Behind the Scenes

A year after Li’l Sushi, during the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns, Sasha Boggs was working as personal assistant to Tom Arnold. Tom saw the first video, loved it, and immediately proposed a sequel starring himself as the titular “Big Wasabi.”

The original creative team came back together. Alan Peterson (AGP) and Moises Garcia, who had conceived the first song, wrote a new track around the peculiar reality of lockdown life inside Tom Arnold’s house, complete with verses for Sasha and Tom and a chorus performed by AGP.

Sasha brought Daryl Della back to direct, keeping the sequel within the same creative family as the original. This time the production took place entirely at Tom’s home, with more preparation and polish than the guerilla-style Li’l Sushi shoot, including dedicated hair and makeup.

For Daryl, it marked his first time directing an established Hollywood star. The day itself was loose and playful. Daryl even worked himself into the video, prompting Tom to immediately roast him when his credit appeared alongside his face in the frame: “Jim Cameron never did that. What kind of director pops his head into the frame when his credit comes up?” Daryl shot back a smartass remark, “Alfred Hitchcock.”

The more meaningful part came after the shoot. Daryl stayed up late talking with Sasha and Tom in the kitchen and eventually told Tom why working with him had carried unexpected personal weight.

Years earlier, Daryl’s father, Hank, had twice come running downstairs laughing and insisting, “Daryl, you gotta see this!” One time it was Tom Arnold’s bathroom scene in Austin Powers. The other was Tom singing “I’m My Own Grandpa” in The Stupids. They were small childhood memories, but they had stayed with him.

By 2020, Hank was gone, and Daryl found himself sitting across from the man who had been part of those memories, after spending the day directing him in a ridiculous rap video. What began as a lockdown sequel to Li’l Sushi ended as one of those strange full-circle moments that filmmaking occasionally delivers when nobody is looking for one.