Everything Everywhere star Stephanie Hsu recalls being mistaken for Lana Condor on red carpet

In one particular interdimensional universe, Stephanie Hsu was mistaken for Lana Condor — and it's the one we're all living in.

The breakout star of Everything Everywhere All At Once recalled the mishap during an interview with The New York Times published Thursday, noting that it occurred at a red carpet event.

It happened once, "but it was very pronounced," Hsu said, acknowledging that in that person's defense, her mother also believes she bears a resemblance to the To All the Boys I've Loved Before franchise star.

"She sent me a picture of Lana Condor a year ago and was like, 'You look like this woman,'" Hsu said of her mom. "But after the Lana Condor thing happened, we were at a screening in New York, and a bunch of people kept going up to my publicist and [EEAAO director duo] the Daniels' publicist, who are both Asian, and they were like, 'Congratulations, your performance is incredible.' And they were like, 'Huh?'"

While awards season has been thrilling, "that is real," Hsu said of the current state of representation. "We have not transcended this moment, right?" Referencing her costars, she added, "James Hong started acting at a time when people wouldn't even say his name, they would literally just call him 'Chinaman' and say 'Get on your mark.' Michelle [Yeoh] waited almost 40 years for her first chance of being No. 1 on the call sheet, and Ke [Huy Quan] left acting for [nearly] 20 years."

"As successful as this film has been," Hsu lamented, "the biggest fear on the other side is 'What if this is my last chance?'"

Hsu — who recently scored a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for her EEAAO role — recalled the significance of watching Halle Berry make history as the first Black woman to win a Best Actress Oscar in 2002. "I don't remember anyone else who won that night, but I remember that moment," she said. "I've been reflecting on that a lot because I didn't realize how much I had deleted the possibility from my mind that I could actually ever be a part of this industry in a real way, doing something that I value and love."

The actress spoke to EW last year about the momentous experience of starring opposite Yeoh. "I grew up watching her," Hsu said. "She is such an icon for so many Asian families. When I told my mother that Michelle was going to be playing my mother, everyone in my family was, like, 'We love Michelle Yeoh.' I feel I learned so much by just being around her, and watching her work, and watching her surrender to this project."

Related content:

• Michelle Yeoh goes on a mind-bending trip in Everything Everywhere All at Once
• The cast of Everything Everywhere All at Once pulls no punches in EW's Around the Table chat
• Golden Globes pianist learns the hard way not to try and play off Michelle Yeoh: 'I can beat you up'