Cheering for Constance Wu

Mindy Kaling is thoroughly in her creator era, for better (Never Have I Ever) or for worse (Velma). Her latest series is Not Suitable For Work, a comedy about a group of twenty-somethings starting their careers in the Big City.

It looks like Industry but for softies (compliment).

 

Super cute, right? I’ll watch at least a few episodes in between obsessively re-watching episodes of Widow’s Bay to catch all the little clues and foreshadowing about that cursèd island. Much like the hotels featured in The White Lotus, I spend too much time thinking about the Trip Advisor reviews for Widow’s Bay. They’ve gotta be averaging three stars with the occasional one-star review: Local tried to axe murder us, nice beaches though!

Anyway, back to Mindy Kaling and her new show, NSFW. One more reason to watch it is that Constance Wu has a recurring role as a celebrity stylist. I have liked Wu since the Crazy Rich Asians days, I was not put off when she posted public comments being bummed that Fresh Off the Boat got a sixth-season renewal, and then I read her celebrity memoir, Making A Scene, which is one of the better celebrity memoirs.

Far from being a vapid cash grab, Wu honestly wrestles with difficult remnants of her childhood and family life, not dressing up her problems and personal failings as perfectly resolved, but also giving herself grace and showing how she has grown. She also addresses the Fresh Off the Boat situation, which involved (alleged) sexual harassment from a producer on the show. If you’re looking for a summer read, Wu’s memoir is a good pick. She’s an entertaining writer who doesn’t use her memoir to pretend her life is perfect.

Wu was at the premiere of NSFW last night, along with Mindy Kaling, Very Handsome Man Jay Ellis, and the young stars of the series, Ella Hunt and Avantika. Wu wore a giant flower dress and matching flower shoes, and I feel like I SHOULD hate this, but I don’t. I think it just sneaks into sculptural territory and is more interesting than cute. The shoes are pushing it, though.

Avantika wore a beautiful striped dress that is sort of giving Seventies vibes with the pattern and muted rainbow tones.

Meanwhile, Ella Hunt went for “mauled by bear underboob”. It’s certainly a choice!

While we’ll probably never get that sequel to Crazy Rich Asians—just an absolutely insane situation, given the success of that film, I will truly never let this go—Constance Wu stays busy. She’ll be in Katie Holmes’ Happy Hours later this year, and she has an alien invasion movie with William Fichtner called The Outer Threat coming sometime TBD. I want nothing but good things and chill vibes for Constance Wu. And hey, as long as she has Mindy Kaling in her corner, she will stay employed, because Mindy Kaling does not stop creating new TV shows. Let’s just hope NSFW is more Never Have I Ever than Velma.