Awkwafina is Nora From Queens Creator & Star Break Down Season 3 (2024)

Everyone's favorite New York ne'er-do-well returns with Awkwafina is Nora from Queens season 3. The latest season of the Comedy Central series will follow its titular character as she attempts to finally find some meaning in her life, all while her dad endures a downward spiral and her cousin finally finds some success.

Awkwafina returns to co-write and lead the cast of Awkwafina is Nora from Queens season 3 alongside principal cast BD Wong, Lori Tan Chinn, Bowen Yang, and Jennifer Esposito. Featuring more exciting guest stars, including Frankie Muniz, and delivering emotional character development, the next chapter of the series may well be its best yet.

Related: Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens: The Main Characters, Ranked By Funniness

In anticipation of the show's return, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with co-creator Teresa Hsiao and star Bowen Yang to discuss Awkwafina is Nora from Queens season 3, the show's potential ending, the wild new looks for its characters, and more.

Hsiao & Yang on Awkwafina is Nora from Queens Season 3

Screen Rant: I was just telling BD Wong and Lori Tan Chinn that I think season 3 is probably the best one yet. Teresa, congratulations to you and Awkwafina and the writers' room for what you've done. This season in particular almost feels like it might be the end for the show, while still leaving some room open. Did you specifically write this season to be that, or am I just reading into things too much?

Teresa Hsiao: No, I think we definitely wanted this season to feel like there was some movement for Nora's character that by the end of it, you feel hopefully very satisfied with where her character has come. But, you know, at the end of the day, who knows what's going to happen? We'll never say no, I think we just love all working together so much, so I think the sort of non-answer is it is a season that feels like it has a nice ending, and we'll be happy with it if that is the end.

Bowen Yang: It's a beautiful ellipsis.

Exactly, it's almost like when you see that question mark at the end of "The End" in movies, you're like, "Oh, okay, maybe there's more." I especially love the meta aspects of season 3, where did the idea to explore that format come from for this season?

Teresa Hsiao: I think every season, Nora has so many great kind of, at times they seem a little wacky, ideas of, "Oh, hey, this season, we're going to time travel, this season, we're gonna do this." For us, it was jus something that really felt natural. Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, we've done a lot of the Nora part of the show, and the show really does feel like an exploration of what Nora would have been like if she had stayed at home in Queens with her family. So just to bring in the Awkwafina element of it felt like a kind of natural way to look at where we wanted to go with this season.

Without spoiling it too much, the meta aspect almost feels reminiscent of Everything Everywhere All at Once. Was there any overlap in the productions of these episodes and that movie, and if so, did it influence you at all?

Teresa Hsiao: I'm actually trying to remember, we had started writing it before actually seeing the film. I suppose once we saw the film, we were like, "Oh, I guess there are some elements that are very similar," but I think that idea of your alternate lives, or your alternate versions of yourself, it's been around for a while. So it wasn't an intentional thing to kind of mirror that movie at all. Obviously, we're prestige, we're going to win an Oscar for this. [Chuckles]

Bowen, I love how Edmund has just become such a big character, and we finally see him come into his own and start to find some happiness and success in his life. What was it like for you when you saw the scripts and saw where Edmund's journey was taking him this season?

Bowen Yang: Sometimes, it takes me a second to really key into something about Edmund, because I feel like he's not too similar to me, besides the fact that maybe he's vain at certain times, or something like that, but I was like, "Oh, I've never worked in tech, I've never been ridiculed in a college admission scandal." But these are fun, heightened comedic situations, but in this season, I feel like I was able to relate to the fact that he was this actor who was working, but then also felt like things were not all they were cracked up to be, necessarily, and that there are still things about his identity that he wants to close the loop on, or just find some definition for.

I feel like that was something that I immediately keyed into, I was like, "Oh gosh, I've thought about these questions a lot myself, and I've thought about how it's been hard for me to date and also try to find some fulfillment out of something more gratuitous in my romantic life." These are things that I thought hit very close to home, so it was very interesting to be in situations that were funnier than any other season, I think, and also be in situations that were so much more grounded for me as an actor to approach.

One of the things that I love about this season is the international trip. I'm trying to keep it somewhat spoiler free, but the look that comes from that, I'm curious how much input and insight you had for that look as much as from the writers' room and wardrobe?

Bowen Yang: Well, it was on the page, so I'll blame Teresa. But no, literally, our hair department had came to my apartment and I sat right there, we tried the wig on for the first time, I was like, "I look so stupid. This is it. I won't push back on anything, this is perfect." We go to Iceland, I think we can say we go to Iceland, and Edmund goes for a very specific reason, and sort of wants to adapt and conform to this thing that he thinks he connects with in that culture and that aesthetic and the way that people look there. So yeah, it's just so ridiculous, and shooting there in that look the whole time was really, really, really wonderful.

Teresa Hsiao: I think we definitely have had our share of wigs on the show, in terms of Nora having a lot of crazy looks from season 1 to beyond. But, everyone has to wear a wig at some point, so it was really fun to get to see Edmund in this truly insane getup. Every time I saw Bowen when we were actually filming in Iceland, I just couldn't help but laugh, because he was just so absurd. It's so great to have actors who are just like, "Yeah, we're down for anything, we're gonna play around with this," it was wonderful.

About Awkwafina is Nora from Queens Season 3

Continuing on the unique, offbeat humor that has defined Nora From Queens, Season 3 pulls out all the stops, with Nora searching for meaning everywhere -- from working at her neighborhood bodega to appearing in a reality competition show to... Iceland?! This season explores themes of identity and success, all while keeping up with the family we've grown to love: Grandma is anxious about getting older, Edmund has a taste of stardom as an actor, and Wally contemplates some big life changes.

In addition to the principal cast, this season will feature Jennifer Esposito as a recurring guest and additional guest performances from Scott Adsit, Celia Au, Gabo Augustine, Michael Bolton, Ross Butler, Jordan Carlos, Ronny Chieng, Jen D’Angelo, Lea DeLaria, Chrissie Fit, Woody Fu, Janeane Garofalo, Gina Gershon, Judy Gold, Ken Jeong, Adrian Martinez, Frankie Muniz, Jon ‘Dumbfoundead’ Park, Noah Robbins, Jai Rodriguez, and Greta Titelman.

Check out our other Awkwafina is Nora from Queens interview with BD Wong and Lori Tan Chinn.

New episodes of Awkwafina is Nora from Queens season 3 begin airing on April 26.