Sherry Cola's loud, blunt comedy works best when the people beside her can answer back. In Joy Ride, she makes a troublesome friend worth caring about; we would like more scripts that give her that much to work with.
Fi1m perspective
In Joy Ride (2023), Sherry Cola's Lolo is loud, broke and loyal, opposite Ashley Park's Audrey, who has spent her life trying to be acceptable. Cola gives that carefully maintained good behaviour something difficult to accommodate. The friendship has grievances, which lets her be abrasive without reducing Lolo to the person who says whatever the others will not. We warmed to her because the affection is there alongside those complaints. Adele Lim's comedy is worth an evening largely for its cast, and Cola is one of the reasons.
Her stand-up background helps explain the unfiltered delivery, but her acting career has given her plenty of practice working among other performers. Her Alice Kwan in Good Trouble (2019–2024) gave her a regular television role across five seasons. The film breakthrough came with Joy Ride and Shortcomings (2023), the latter directed by Randall Park and casting her as Alice. Both offer space for flawed Asian American characters, rather than asking Cola to be an example of good behaviour.
Lim uses her well by giving the friendship as much weight as the rudeness. Ashley Park lets the strain of Audrey's self-control show, while Sabrina Wu's Deadeye gets laughs with a flat stare and few words. Cola's volume belongs in that company, but it is not the whole attraction; the other performances make room for different kinds of joke. The limitation lies in a screenplay that loses confidence towards the end and starts delivering speeches. Those speeches are less persuasive than the friendship we have already watched.
Cola also plays Linda in Good Fortune (2025). Aziz Ansari's fantasy comedy is decent company, though its explanations about money keep interrupting the jokes. For now, Joy Ride is the place to start with Cola, provided a few earnest speeches are not enough to spoil an evening.
Biography
Sherry Cola is an American actress and comedian. Born in Shanghai, China, she began her career in radio and stand-up comedy before making her acting debut in the 2017 Amazon series I Love Dick.
She gained recognition for her role as Alice Kwan in the Freeform series Good Trouble (2019–2024). Cola received wider attention for her performance as Lolo in the 2023 comedy film Joy Ride and as Alice in Shortcomings (2023).
Her subsequent credits include the role of Ashley in the Netflix series Nobody Wants This (2024–present), as well as appearances in A Family Affair (2024) and voice work in films such as Turning Red (2022).
