Interior Chinatown, the television series adaptation of Charles Yu’s award-winning novel, is now streaming on Hulu in the USA (and Disney+ in various international markets).
The series stars actors Archie Kao and Tzi Ma, who discussed their careers and the evolution of roles for Asian actors in Hollywood.
Kao shared his journey to China to pursue more fulfilling roles despite not speaking Mandarin, which eventually led to him speaking a significant amount of Mandarin in his current show.
Ma emphasized the importance of persistence and viewing challenges as opportunities for personal growth.
Both actors reflected on their struggles, the significance of good storytelling and finding an audience.
Check out the interview with Archie Kao and Tzi Ma below:
Both Kao and Ma have been working actors in Hollywood for a long time, and how the industry has evolved for Asian actors during their careers.
Ma was the first to respond, pointing out that his journey is one that is specific to the Asian American journey, and that everything relies on having people behind the scenes who continue to be in positions to make decisions and provide great stories.
Ma said, “I am familiar with the Asian American Journey, and it’s been a long road, you know? But as long as we keep on, you know, put our nose to the grindstone and continue to produce – you know, people behind the scenes and people in positions to make decisions and write great stories. You know, we’re actors, right? We depend on the script. Without the script, you know, when we’re pretty useless, you know, it ain’t on this, it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage, as they say, right?”
Kao shared similar sentiments about finding good stories and that an audience can be found regardless of it the setting is Chinatown or a space ship.
Kao said, “Yeah, I think, you know, good story is good story is good story. And we’ll find an audience regardless if it’s in Chinatown or if it’s on a spaceship or in a deserted island like you know, good story and the you know, boil it down to universal truths of humanity, which is, you know, the need, obviously to survive, but to find your community and find your belonging and your sense of self worth. And I think, in this little microcosm, in the interior of this Chinatown, we see this community trying to survive and find their own.”