‘The Cleaning Lady’ Gets Trailer; Élodie Yung Talks Portraying Cambodian Immigrant With A Fighter’s Spirit In Fox Drama Series – TCA

Matt Grobar
·3 min read

When Élodie Yung signed on to The Cleaning Lady, she relished the opportunity to play a character of many layers—a Cambodian immigrant coming from the Philippines to America who meets “extreme situations” with remarkable resilience, and will do whatever it takes to protect her son.

“My dad came from another country and had to make his own place in France, so I could very much relate to that. I was so glad I could be seen for the first time for really who I am as a whole person, with my origins, my background, and also just what I could bring as an actor,” she said today during a Fox TCA panel, which saw a first trailer for the series unveiled. “It was such a strong part, and draining, but beautiful to have.”

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The Cleaning Lady is based on the 2017 Argentinian show La Chica Que Limpia and centers on Thony (Élodie Yung),a whip-smart doctor who comes to the U.S. for a medical treatment to save her ailing son. However, when the system fails and pushes her into hiding, she refuses to be beaten down and marginalized. Instead, she becomes a cleaning lady for organized crime, using her cunning and intelligence to forge her own path in the criminal underworld.

Yung was joined for today’s virtual panel on the show by creator, EP and writer Miranda Kwok, EP-showrunner Melissa Carter, cast members Adan Canto, Oliver Hudson and Martha Millan, and Michael Thorn, who serves as President of Entertainment at Fox Entertainment. Canto, Hudson and Millan set up their respective roles as mobster Arman Morales, FBI agent Garrett Miller and Thony’s sister-in-law and fellow cleaning lady, Fiona, with Yung elaborating on the challenges that came with her part—the first of which was simply learning how to clean.

Carter said that she “had to show Elodie how to vacuum,” with Hudson joking that, “her trailer was a disaster zone. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”

Thorn then set up what about the series resonates for him—that being the different ways in which it looks at families, including Morales’, Miller’s and Thony’s. “There are such surprising emotional and comedic elements that come out of that element of the show,” he teased, “which you will see in full color as you get past the pilot.”

Kwok later spoke to the fact that she “couldn’t have asked for a better partner” than Carter, as a first-time series creator.

“It was an amazing experience all around,” Carter added. “I’m just so excited for the world to see the show.”

The Cleaning Lady also stars Jay Mohr, Shiva Negar and newcomers Valentino and Sebastien LaSalle, among others, and is set to debut on Fox on January 3. Kwok and Carter exec produce with Michael Offer, Shay Mitchell, Rose Marie Vega and Paola Suarez.

Check out the trailer for the drama series above.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG_kZyA6ZX0?version=3&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://deadline.com&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=360]

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