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Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s the day you’ve all been waiting for: Woman Crush Wednesday! This week, we’re celebrating the Queen of Comedy, who just so happens to also be your favorite rom-com star, too. Give it up for Ali Wong!
WHO’S THAT GAL: Ali Wong
WHY WE’RE CRUSHING: Back in 2016, Netflix blessed us with Wong’s stand-up special, Baby Cobra. At 7.5 months pregnant with her first child, Wong had us doubled over in laughter and (at least in my case) with tears in our eyes. Her iconic baby bump-skimming dress even inspired a slew of Halloween costumes, complete with red retro frames, fake bumps, and all. Of course, we wanted more of our new favorite comedian and in 2018 Netflix delivered. Wong’s second special, Hard Knock Wife, was again released on Mother’s Day, and again features a very pregnant Wong putting in work up on that stage.
Now, this bad ass woman has graced the “Trending Now” section of our Netflix accounts once more, though perhaps not in the way you might expect. This time, she’s not twerking in front of an audience, or dishing on the realities of marriage, or even, wait for it, sporting a baby bump (*gasp*). Instead, audiences are seeing Wong in an entirely different light: as the center of Netflix’s new romantic comedy, Always Be My Maybe.
While Wong’s co-star Randall Park is certainly a strong lead, Wong is the reason we love this movie. The film follows childhood sweethearts Sasha Tran (Wong) and Marcus Kim (Park) who reconnect when Sasha, now a celebrity chef, moves back to San Francisco to open a new restaurant. While Sasha’s world is full of fame, glitz, and amazing food, Marcus is a struggling musician playing at his neighborhood bar with the same band from a decade earlier. Even so, it seems their feelings for one another haven’t completely faded, and ohh do we love watching them come to the surface.
Wong as Sasha is still the relatable, spirited, and we’ll say it, raunchy as hell girl we know and love from her comedy specials. And did you know that Wong helped write and produce Always Be My Maybe? In fact, back in 2016 she told The New Yorker that she and Park wanted to make a romantic comedy together that was “our version of When Harry Met Sally.” Told you she was a total bad ass. Wong is out here living the dream, and we’re all for it.
WHERE YOU’VE SEEN HER BEFORE: Despite her most recent mainstream successes, Wong has been well known in the comedy world for the better part of a decade. In 2011, she was named one of Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch,” leading to numerous appearances on late night and stand up shows, and even a stint on the NBC Comedy series, Are You There, Chelsea?
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You might have also seen her as Dr. Lina Lark on the psychological medical drama, Black Box or, more recently, in American Housewife as Doris, the strict, uber-wealthy friend of fellow-mom Katie Otto (Katy Mixon). Wong also stars in Netflix’s new adult animated sitcom, Tuca and Bertie, as Bertie, a 30-year-old songbird plagued by self-doubt who lives in the same apartment building as her best friend Tuca, a free-spirited toucan.
WHERE YOU’LL SEE HER AGAIN: You can be sure that the always fierce Ali Wong is here to stay. Not only will she be returning to American Housewife for its fourth season this fall, but she’s also slated for the big screen in Warner Brothers upcoming Harley Quinn film, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), to be released in February 2020. And if that wasn’t enough for you, dear reader, Wong has written a book entitled Dear Girls, a series of hilarious letters written to her two daughters, which will be published this October 2019. Seriously, is there anything this woman can’t do? Perhaps there’s an action/thriller flick in Wong’s future? Fingers crossed! All we know for sure is that this woman is unstoppable, and that she’s got some amazing (and probably hysterical) things in store for us.
