'The Studio' finale: Chase Sui Wonders talks about the 'satisfying, explosive end' to the season

Yahoo

22-05-2025

The Apple TV+ hit show The Studio, co-created by and starring Seth Rogen, has come to an end with a chaotic and satisfying finale, with the Continental team at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. As we saw in Episode 9, Griffin (Bryan Cranston) told Matt (Rogen) that the company is being bought be Amazon, so the pressure is on for their convention presentation of their upcoming projects to save their jobs.
That was before Griffin and Zoë Kravitz took too many mushrooms, with the rest of the Continental team tasked with sobering them up before the presentation. The wacky antics continue in the season finale as Matt, Quinn (Chase Sui Wonders) Sal (Ike Barinholtz) and Maya (Kathryn Hahn) try to track down Griffin, and Patty (Catherine O'Hara) finds out about the expected Amazon sale.
But it turns into a Weekend at Bernie's situation as the Continental team drags Griffin through the Vegas hotel, trying to avoiding reporter Matthew Belloni, while also trying to wrangle Kravitz as well. It's just the most satisfyingly crazy start to a TV episode.
"Reading those last two episodes ... and then shooting in Vegas was its own type of satisfying, explosive end," Chase Sui Wonders told Yahoo Canada about the end of the season.
"We wrapped at 4:00 a.m. and I remember I gave Seth a big hug, [co-creator Evan Goldberg] a big hug, Ike a big hug. Our last scene was walking through the casino, me, Ike and Seth, and I walked to the fountain, like at the end of Ocean's Eleven, ... outside the Bellagio, and I played Clair de lune, and I just looked at the fountain. I was like, 'This is so cool. It just felt really satisfying. We were living in Vegas for almost three weeks and we were going out every night and going to dinner, and we went to the Grateful Dead show, and it was its own satisfying craze that built up to a bombastic end."
The Studio has been a massive hit with critics and was quickly embraced by the public as well. Wonders highlighted that even while making the show, it felt "special."
"While we were making it, it felt so good and so special and such a warm environment. And you could tell everyone was excited to show up to work every day, and had big smiles on their faces," Wonders said. "When something you're making feels so unique and funny and poignant, and the characters are so fleshed out and so specific, that was a reward in itself."
"You always hope that audiences and critics can match that energy, and once they started to, it's double satisfying."
Looking back at some of the best moments of the show, Episode 5, focused on a spat between Quinn and Sal stands out, as they both try to get Matt's sign off on their competing pitches for a horror film.
For Quinn, much of that episode is about her, as the more junior employee, trying to carve out a path for herself to progress, and really showcases Wonders as an incredible talent on the show. Interestingly, Episode 5 was written by co-creator Frida Perez, who was previously Rogen's assistant.
"She had that experience and I could talk to her about what it is to be this young kind of boss in this boys club," Wonders said. "It was so exciting as an actor to know that we had that meaty episode in the middle of the season. ... It's always fun to get to fight and be immature and petty in acting scenes."
But in reflecting on The Studio's evaluation and satire of Hollywood, Wonders, who is also a writer, identified that the show has reminded her that the industry is very much a business, and any stalls in progress can simply come down to things like metrics and quotas.
"There's so many things that are so random and so many things that are based on business and metrics and numbers, and I think that's something that is useful to be reminded of," Wonders said. "I'm a writer too, and when things don't go your way, whether it be acting, whether it be writing, there are quotas that have to be met, and there are certain eyes to the bottom line. ... It doesn't mean your idea or your performance is not unique and interesting, and doesn't have its own merit at some point, down the line in your career."
"It's called show business for a reason and I think most actors and artists, creatives and writers, are focused on the show, and not always as focused on the business as they should be. But it's sometimes useful to be reminded that there is a number crank that is controlling all of this."
We now know that The Studio has been renewed for Season 2, and Wonders confirmed that there have already been talks about where the story will go. But for Quinn, the actors wants to dive deeper into her backstory.
"I don't want to spoil anything because we've already talked about different episodes," Wonders said. "But I think getting into the sad little life of Quinn, like how she has no life outside of it, and just seeing a bit more of that, I think would be really fun."
"I think seeing Quinn just interact with more directors and try to get more arthouse movies made is going to be fun, and more backstory."