'The Afterparty' Star Zoe Chao Explains It Was 'Really Fun' to Play Her Character in Apple TV+ Series (Exclusive)

By Brian Jones

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The Afterparty is set to premiere on Apple TV+ this Friday, and Zoe Chao stars in the series. Chao is known for being featured in the HBO Max series Love Life with Anna Kendrick and the movie Downhill with Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. PopCulture.com recently spoke with Chao about her Afterparty character who is also named Zoe. 

"We don't just share the name," Chao told PopCulture."I studied art pretty seriously in high school. I was in this like studio art program that my mom actually ran for three years. And my sister also studied under her. And then my parents are both visual artists. ... My dad ran the glass department at RISD, which is the school that Zoe goes to in the show."

The Afterparty is a murder mystery that takes place at an afterparty for a 15-year high school reunion. Zoe is an administrator of her old school and was married to her classmate Brett (Ike Barinholtz). When Zoe goes to the reunion she re-connects with Aniq (Sam Richardson), an old friend who has a crush on her. 

Chao went on to explain other qualities of Zoe that make her similar. "Ike's character Brett goes to Brown. I actually went to Brown," she said. I'm born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. So yeah, there's a lot of similarities and it was kind of, sometimes it was eerie but it was really fun to play her and I have a lot of...yeah, I care for her and she seems familiar."

Zoe is a suspect in the murder of former classmate Xavier (Dave Franco) who has become a very famous actor and musician. He was killed at his home where the party was being held. The series is broken down into eight episodes which each episode focusing on the character's story of everything that happened before Xavier died. 

The Afterparty also shows how some people learn and grow after leaving high school. When asked if Chao attended her high school reunion, she said, "I've missed my high school reunions, not on purpose, just by accident." However, Chao added, "I did get to go to my college reunion. It was really fun." 

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