Why acting in ‘Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens’ makes Bowen Yang feel so good

By Marianne Garvey, CNN

Bowen Yang calls his role of Edmund on “Awkwafina is Nora from Queens” his favorite project to date.

While many sets are filled with drama and the stress of making a hit television show, Yang told CNN in a recent interview that his experience working on the sitcom has been completely the opposite. The show’s Season 3 premiere is on April 26.

“I get to to go back and you know, just see these familiar faces again and just sort of work within this really comedically, fun place, and yet still, it’s so narratively rich and wonderful and fulfilling work as an actor,” Yang said. “It’s just perfect.”

Despite some “sleep deprivation” during the time his role on the series overlapped with his duties as a castmember on “Saturday Night Live,” he said he loves the variety.

“On one show I have to sort of write my own stuff and produce myself and see it to the finish line and on ‘Nora,’ I just felt so cared for all the time,” Yang said, adding it “wasn’t too much of one thing or the other.”

“They are perfect counterweights to each other because ‘SNL’ just moves so quickly and the decision-making has to sort of happen at a moment’s notice, whereas with ‘Nora’ it was the perfect sort of salve,” Yang said.

Yang plays Nora’s super successful cousin on the show. Working with star and series co-creator Awkwafina has only made things better, he said, calling her a comfort who runs the set with positivity and encouragement.

“For it to feel familiar at this point is something I never imagined. It just felt comforting to see her. She’s one of my favorite scene partners,” Yang said. “We just have so much fun with every take, and getting to see her direct this season was really special. I feel like the show is hands down my favorite project just because I feel so cared for. I’ve always felt cared for. I’ve not had a single bad day there ever.”

The show’s other co-creator Teresa Hsiao agrees with Yang, telling CNN that his thoughts are “the kindest thing that anyone has ever said in terms of being on set. Because I was like, wow. I remember quite a few just stressful, hairy days.”

Hsiao said Yang only added to the environment that Awkwafina has created, because “she’s very caring for other people, very caring for the cast, but also the crew and everyone around her.”

“Now that we’ve been lucky enough to be able to do it for three seasons, it really feels like home. It feels like family,” she adds.

“Awkwafina is Nora from Queens” debuts its third season on Comedy Central on Wednesday, April 26 at 10:30pm ET/PT.

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