Woman Crush Wednesday: Actress Zoë Chao is the Life of ‘The Afterparty’

It’s the last week of January, but still as chilly as ever! Want something to get you feeling warm inside as we see the month through? Then look no further, because we’ve got one more Woman Crush Wednesday here to round out the month and shed some light on a wonderful woman who’s making major waves in the entertainment industry right now. This week, we’re celebrating a talented actress and screenwriter whose career has only been flourishing more and more with every year. She’s doing some amazing work these days, so make sure to remember her name and give it up for her, your WCW, the captivating Zoë Chao!

WHO’S THAT GAL: Zoë Chao

WHY WE’RE CRUSHING: Chao stars as Zoe in the upcoming Apple TV+ original title The Afterparty, which premieres on the platform this Friday, January 28th. The murder-mystery comedy series takes place at a high school reunion’s afterparty in the wake of a murder, with each episode showing a different character’s perspective of what went down that night, as the attendees work together to try to piece through what happened and who the killer is. In addition to Chao, The Afterparty also features Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, Dave Franco, Ilana Glazer, Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Jamie Demetriou, and John Early.

The series is already earning plenty of positive press from publications like Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Empire, us here at Decider, and more, so make sure to see what all of the hype is about by checking out Chao and the rest of the cast’s great work in The Afterparty, only on Apple TV+.

WHERE YOU’VE SEEN HER BEFORE: Chao’s professional onscreen career began in 2006, when she appeared in comedy film My Girlfriend’s Abroad. Her next onscreen appearance came in 2011, marking the actress’s television debut with a one-episode role in Lifetime police procedural drama The Protector, which was then followed up by another TV appearance, this time in The CW comedy-drama Hart of Dixie in 2012. Shortly thereafter, 2014 marked a breakthrough year for Chao thanks to recurring roles in shows like God Particles (which she also wrote and produced) and The Comeback, as well as work in films like comedy-mystery short The Gordon Game. From there, she continued to steadily build up her filmography with roles in shows like Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn, Rizzoli & Isles, That’s What She Said, The OA, and Modern Love, and in movies like 2015 romantic comedy-drama Dirty Beautiful, 2019 comedy-drama Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, 2019 romantic comedy-drama Almost Love, 2020 black comedy-drama Downhill, comedy-drama The High Note, and 2020 comedy-drama I Used to Go Here.

Chao is perhaps best known, however, for her main or recurring roles as Isobel in Facebook Watch comedy-drama Strangers, Kaylyn in Netflix comedy-drama Living With Yourself, Sara Yang in HBO Max romantic-comedy Love Life, and Vienna in 2021 sci-fi comedy-drama film Long Weekend. Clearly, Chao is an immensely talented and versatile actress who is only continuing to hit her stride more and more with every year. We can’t wait to see all of the amazing work and successes she will be a part of throughout the rest of what’s sure to be a long career in entertainment!

WHERE YOU’LL SEE HER AGAIN: If you want to see more from Chao, you’re in luck! The actress has a whopping four (!!!) movies in the works right now: romantic-comedies Your Place or Mine and Somebody I Used to Know, comedy Senior Year, and comedy-drama Family Squares. These projects feature additional talent like Alison Brie, Amy Sedaris, Reese Witherspoon, Jesse Williams, Tig Notaro, Rebel Wilson, Alicia Silverstone, Sam Richardon, Ashton Kutcher, Henry Winkler, Judy Greer, Margo Martindale, and more all alongside Chao, and they’re all set for 2022 release dates, so there’s a lot to be excited about this year when it comes to your WCW!

For even more from Chao in the meantime, be sure to follow her on Instagram. Don’t miss a moment from WCW extraordinaire, Zoë Chao!

Watch The Afterparty on Apple TV+