Comedian and actress Ali Wong‘s star continues to rise as her new series Beef tops Netflix’s charts in over 50 countries, becoming one of the most-watched show on the platform this year.
In the 10-episode dark comedic thriller, Wong stars alongside Steven Yeun as an entrepreneur caught in a feud with Yeun’s character after a road rage incident. The battle quickly escalates from pettiness to full-on revenge as the pair become more and more entangled in each other’s lives. Beef is receiving praise from critics and casual viewers alike, with a near perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Wong and Yeun give standout performances in the chaotic comedy drama, and we especially love seeing Wong show some serious acting chops. While the comedian is no stranger to the screen, she first came on the scene as a stand-up comedian (getting mainstream attention after Netflix aired her comedy special Ali Wong: Baby Cobra) before exploring more acting roles.
Wong has an extensive catalog of shows and films she’s improved with her presence and in light of the success of Beef, it’s beyond time we shared our favorites with our readers. Here’s our ranking of Ali Wong’s top 10 best movies and TV shows.
10. American Housewife (2016-2021)
In the ABC sitcom American Housewife, housewife Katie Otto lives in the wealthy suburb of Westport, Connecticut with her perfectly imperfect family. The suburb is full of picture-perfect families and Otto is a bit of an outcast among the other moms; she finds a community in her two best friends, Doris and Kathy. Wong plays Doris, a complex mom in the neighborhood who is equal parts hilarious and horrendously strict with her children. In the role, Wong utilizes her comedic skills while playing a character the audience doesn’t always like — our conflicted feelings are evidence of a job well done. Wong ultimately left the show a few seasons in, but she was a highlight up until then.
9. Human Resources (2022-Present)
Human Resources is a spin-off of Netflix’s Big Mouth (in which Wong also stars), an animated show that gets candid about the human body and growing up. While Big Mouth is more family-friendly, its offshoot is a little more oriented toward an adult audience; Human Resources follows the monsters from Big Mouth when they’re not helping kids navigate puberty in a style reminiscent of The Office. The workplace comedy follows monsters from Big Mouth while introducing us to new creatures tasked with helping humans navigate the many periods of their lives. Both shows have some hilarious moments, but Human Resources wins out by providing viewers with wackier plot points and more relatable scenarios. In the show, Wong voices Becca Lee, a first-time mother as she battles her doubts and successfully gives birth to her newborn with the help of her monsters.
8. Birds of Prey (2020)
While Wong might only play a supporting role in 2020’s Birds of Prey, she’s more than memorable as Gotham City district attorney Ellen Yee. The film tells the story of infamous baddie Harley Quinn as she moves on after a bad breakup with the Joker, a task made more difficult when she loses his protection and finds herself wanted both by the police and Gotham’s criminals. Wong is not one of the eponymous Birds of Prey, but the ex-girlfriend and coworker of Detective Renee Montoya; she ends up betraying Montoya’s trust, leading to the latter’s suspension from the Gotham Police Department. This suspension spurs the plot along, and helps Quinn finally find her group. We’d love to see more Wong in future films in the Gotham universe.
7. Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife (2018)
After the success of her first Netflix comedy special, 2016’s Ali Wong: Baby Cobra, Netflix released a second a short two years later. In Baby Cobra, Wong is pregnant with her first child and is excited to become a mother; in Hard Knock Wife, Wong is pregnant with her second child, and she’s incredibly honest with the audience about how tough motherhood can be. With impeccable comedic timing, Wong shares some harsh truths about pregnancy and motherhood that most women conceal from one another. The comedian gets candid in a way that makes other moms feel seen and refreshingly, she does it without an ounce of shame.
6. Onward (2020)
In Onward, brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot live in a fantasy world where magic has been all but forgotten in favor of modern technology. On Ian’s 16th birthday, he is gifted with the means to summon his late father for a 24 hour period, but is interrupted by his older brother and fails to complete the spell, only resurrecting the lower half of his father’s body. The siblings journey to find a way to finish the spell, bringing their dad back completely. It’s a sweet story about the importance of family, and Wong plays a small but pivotal part in the plot as officer Gore, a faun police officer. When the two brothers use magic to disguise themselves as their mother’s boyfriend, Gore inadvertently reveals Ian thinks Barley is a “screw-up,” and this causes major tension between the two.
5. Paper Girls (2022)
Adapted from the comic series of the same name, Paper Girls was cancelled after only one season on Prime Video. Don’t let that stop you from checking out the sci-fi series, though; Paper Girls is still a great watch even if we don’t know if it will ever return anywhere. The four titular paper girls find themselves caught between two warring factions of time travelers after they accidentally jump from their year of 1988 to 2019. Wong plays the modern-day version of Erin Tieng, and helps her younger self and friends after they wind up in the present day.
4. Tuca & Bertie (2019-2022)
Tuca & Bertie is an animated series that follows two very different bird best friends in their early 30s as they navigate their professional and personal lives. Wong stars alongside Tiffany Haddish as the career-minded Bertie, a more serious foil to the impulsive Tuca the toucan. In addition to the two best friends, Wong’s Beef co-star Steven Yeun voices Bertie’s boyfriend, a robin who works as an architect. The show might be silly, but it explores several complex aspects of adulthood while still being a hilarious watch. Tuca & Bertie originally aired on Netflix before being picked up by Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming block, but was ultimately cancelled last year.
3. Always Be My Maybe (2019)
Wong and Randall Park first met at an event hosted by a mutual friend from the LCC Theatre Company, the Asian American performance group Park co-founded while at UCLA, and continued to stay in touch. The two supported each other and hoped to eventually work on their own script together, a movie Wong told the New Yorker would be their attempt at a classic romantic comedy in the style of When Harry Met Sally. Eventually, Netflix helped get the project off the ground, and Always Be My Maybe was released in 2019. The result is a cute rom-com starring Wong and Park as two childhood friends who reconnect in adulthood when Wong’s character returns to her old hometown of San Francisco to open a restaurant. Expect laughs, love, and a hilarious Keanu Reeves cameo.
2. Beef (2023-Present)
Although the newest entry in Wong’s filmography, it was inevitable Beef would make its way on this list. The Netflix series was only released a few weeks ago, but is already a standout among her impressive resume. We won’t say too much about the plot (Beef is a show best watched blind) but Wong shines in scenes where she explores her character Amy’s shame and darker desires. Even though Wong is great on her own, we can’t help but be mesmerized by the few scenes with her and Yeun. The two lead actors play well off of each other and the intense final episode shows the two at their best. Hopefully Beef can bypass the Netflix curse and get renewed for a second season, so we can see more of the two powerhouse actors onscreen together.
1. Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (2020)
The beloved Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb officially ended its run in 2015 after four successful seasons, but when the creators were approached by Disney to create a film a few years later, they got to work on the fantastic Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe. The film, released in 2020, gives older sister Candace the main character treatment after she is kidnapped by an alien named Super Super Big Doctor, played by Wong. In many ways, Big Doctor exemplifies Candace’s very worst traits. No longer wanting to feel overlooked, Big Doctor decides to take over Earth and mind control her subjects in order to finally feel important. Sure, it’s a voice role in a kids cartoon, but Wong’s character teaches Candace an important lesson by showing Phineas and Ferb’s older sister what would happen if she continued to resent her brothers.
Published: Apr 17, 2023 03:42 am