Following its successful first season on Comedy Central in 2020, Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens returns on Aug. 18. Starring Awkwafina in the lead role, Season 2 will see Nora continuing to find her way while living with her family in the titular New York City borough. For series co-creator Teresa Hsiao, and fellow writer and executive producer Karey Dornetto, the goal with Season 2 was to retain the wacky sense of humor that defined its first season while also digging deeper into emotionally richer stories with its main characters.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Hsiao and Dornetto discussed writing to their cast's strengths and working with them to find their characters. They also discussed taking Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens in a more surreal direction in Season 2, and teased how the hit comedy show will both critique and celebrate New York City and Queens.
With Season 2, now that this show is out in the world, what did you want to build upon and what did you want to push in radical new directions?
Teresa Hsiao: With Season 1, we had that wacky, fun, irreverent part of things and we definitely wanted to continue that trend and I think we did that. In Season 2, there's that wackiness but also sort of more emotion and we really wanted to elevate it. Speaking with all the actors, we feel like we got them there with their characters.
This season, you guys aren't afraid to go more surreal and cosmic, especially in regards to space and time. Was that an outgrowth of wanting to go wackier?
Karey Dornetto: I would say we wanted to keep it really fun. I know the episode you're talking about and I think that was something Nora wanted to do. I think we balanced the season with having some surreal elements of the show but then, within that, really emotional and real stories. I think that it has a nice balance, this season.
Another thing this season is characters like Wally are getting in on the slapstick more this time around. How is it learning from and writing towards the cast's strengths this season?
Hsiao: The actors are always really part of the creative process. So many of the grandma's storylines are taken from Lori [Tan Chinn's] life as well. She likes to bring in her own costume and her own props and just sometimes hearing her speak, we'll shift things around and use her real-life stuff in the story. Working with this cast, they're so amazing so it's just so easy for us to say this is the general area we're in, we'll let them play with it and go off, they're great at that.
I would argue this season, more so than the first, really is a love letter to Queens and New York, while still catching it warts and all. What did you want to really bring forward in this love letter to the Five Boroughs?
Dornetto: I think with Nora, and I don't want to speak for her, but she's been traveling a lot doing a lot of other things. I think Queens and New York really hold a special place in her heart and, anyone that's lived here knows that. I think this season, we really got to explore that and there's a specific episode that's about real New Yorkers and also how things have changed and how they're the same. This year, we see a lot of that.
Created by Awkwafina and Teresa Hsiao, Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens returns for Season 2 on Aug. 18 at 10:00 pm ET/PT on Comedy Central. The first season is available to stream on HBO Max.