How Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan inspired their co-stars in ‘American Born Chinese’
Michelle Yeoh as the Goddess of Mercy Guanyin —PHOTOS COURTESY OF DISNEY+
When you watch the eight-episode series “American Born Chinese,” which premieres on Disney+ tomorrow, you’ll find it hard to ignore the fact that most of the Oscar-celebrated cast members of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” are on board portraying characters with varying degrees of significance.
As early stills from the show had revealed, Oscar best actress winner Michelle Yeoh (as Goddess of Mercy Guanyin) and best supporting actor Ke Huy Quan (as sitcom star Freddy Wong) are in it playing crucial roles that strongly indicate why the series is almost as groundbreaking as “Everything” itself.
So, yes, at some point, you’ll also be treated to seemingly winking sequences that benefit from the sublime presence of Stephanie Hsu (as Goddess of Stones Shiji Niangniang) and James Hong (Jade Emperor).
Stephanie Hsu as the Goddess of Stones
Two weekends ago, however, when Inquirer Entertainment spoke to the series’ main cast—Ben Wang (as teenage protagonist Jin Yang), Yann Yann Yeo (as his mom Christine), Chin Han (his dad Simon), Daniel Wu (Sun Wukong aka the Monkey King), Sydney Taylor (Amelia Harris) and Jim Liu (Wei-Chen)—we learned that those scenes were shot long before the “Everything” cast drove happily into the Oscar-studded sunset. (The roundtable interviews were also attended by Gene Luen Yang, author of the graphic novel, and the series’ executive producer Melvin Mar.)
“When we started working on the series, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ hadn’t even come out yet,” disclosed Ben when we asked him what it was like working with Michelle and company. “So, the first time the whole crew saw the movie at a special screening, upon Ke’s invitation, it was like the best thing I’ve ever seen.
“So you can imagine how nervous I felt going to work the next day and sharing scenes with these exceptional actors on the set of ‘American Born Chinese’ (laughs). All of a sudden, I felt way more nervous having them around.”
For Ben’s lovely leading lady, Sydney, she said she had to control the urge to cry as she watched the film’s emotionally gripping moments unfold. She recalled, “I was crying the whole time (laughs). It was difficult because I sometimes felt like sobbing, but I was trying hard not to. It was incredible!”
Sydney Taylor (left) and Ben Wang
Down-to-earth
More than the movie itself, Ben expressed how lucky he felt to have worked with his celebrated costars. “Every single one of them is so kind, down-to-earth and very welcoming,” he disclosed. “They made it feel really nice to be working on set and helped give the show a good environment for the cast to work in.”
We’ve sat through the series’ first full season and are happy to note that the story of “American Born Chinese” is nothing to scoff at, either.
Based on Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel, “American Born Chinese” chronicles the trials and tribulations of American teenager Jin Yang, a sophomore at Sierra Mona High School, whose life is forever changed when he befriends Taiwanese immigrant Wei-Chen (Jim Liu), who he later learns is the runaway son of the mythological god, the Monkey King (Daniel Wu).
Daniel Wu as the Monkey King
But more than the spectacular scenes that deftly merge Hong Kong-style action sequences with the contemporary life of a Chinese-American teenager, this coming-of-age tale follows a young man’s battle for his own identity as told through the struggles of an immigrant family, comedy and, yes, gravity-defying kung fu.
Outsiders
How did Chin (“The Dark Knight,” “Mortal Kombat”) and Yann Yann (“Ilo Ilo,” “Wet Season”) feel about getting cast in roles that are both close to home, but are also a little farther away from their specific backgrounds?
“The job of acting lends itself very easily to the concept of being an outsider in a foreign place, because we shoot in so many different countries,” Chin said. “Since we also do theater in different venues, the idea of being nomadic is very consistent with our characters’ lives.
“In the series, we moved to America wanting a better future for our family. So it was very easy to plug into that and become part of a minority community. We tapped into that quite a bit, and it was very meaningful and useful for us.
“Yann Yann and I actually come from the same part of the world (Southeast Asia), although from different countries—she’s from Malaysia, and I’m from Singapore. So even with that, we have a lot of shared cultural and traditional references.”
Agreeing with Chin’s explanation, Yann Yann added, “But regardless of where Chin and I come from or grew up in, no element of this couple’s story changes the fact that we all are grounded by family love—and that’s part of being human.”
The show shuttles easily from one genre to another, but Chin said that the unique experience was more fun than discombobulating. In fact, he said that the project felt like they were making many intersecting genres all rolled into one!
“It was a lot of fun—because, at times, it felt like we were doing four different movies at the same time,” he quipped, laughing. “Well, it actually is just that, because different parts of the story involve very different scenarios.
“One is mythological, the next one happens in an American high school, the third scenario involves a workplace setting, and the fourth one happens on the set of an American sitcom, which is the one inhabited by Ke’s character.
“For us, that was a lot of fun to see! That’s why, at the premiere, we got a really strong sense of these different worlds, although it was actually the first time for all of us to see what the other actors were doing in their respective segments. So it was quite delightful.”
Ben added, “As for my character, I didn’t actually have to do any of the action stuff. I’m just there when it happens, so I showed up on set and watched a bunch of people fly through the air (laughs)—and all I could say was, ‘Oh my God!’ Like the audience, I got to watch those scenes … but up close.”
Representation
But Ben disclosed how reading the graphic novel in a public library while he was on location became an unexpected emotional experience for him. The young actor’s touching revelation came after he was asked what his first impression of the graphic novel was after reading it for the first time.
He recalled, “I didn’t know anything about the graphic novel until I got the audition for this show. The first material I saw from ‘American Born Chinese’ were just a few pages of scenes I was given for my audition, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is incredible,’ because it felt like Gene Luen Yang and [screenwriter/showrunner] Kelvin Yu had spied on me when I was a kid.
“I felt like the character was based on my life and they just changed his name and location. At the time, I was shooting a movie in beautiful, scenic Stamford, Connecticut, so immediately after reading those few pages, I ran to the public library and read the graphic novel in the basement.
“I was crying on the carpet! It was four minutes till closing time, and the janitor was saying, ‘You have to leave now.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, but I got to know if Jin self-actualizes!’
“It was a very moving thing for me to see my own experiences being reflected in media, which I had never experienced before. The fact that the novel was getting turned into a show—and with me in it—was beyond anything I could imagine! So, all of this still sounds crazy to me.”
