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Ali Wong opens up about her newfound fame following the success of ‘Beef’
The comedian has recently enjoyed newfound success as an actor.
Ali Wong has been enjoying a resurgence of fame, following the success of her Netflix series, ‘Beef’, co-starring Steven Yeun. The series follows the events after a road rage incident, with Wong and Yeun’s characters seeking vengeance on each other.
Since then, Wong has found her life changed and finds herself refocusing on her stand-up comedy career in a way she never had before.
On being snapped by the paparazzi
One aspect of Wong’s life that has changed since ‘Beef’ is the amount of attention she’s been receiving from the paparazzi.
“It’s so weird. I can’t even explain it. I have never, ever been snapped by paparazzi until this year,” she told Variety in a recent interview.
“The other thing is my mom reads People magazine; she’s been a longtime subscriber, and she does the crossword puzzle. I haven’t even discussed it with her, but that must be so surreal for her. I’m trying to get used to it.”
New acting opportunities
Aside from the unwanted attention, Wong has also found herself being pursued for more roles than ever before.
“Acting is wonderful, but it takes a lot of time,” she said of the roles she’s been offered. “Although I do appreciate getting calls and offers. It’s so wonderful and something I never imagined would happen. I’m just excited to be doing this in my sweats.”
Wong’s newfound love of doing stand-up
At the same time, Wong sees herself as a stand-up comedian first and foremost and is determined to not let that go.
“I don’t know what it is but it’s hard for me still to identify as an actress and to even say, ‘I’m an actor or an actress.’ I really identify first and foremost as a stand-up,” she emphasized.
Wong has been performing stand-up since she was 23. In the 2010s, she appeared on ‘The Tonight Show’ and ‘John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show.’
While filming ‘Beef’ Wong took a break from her comedic pursuits, but since wrapping up felt it was time to go back to her roots.
“I decided a while ago that it was time for me to return to stand-up. That was the longest break I ever took, and the worry is that that muscle atrophies — you can lose it if you don’t put the reps in. It’s like weightlifting.”
Wong has had three stand-up comedy specials on Netflix. In 2016, she hosted ‘Ali Wong: Baby Cobra’, later in 2018 she starred in ‘Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife’ and in 2022 the ‘Ali Wong: Don Wong’ special was released.
“It’s nice to be back on the road, doing stand-up again,” Wong said of her 2023 tour, which finds the comedian visiting cities across the United States and Canada.
The tour will begin on June 16 in Long Beach, California, before ending on December 20 in San Francisco.