Stephanie Hsu

Stephanie Ann Hsu (born November 25, 1990) is an American actress whose work spans Broadway, television, and film. Born in Torrance, California, to a single mother, Hsu has family roots connected to Mainland China and Taiwan, as her maternal grandmother relocated from the mainland to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War. Her mother later emigrated to the United States. Hsu attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School before relocating to Brooklyn to pursue a career in theatre. She graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 2012 and also trained with the Atlantic Theater Company.

Hsu's early professional work was rooted in experimental theatre and comedy. Between 2013 and 2015, she made regular appearances on the MTV reality comedy series Girl Code. Her first recurring television role came through the Hulu drama The Path, in which she appeared from 2016 to 2018. Her connection to The SpongeBob Musical began as early as 2012, when she was called in to read for the role of Karen, the anthropomorphic computer, at the show's first table reading. She performed the role in Chicago in 2016 before making her Broadway debut in the production in 2017. The show is listed among her verified Broadway credits as SpongeBob SquarePants.

Hsu also originated the role of Christine Canigula in Be More Chill, first performing the character at the regional Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey. She reprised the role during the production's off-Broadway run at the Pershing Square Signature Center in 2018 and its Broadway run at the Lyceum Theatre in 2019. Her performance earned her nominations from both the Lucille Lortel Awards and the Drama Desk Awards, the latter recognizing her with an Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical nomination. Her Broadway credits additionally include The Rocky Horror Show, with her overall Broadway tenure spanning 2017 to 2026.

In 2019, Hsu joined the cast of the Amazon Prime series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as Mei Lin, a recurring role she held through 2023. She and the ensemble cast received the 2020 SAG Award for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series. That same year, she starred in the independent film Asking for It.

Hsu's most prominent screen work to date came in 2022 with the A24 film Everything Everywhere All at Once, in which she played the dual roles of Joy Wang, the depressed daughter of Michelle Yeoh's character, and Jobu Tupaki, the film's nihilistic antagonist. The film premiered at the 2022 South by Southwest festival to widespread acclaim. For her performance, Hsu received the Independent Spirit Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, as well as nominations for the Critics' Choice Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In June 2023, she was invited to join the Academy as an actor.

Hsu's subsequent screen appearances include a guest role in the Peacock series Poker Face, a starring role in Adele Lim's 2023 film Joy Ride, and an episode of the Disney+ series American Born Chinese, which reunited her with Everything Everywhere All at Once costars Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and James Hong. Hsu is queer.