Breakthrough Entertainer: Stephanie Hsu, Now Everywhere 

Stephanie Hsu arrives at the Governors Awards on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. (AP)
Stephanie Hsu arrives at the Governors Awards on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. (AP)
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Breakthrough Entertainer: Stephanie Hsu, Now Everywhere 

Stephanie Hsu arrives at the Governors Awards on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. (AP)
Stephanie Hsu arrives at the Governors Awards on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. (AP)

Dressed as Elvis and nonchalantly walking a pig on a leash, Stephanie Hsu made a memorable big screen impression this year. 

Hsu actually had two roles in "Everything Everywhere All at Once," playing both a sullen teen and an intergalactic supervillain for a film that can best be called a fantastical science fiction comedy-drama. 

With Michelle Yeoh joining Hsu as her onscreen mother, the indie film has garnered critical acclaim, hit over $100 million in global ticket sales and has sparked Oscar buzz. 

"The movie is so special because we could not have possibly expected this to have happened and so we were really able to just throw paint at the wall," Hsu said. "It came from a very raw place with zero expectations, only trying to tell the story as deeply and honestly as we can." 

Hsu's performance — combining deep hurt with a real skill with nunchucks while rocking sequin-lined eyes — has made her one of The Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of the Year alongside Joaquina Kalukango, Sadie Sink, Tenoch Huerta, Iman Vellani and more. 

"I have been working for a really long time and I guess that’s what a breakout is: You chip away and then all of a sudden, there’s one thing that everyone is like, ‘That’s the thing that put you on the map.’" 

Hsu was a Broadway veteran with a few TV credits when she worked with the writing and directing duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for an episode of "Norah From Queens." 

Working with Kwan and Scheinert — know as The Daniels — was a revelation for Hsu and when they contacted her about "Everything Everywhere All at Once" she never hesitated. 

"We’re like artistic soulmates in so many ways," she said. "When I read the script, in so many ways, it actually made a lot of sense to me weirdly enough. I don’t know what that says about me." 

The film begins with Yeoh as a struggling laundromat owner who is being audited by the IRS and has a strained relationship with her daughter. The story gets surreal when she discovers she has to connect with parallel universes to prevent cataclysmic destruction, also involving her daughter. It's also a family drama, with richness in the complex love between relations. 

"This movie, in so many ways, embodies what I love to do as an artist. So it feels like the most honest handshake I could make with Hollywood," she said. 

"I think art at its very best offers some help in processing or helping us move through a very confusing world and offer some healing. And that is ultimately the type of work that I want to make." 

Hsu began her acting career on Broadway, where she played Karen the Computer in "SpongeBob the Musical," and Christine Canigula in "Be More Chill." She was born in California and moved to New York to study at New York University, graduating in 2012. 

She showed off her work ethic by combining a punishing eight-show-a-week Broadway schedule with filming "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" on Mondays, her only day off. 

"The discipline that forced me into, I think, really prepared me for everything that has happened since. And I feel really grateful that I was given the opportunity to work that hard," she said. 

Hsu will next be seen in Rian Johnson’s Peacock anthology series "Poker Face," alongside Natasha Lyonne and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. She’ll also star opposite Ashley Park in "JFC," a raunchy, R-rated comedy directed by Adele Lim. 

"What I’m excited to do next, honestly, is to develop more of my own work," she said. "In order to make this career sustainable and joyful is to be able to dig in and not always just fill shoes for someone else." 



Billy Idol on His First Album in over a Decade, the Rock Hall and More

Billy Idol performs during the Vive Latino music festival in Mexico City, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP)
Billy Idol performs during the Vive Latino music festival in Mexico City, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP)
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Billy Idol on His First Album in over a Decade, the Rock Hall and More

Billy Idol performs during the Vive Latino music festival in Mexico City, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP)
Billy Idol performs during the Vive Latino music festival in Mexico City, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP)

When Billy Idol first entered American consciousness in the early '80s, leather-clad and bleached hair in tow, he not only brought a punk rock sound to the mainstream. The Englishman brought a new attitude, a new, rebellious way of being.

In the time since, songs like “White Wedding,” “Rebel Yell” and “Eyes Without a Face” have become instant classics — for those who've worn a spiky jacket and those who've only imagined what it might be like.

Now, over four decades later, he's got the wisdom to reflect. It's led to a new documentary about his life, “Billy Idol Should Be Dead,” which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival — and a new album, the polished punk-pop of “Dream Into It.”

“It was a gradual process, really,” he said of the 11-year span between albums. “It wasn’t so much that we didn’t want to make an album, it was more like we were building up to doing this.”

Idol discussed with The Associated Press this week his new album and forthcoming documentary, his past struggles with addiction, his first-ever Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination and more.

Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.

AP: You've described “Dream Into It” as autobiographical. I thought your last album, 2014's “Kings & Queens of the Underground,” pulled from your life as well.

IDOL: Being this age, in particular, 69, when you look back, you can really see your whole life, how it plays out. And maybe it’s also having grandchildren. My children are having children.

You sort of reach this vantage point where you can really look back and see all the sort of different eras of my life. And you can sing about it. And I think I didn’t go deep enough with the songs I did on “Kings and Queens.” I thought lyrically I could go deeper. That’s one of those regrets I had about the last album. So I really went for it, and I went for more imagery, (on ‘Dream Into It,’ in the) way of talking about my life. I’m not spelling it out exactly.

AP: There are a lot of rock ‘n’ roll women on the album. Joan Jett, Avril Lavigne and The Kills' Alison Mosshart are all featured.

IDOL: (Mosshart's) voice is just incredible. And of course, Joan Jett, I’ve known since 1978 after a Germs/Dead Kennedys concert. We hung out in Los Angeles. I was on a Generation X promotion tour for the first album. And then Avril, I mean, I’ve just been watching her career forever and she’s fantastic. So, it was just great.

AP: The documentary has an evocative title, “Billy Idol Should Be Dead.” It sounds like it may dive into your past struggles with addiction.

IDOL: There was a point in my life when I was living like every day, like, “Live every day as if it’s your last.” One day, you’re going to be right.

In the '70s, in England, you know, young people, we had this feeling that we were being completely ignored. You were even being told that you had no future. And so, we just didn’t think beyond the day-to-day existence. It was probably only when I really started having children and stuff like that, I really starting to realize I (should) try start to give up drugs and things.

I’ve always flirted with death, in a way. Even riding motorcycles, you’re staring at the concrete. It’s right there, you can come off that thing and get horribly messed up. And I’ve done it. It’s horrible. You find out how human you are, how vulnerable. There’s lots of things about my life that, yeah, I did kind of call death at times. Not really mean to, but you just were living like that.

Imagine if it was today. If I was doing what I was back then today, I would be dead because I would have run into fentanyl.

AP: You're nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. Do you think your younger punk rock self would be excited?

IDOL: I do sort of think about Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry and Little Richard. “And what? Are you going to be in something with those guys?” You know, Buddy Holly. These are some of the seminal people who turned on the people that turned me on, you know? Somewhere down the road, it led to punk rock.

Also, my motorcycle has been in the Rock & Roll of Fame for like five years. So I might as well be in it, too.