“Art Can’t Help But Be Political”: Lauren Tsai On Why Comedy Is Important

Lauren Tsai is no stranger to making big political statements with visual art. Her immersive exhibitions have woven in themes of oppression, control, unease and loneliness, all while maintaining a distinct style. Still, she tells Refinery29 Australia it's not just the obvious pieces of art that have something to say. Everything is better when there's a message. The artist has recently moved into acting, and Tsai has a supporting role in HBO's new comedy Rooster, led by Steve Carell. On the outside, it seems like it could just be another 30-minute comedy to switch off your brain, but there are clever jokes about feminism, messy power dynamics and situations that flip the script.

"The world has always needed art as an escape, but also as a response to the things that are going on. Art in itself, a lot of it can't help but be political, as it has to [be a] response to the current day and age," Tsai says. "I think there's always a necessity for this type of work. [Rooster is] not a comedy where you're just supposed to turn off your brain and not be attached to anything that's going on. I think it's something that really helps people be seen and empathise with the characters." The HBO show follows Steve Carell's character Greg, who visits his daughter Katie (Charly Clive) after her professor husband Archie (Phil Dunster) cheated on her with grad student Sunny (Lauren Tsai). Convinced his art history professor daughter needs his support, he takes a job as a writer-in-residence at her New England university.

Tsai says we're overwhelmed by content these days, but so much of it is supposed to switch off our brains, which is rather alarming. "Anything that doesn't have something to say, can't really hit at all, but we are surrounded by so much," she muses. "We're constantly bludgeoned by so much content that the purpose is to say nothing and feel nothing and do nothing. That's interesting, [but] also very concerning. People gravitate a lot towards things that make them feel nothing... just to turn off and detach and escape from things."

With the state of the world as it is right now, there's possibly a place for both, as long as you don't switch off completely. Rooster isn't a show that's asking you to turn off your brain; rather, it's a bunch of complicated situations where there's not always a right or wrong answer packaged into comedy. "It's something that helps you feel at home in whatever place you are in your life right now," Tsai notes. "I don't think anyone could watch the show and not see something that reminds them of themselves or a situation that they've been in. I do think it's important in this day and age."

For Tsai, it's interesting to create art that's both explicitly political, and then star in a comedy like Rooster. "[With my] art and fine art, some of the themes I touch on are a lot heavier or a lot darker. So it's interesting to kind of be on both ends of the spectrum, where with some of my other work, I really want to lean into other darker aspects of the current state of the world, or what it is like to be a 20-something year-old in the world, [compared to Rooster] that deals with these very real, very complex interpersonal issues and struggles with loneliness," the actor says. "[My character Sunny is] a very easy character to pin as 'the other woman' or 'evil'... but then also, on top of that, having the complexity of this relationship that [is] also morally challenging for her... it's interesting."

While the show makes it very clear that Dunster's character has started a relationship with grad student Sunny, she's not his grad student. That still feels wrong, and it's a theme that continues throughout the series. Tsai's character is also portrayed as hyper-logical, aside from when it comes to her relationship with the older man. At times, you want to shake her and tell her to run. But as the actor says, sometimes logic goes out the window when feelings are involved. "There are those moments where you just want to feel chosen by someone, or you want to feel enough for someone, and you become so hyper fixated on being that for one specific person that it can derail you, and suddenly everything else doesn't seem important," Tsai says. "It is interesting to play a character that is having a little bit of a lapse in judgment about what is, you know, important for her."

The show also touches on the struggles Sunny, as a half-Asian person, faces in America. Much of Tsai's artwork has focused on the idea that she isn't sure where she belongs, or on loneliness, and that also comes through in Rooster. "Sunny is an outsider, and I think for a lot of half-Asian people in America, you can feel very displaced, or you have no identity, and kind of inhabit this outsider role," the actor says. "Her being adopted and from Wisconsin and then now in this very complex and very isolating situation with [her] relationship... her background comes through in the character in subtle ways, or her personality."

When Tsai first read the script for Rooster, she was immediately drawn to the "incredible writing". But as an artist, she's aware that the finished product doesn't always turn out as well as you visualise. In this case, it surpassed any hopes she'd had. "The fact that it's a college comedy that lets you peek into the lives or get very involved with people, and not only the teachers, but also the students, and do so in a very realistic and intricate way," she says. "I just love how everyone connects, and I feel like that should be obvious, but it's not always the case."