Koy plays actor Joe Valencia, who, after really only having one notable beer commercial under his belt, gets the chance to audition for a pilot for a TV series. Just as he’s trying to navigate this potential new job while keeping his son Junior (Brandon Wardell) company with his ex-wife, played by Carly Pope, Joe’s mom Susan (Lydia Gaston) calls him and his son, back home to Daly City in Northern California to celebrate Easter Sunday with his family. Joe returns to his mother’s house for a fight between his mom and his aunt Teresa (Tia Carré). Joe also discovers that his cousin Eugene (Eugene Cordero) used the money Joe invested in his taco truck to start what he now calls a “hype truck”. to whom Eugene now owes $40,000 and must pay quickly. Jo Koy arrives at the ‘Easter Sunday’ World Premiere on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
“It’s ignorance, it’s lazy now, we don’t want to hear it anymore”
Jo Koy has been an outspoken critic of stories about Asian families being deemed “too specific” to be worth investing in, but the comic rejects this “lazy” and “ignorant” argument. Even if this movie never got made, I would always get on stage and tell my story, and the proof was in the pudding. I’m selling out arenas, which means people want to hear these stories, and it’s not Filipinos coming to these arenas. they want to hear that story because they relate to that story. Joe Coy, comedian “They’re in love with this mom character that I do on stage because it reminds them of their mom, and so the old saying of, ‘Oh, it’s too specific, they’re not going to understand,’ is ignorance. he’s lazy now, we don’t want to hear it anymore.” The story continues Lou Diamond Phillips, left, and Tia Carrere arrive at the World Premiere of “Easter Sunday” on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
“They knocked down our doors”
As for the casting of Easter Sunday, it was definitely going to be representative of Filipino Americans and Asian Americans, but there were a few people Jo Koy knew he wanted in the film from the beginning. “Tia Carrere opened the door for us, especially for a kid from the Philippines who didn’t have an ID,” Koy said. “I wanted to be in Hollywood, but what motivated me? I didn’t see me anywhere on TV, anywhere on the big screen, and when I saw Tia come out on the big screen, even though she did an accent, just a general accent, I knew, from the way she looked, she looked like one of my cousins, and I was like a Filipino. “I waited until the end credits to see Tia Carrere and I said, ‘I can be an actress because of her.’ Koy admitted he felt similar to Lou Diamond Phillips on Easter Sunday. “I knew, right when I saw his last name, Lou Diamond Phillips, I was like he’s half Filipino like me, and I was right,” Koy said. “We had our doors shut down when Hollywood was really, really hard to get into.” Lydia Gaston arrives at the World Premiere of ‘Easter Sunday’ on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP) Fans of Koy’s standup will know that impersonating his mother is one of the comedian’s most iconic moments, so when it came to casting for his mother on Easter Sunday, Koy knew there was an expectation there. “The one conversation I had with [Lydia Gaston] when we cast her it was how important the character of my mom is and how my fans are in love with that character, and if we do something different than what they’ve seen on stage, they’re not going to be happy,” Koy said. “But I also said to Lydia, I still want you to bring to it whatever you feel in your heart, … but let’s try to bring it as close to home as possible, and she did that and then some.” “He’s the backbone of this movie, he carried this movie so well.” For Koy, Easter Sunday is an example of how all family stories can be told, and we need to continue to make more films and TV shows that showcase cultures historically underrepresented in film and television. “People will watch it and fall in love with this family, because it will remind them of their family,” Koy said. “Plus, you’ll learn about someone else’s culture.” “We need to make more movies like this, about other people’s cultures, and then we’ll all realize that family is funny and family is related, no matter who you are.”
