‘Expats’ Producer Lulu Wang and Star Sarayu Blue on Filming the Show’s Claustrophobic Trapped Elevator Scene Like a Play
variety.comJazz Tangcay Artisans Editor When “Expats” showrunner and director Lulu Wang was penning the script for episode 4, she featured a scene where Hilary gets trapped in the elevator with her mother.
But little did she know, actress Sarayu Blue was claustrophobic. “That’s my biggest fear,” Blue says. Wang tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast that she learned about Blue’s unease when the production, which shot during COVID, was in quarantine. “She had to be stuck in a hotel, a glass box for 21 days, so there were a lot of conversations about the panic, and it was really challenging,” says Wang. “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s going to be fun because I’ve written a whole episode where she’s stuck in an elevator.” On this episode, Wang and Blue discuss their Prime Video series, and the reactions they’ve received from fans and family.
Before that, the Roundtable discusses what’s going on with “Shogun,” plus the surprise success of “Baby Reindeer” and much more.
Listen below! Based on Janice Y. K. Lee’s 2016 novel “The Expatriates,” the six-episode Prime Video limited series “The Expats” follows an international community in Hong Kong whose lives are bound together forever following a sudden family tragedy.
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