 Okay, wow.
 Yeah, let's go, I'm ready, yeah, fuck yeah, let's do it.
 Do you remember what Bobby Lee episode, did he shart?
 He might've more than sharted.
 You know, I vividly remember that.
 That was the best episode ever.
 I remember exactly where I was.
 I remember that moment.
 I remember everything about the Bobby Lee shoot.
 You were freaking out too.
 I remember you were like, "Whoa, are you all right?"
 That sound, when that hit,
 it never really hit the boom mic
 like it hit my ear in real time.
 Oh no.
 Like it had a real sort of like flop quality to it.
 Right, right, right, right, it did, it did.
 I'm replaying it myself, yeah.
 I'm not threatening anybody, I'm not.
 Did something just happen?
 Yeah, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.
 Ah.
 No.
 Oh, did you hear it?
 Oh, no, what quality to it.
 All right.
 Mm.
 Yeah.
 I've never been so hot and cold at the same time.
 (laughing)
 All right, Awkwafina, here we are
 approaching the summit of Mount Scoville
 and on our hike along the way.
 Boy, have we covered a lot of ground,
 from your films to your music to your comedy,
 but I wanna close with a tribute
 to one of your childhood obsessions,
 and that is the 1997 classic film "Air Bud."
 And believe it or not, it's actually spawned
 something like 12 sequels and offshoots.
 How do you explain the connection and impact
 that that 1997 cinematic masterpiece had
 on a young Awkwafina?
 Couldn't have big dogs when I was little.
 We only had little, we lived in an apartment,
 we don't wanna have big dogs,
 but I knew that the big dogs,
 you could train 'em to do all kinds of,
 like shoot hoops and all that kind of stuff.
 One thing that, the impact that it did have on me,
 could I ever own an "Air Bud"?
 Would there ever be a movie about like,
 my experience with an "Air Bud"?
 Because no, you'd have to recast the parents to be Asian.
 I loved that movie, and also "Homeward Bound."
 Have you seen "Homeward Bound"?
 - Classic story about getting lost
 and finding your way back. - And finding home.
 - And you know what?
 Just like the wings of death,
 how you can start off being a comfortable place.
 Things take a left, things take a right.
 They zig, they zag, you lose your way in the spice woods,
 but you know what?
 Awkwafina, eventually you find the light
 and you come out on top,
 and now there's nothing left to do,
 but roll out the red carpet for you, my friend.
 This camera, that camera,
 probably just the one that you're looking at.
 Let the people know what you have going on in your life.
 - Well, right now, I'm probably gonna take a nap after this.
 Please see "Raya and the Last Dragon,"
 which comes out in theaters on March 5th.
 Also, watch "Breaking News in Yuba County,"
 which is also coming out pretty soon.
 I don't have the exact date on that.
 Also, this one, this one here.
 (clattering)
 This one, this one, this one.
 Don't, don't, just don't, don't.
 Anyway, thank you, Sean.
 I'm a huge fan.
 I continue to be after this.
 - Yeah, I hope I didn't do anything
 to fracture the friendship sent in the sauces your way.
 If anything, I hope it's brought us closer.
 - No, you've helped grow the fanship
 and the friendship and all that, so thank you.
 (groaning)
 (dramatic music)
 - Hey, what's going on, Hot Ones fans?
 This is Sean Evans checking in to say thank you so much
 for watching today's episode,
 and I have an exciting announcement,
 a very exciting announcement, a look at us, look at us.
 Who would have thought, not me moment.
 That is right, some of my favorite shoes of all time,
 now in hot sauce red, and then of course,
 we have the milky, silky, classic legacy.
 The spice-ified questions and the refreshment-inspired
 classic legacy, Hot Ones and Reebok going together
 like hot sauce and chicken wings.
 The questions are some of my favorite shoes of all time,
 and I can't believe we have a Hot Ones version right here.
 Look at the details.
 You have the flames on the laces.
 You have the chicken on the back,
 and then you have a dab of hot sauce
 to represent the last dab,
 and then check out the Scoville scale.
 1,996,000 Scovilles, 1996, that's when the shoe came out.
 That's when I was running around the playground
 at South Elementary with my questions on,
 and here they are on the Hot Ones table.
 Who would have thought?
 And then of course, you have the classic legacy,
 milk-inspired, has the splash of milk along the side,
 and then, Bill, see if you can pan in real quick on this.
 Refreshments on the front, the chicken on the back.
 Pick up your pair at Reebok.com/HotOnes,
 Reebok.com/HotOnes to get your hands on a pair.
 Spicy.
 (upbeat music)
 (upbeat music)
 (upbeat music)
 you