Joy Ride is a 2023 R-rated comedy from Adele Lim starring a cast of Asian-American actors and ing characters, most of whom are burgeoning Hollywood stars. In Joy Ride, four women — Audrey, Lolo, Kat, and Deadeye — go on a road trip across China to secure a contract for Audrey’s job. However, their adventure also offers the adopted Audrey the chance to find her birth parents and for the four to reconnect with their Chinese roots. On their journey, they encounter bizarre characters and get themselves in and out of trouble in hilarious and often raunchy ways.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg produced Joy Ride with their company Point Grey Pictures. Unique among studio comedies, the 2023 movie Joy Ride centers on an Asian-American cast of characters and investigates the sensibilities and hardships of living apart from a familial culture but still being tied to it. It’s a modern twist on the classic road comedy formula, and the cast includes some new faces and younger actors who have recently broken into the mainstream. Here's a guide to the cast of Joy Ride, what characters they play in the movie, and what else the actors are known for.

Ashley Park As Audrey Sullivan

The main character of Joy Ride and the reason for the road trip is Audrey Sullivan, a young lawyer beginning her career. Audrey was adopted by a white couple in Washington at an early age. She is played by Ashley Park, who also stars in Emily in Paris as Mindy Chen. This is Park’s first major movie role, but she’s well-known for her theater work. Park was cast as Gretchen Wieners in the stage adaptation of Mean Girls from 2018 to 2019, a role which saw her nominated for a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She also appeared in the Grammy Award-nominated The King and I.

Sherry Cola As Lolo

Audrey’s best friend, Lolo, is a pugnacious creative type who is constantly pushing Audrey to have a little more self-confidence. Lolo is played by Sherry Cola, a comedian and actor. Cola began her career mainly as a comic appearing on radio show segments. Her first on-screen role came as a recurring cast member on the one-season Amazon Prime show I Love Dick. Her most notable role before ing the cast of Joy Ride came when she voiced Helen, one of Mei’s aunts, in Pixar’s Turning Red. This is Cola’s second starring role in a comedy; she also plays Alice in the 2023 Randall Park-directed Shortcomings.

Stephanie Hsu As Kat

Another of Audrey’s best friends, Kat was her roommate in college and is now a successful TV star. Stephanie Hsu plays Kat and, thanks to Hsu's work in Everything Everywhere All at Once, she may be the biggest actor cast in Joy Ride. Hsu earned an Academy Award and SAG Award nomination in the Best ing Actress category for her dual role as Joy Wang and Jobu Tupaki in the Best Picture-winning film. She and the rest of its ensemble won the SAG Award for Outstanding Cast. Hsu also appears in Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and plays Mei Lin in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Sabrina Wu As Deadeye

In Joy Ride, Lolo brings her oddball cousin, Deadeye, along for the trip. Deadeye, a huge K-pop fan, is so named for the blank stare that can often be seen sitting on her face. Sabrina Wu is cast as the strangest of the four main characters in Joy Ride. This is their first film role, but it's a screen-stealing performance as the detached Deadeye. A comedian by trade, Wu began their career as a stand-up. Like many of the other cast of Joy Ride, Wu is a fresh face, and it’s great seeing the young actors’ chemistry and raw skill holding up a funny and sophisticated script.

Joy Ride’s ing Cast & Characters

David Denman as Joe Sullivan - Audrey’s adoptive father, Joe Sullivan, is played by David Denman. The actor is best known as Roy on The Office, but his career has grown since leaving the series, playing significant roles in Brightburn and the HBO series Mare of Easttown. Denman also appears in smaller roles in Greenland, Power Rangers, and Logan Lucky.

Annie Mumolo as Mary Sullivan - Joe’s wife and Audrey’s adoptive mother is Mary Sullivan, played by comic actor Annie Mumolo, whose biggest starring role was one of the titular characters alongside Kristen Wiig in Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. She also appears in many other notable comedies including Bad Moms, This is 40, and Bridesmaids, which she also co-wrote, earning her an Original Screenplay Oscar nomination.

Ronny Chieng - Ronny Chieng plays a character in Joy Ride who is one of the first to challenge Audrey to learn about where she came from. Ronny Chieng has had many memorable roles in movies and TV shows, including Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Young Rock, but he is mostly known for playing Eddie Cheng in Lim’s earlier screenwriting credit Crazy Rich Asians. He also appears in M3GAN and Godzilla Vs. Kong and is a prolific stand-up comic.

Lori Tan Chinn - Lori Tan Chinn has been acting on-screen since 1982 when she briefly appeared in Author! Author! with Al Pacino. Chinn stars in Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens as the title character's grandmother and has a recurring cast role in Orange is the New Black as Mei Chang.

Desmond Chiam as Clarence - Also appearing in the cast of Joy Ride is Desmond Chiam as Clarence. Chiam is an Australian actor of Chinese Singaporean descent and appears in a recurring role as Dovich in the Marvel series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Alexander Hodge as Todd - Over the course of their trip through China in Joy Ride, the four girls meet many characters, including Todd, played by Alexander Hodge. The actor plays cast regular Andrew Tan on the HBO comedy series Insecure and also has a recurring part as Philky on the CW superhero series Black Lightning.

Chris Pang - Chris Pang plays a love interest for Audrey in Joy Ride. Pang is most recognizable for his role as Colin Khoo in Crazy Rich Asians. He also played Trevor in the movie Palm Springs and Lee in the Australian action film Tomorrow, When the War Began.