How Maya Erskine's mom ended up playing herself on PEN15

Vulture

Matsuko Erskine, Maya's Japan-born mother, says she has always been fully supportive of her daughter's Hulu show. "They had to make a film so that they can sell the PEN15 (idea) to networks," she says. "Maya came to my house one day and said, 'Mom, would you like to audition for the role of Mother?' I said, 'No, you know I can’t act.' She said, 'We need someone who can speak Japanese as well as English.' So I said, 'Well, that I can do.' So she filmed me on her iPhone and they thought I was okay. I got involved in a test-case, 15-minute film."