Ke Huy Quan broadcast CHINESE NATO AMERICAN at first because it scared the shit out of him

The next series Chinese born in America it’s going to Disney+ and has a star-studded cast that includes recent Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan AND Michelle Yeoh with them Everything everywhere all at once co-star Stephanie Hsuas well as Ben Wang, Daniel Wu, Ronny Chieng, Poppy Liu, Lisa Lu AND James Hong.

Based on Gene Luen Yangthe 2006 graphic novel of the same name, Chinese born in America follows average teenager Jin Wang, who becomes entangled in a battle between Chinese mythological gods when he befriends new student Wei-Chen (Jimmy Liu).

It looks like it will be a lot of fun, but it also seems like a great responsibility and honor for Key Huy Quan (The Goonies, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), who only recently came out of retirement after decades of feeling like there were no roles in Hollywood for an Asian actor. But he started his career with a bang, winning a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for his first work. He talked about the opportunity to act Chinese born in America during a post-screening Q&A session at Radio City Music Hall on a Sunday night, saying:

“I remember when I first heard about this character when I was offered the role, it scared the shit out of me. In fact, I turned it down because I told our creative team that this is the kind of representation we don’t want to see in 2023.”

Quan plays Freddy Wong, an awkward fictional character from the 1990s sitcom Irreparable which embodies several stereotypical Asian tropes.

“After having a creative conversation with them and knowing that, in later episodes, you’ll meet the actor who plays Freddy Wong and understand the struggles he’s had to go through — and also what it’s like to have this kind of stereotypical depiction of Asians, and what makes to an ordinary guy like Jin Wang (Ben Wang) – to his identity, his values ​​and his sense of worth – I just thought it was interesting. I guess, in many ways, they chose me because it’s like art imitating life.

Series star Ben Wang echoed Quan’s sentiments, speaking of the parallels between the story of the series and his own life growing up, saying:

“The first time I read the graphic novel was right after I got the audition. I never knew that growing up, and I wish I did because when I read that graphic novel, it was like, ‘Did Gene stalk me? Was he hiding in a bush?’” Wang said Variety with a laugh. “It was like a perfect face-off of almost every single moment of my life, and I’ve never experienced anything remotely like that before.”

It seems that this series is going to be so good. The trailer teases a really emotional story, and it’s nice to hear how the characters and their arcs are so relatable and personal to the people who play them.

Chinese born in America debuts May 24 on Disney+.

via: variety