BY now, everyone and their mother has talked about how Stephanie Hsu–”Jobu Topaki” or “Joy” in the A24 film Everything, Everywhere, All at Once– was completely robbed at the Oscars when she didn’t win the Best Supporting Actress award. 

A flurry of angry tweets quickly filled the internet, claiming that Hsu should have won over Jamie Lee Curtis.

And honestly, I get the anger; this was Hsu’s big break, after all, and she absolutely killed the role of joy. Just the perfect amount of playfulness and melancholy mixed to create a character meant to be a villain, yet you couldn’t help but love her. I was hooked! The way Hsu acted on-screen quickly managed to grab one’s attention, whether she was the main focus of the scene or not. 

I quickly found myself looking for more things that Hsu’s been a part of, only to find out that EEAAO is her largest film to date. Before then, she said she’d debuted on Broadway and played a few roles on the small screen. 

So no, I wasn’t able to start off my Hsu movie night the way I wanted. But as I continued to dig deeper, I found that there were a lot of things I could enjoy watching her in. 

1. The Be More Chill Musical

Release date: March 10, 2019

What it’s about: Based on the book written by Ned Vizzini, Be More Chill is a Broadway musical that looks at the life of teenager Jeremy Heere, a self-proclaimed “loser” who spends his time at school avoiding bullies who call him gay or creepy just for looking in their direction. Jeremy is used to staying in the shadows, but when he sees his crush Christine signing up for the school play, Jeremy can’t help but follow suit.

After Jeremy sees one of the popular boys starting to grab Christine’s attention during play rehearsal, he decides that he’s done being a loser; he takes the advice of one of the popular boys, Rich, and buys a device called a “SQUIP” that tells him what to do. Here, he realizes just how much you have to sacrifice if you want to be popular.

Who Hsu plays: Christine Canigula, the love interest of the main character Jeremy, who plays the female lead in the school’s musical. 

Fun fact: Hsu also starred in The Spongebob Musical, where she played Karen, Plankton’s robot wife.

2. MTV’s Girl Code series

Release date: April 23, 2013

What it’s about: Featuring several different female actresses and comedians, Girl Code is a series of different skits that cover topics one has to deal with given the complexity of womanhood, such as going to clubs, virginity, and dealing with fake friends. 

Who Hsu plays: Herself, where she would play different roles in sketches on the show; she was a part of around 56 episodes in total. 

Fun fact: Awkwafina, who was also in Girl Code, also auditioned for the role of Joy in EEAAO, but she dropped out of the movie’s production in 2020 and was then replaced by Hsu.

3. Amazon Prime’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Release date: March 17, 2017 (Season 1, Episode 1)

What it’s about: Set in the 1950s, the show looks at the life of a woman named Midge Maisel, a housewife suddenly brought into the world of comedy. After her husband leaves her for his secretary, Midge starts to attend a nearby comedy club called The Gaslight Cafe.

What starts as a drunken set full of mishaps and accidental nip slips soon turns into a fruitful career, and Maisel quickly finds herself having to navigate the life of being a female stand-up comedian in the 50s.

Who Hsu plays: Mei Lin, the girlfriend of Midge Maisel’s ex-husband Joel, who is connected to the illegal gambling ring Joel starts to run after opening up a new club. She’s on 13 episodes on the show, starting from Season 3, Episode 1’s ‘Strike up the Band’ until Season 4, Episode 8’s ‘How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?’

Fun fact: This was Hsu’s first major screen role.

4. Hulu’s The Path

Release date: March 30, 2016

What it’s about: The Path is a series centered around the lives of Eddie and Sarah, a married couple starting to grow apart as Eddie struggles with keeping his faith alive. Caught deep in the trenches of Meyerism, he–along with a plethora of different characters–struggles through dealing with different issues with religion, belief, and power.

Who Hsu plays: Joy Armstrong, the cousin of Hawk Lane, who later starts to develop feelings for a character named Caleb, the son of a well-known Christian preacher. Hsu is on a total of 19 episodes in this series. She first appears in Episode 4 of Season 1, “The Future;” her final appearance is in Episode 8 of Season 3, “The Door.”

Fun fact: This was Hsu’s first recurring role on TV.

5. In the future: Disney +’s American Born Chinese

Release date: May 24, 2023

What it’s about: Based on the graphic novel created by Gene Luen Yang, this series follows a young Chinese-American boy named Jin Wang, who has to adapt to the predominantly white culture that surrounds him. After meeting another student named Wei-Chen, he finds his life turned upside down, having to fight many different gods from Chinese mythology. 

This series is a reflection of what it’s like to be an immigrant living in America, all while dealing with the stress of being a teenager growing up, and having to battle with Chinese gods on top of it all. 

Who Hsu plays: Shiji Niangniang, known to be the Chinese goddess of stone.

Fun fact: Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, Hsu’s co-actors in EEAAO, will also be starring in this series.