By Erin Chew

Interior Chinatown is an ambitious detective series that satirizes Asian stereotypes as a way to entertain but also provides social commentary on this issue. It debuts today, November 19, on Hulu.

Based on Charles Yu’s award-winning book of the same name, the show follows the story of Willis Wu, an actor played by Jimmy O. Yang (Silicon Valley American Born Chinese, Love Hard). He portrays a background character trapped in a police procedural called Black & White.

Relegated to a minor role, Willis goes through the motions of his on-screen job, waiting tables, dreaming about a world beyond Chinatown and aspiring to be the lead of his own story. This is typical of what many Asian actors experience trying their luck in Hollywood. They spend their career waiting for their big break and first major role. This series takes on this lack of opportunity for Asians American actors who are often relegated to stereotypical roles.

“This perspective in the experiences we Asian Americans and other minorities face and have faced in Hollywood is what I wanted to show. However, I didn’t want to just say it but show it in the most interesting and entertaining way”, Interior Chinatown author Yu stated in a recent interview with AsAmNews.

Yu also serves as the series’ show runner.

Centering the series on Chinatown as the physical location and as an idea/concept is significant. Any person who has been to and engaged in some form of activity in Chinatown – whether it be to eat, shop or gather as a community, will understand its role in creating opportunities to learn about culture, traditions and how it allows a generation of Asian immigrants to feel at home and be part of a community they grew up to be and feel familiar with.

“The inspiration in using Chinatown as the backdrop was to tell the story of my own parents, who were immigrants. I wanted to show their experiences trying to assimilate and learn how to be American. I wanted to show this through Willis who doesn’t feel like he is in the story and doesn’t know how to be part of the story”.

For O. Yang, who plays the primary protagonist for the series, memories of Chinatown growing up gave him a sense of belonging. He immigrated to the US at age 13 with his family from Hong Kong. Chinatown became his home away from home. Having a sense of worth and identity formed by the time he came to the US, Chinatown allowed for him to slowly adapt and embrace his Asian American identity.

“Chinatown was a place of refuge for me and my family. It was a place we could buy the groceries we are familiar with and where we can get authentic food we are used to. It is an important part of many Asian immigrants because for them it is also the place they got their first job, and became part of their first community”, O. Yang passionately discussed.

“In terms of the series, I think it shows two sides of Chinatown – the on the surface facade of kitschy restaurants, and the genuine lives of people who live, work and gather there. Willis and his family struggle in life, and live in pretty rough conditions in a SRO – and to see this really demonstrates the true to life experiences of many Asian immigrants to the US, in the past and in the present”.

Being described as a background actor, Willis struggles through the motions of what it means to be Asian in an industry which has always presented the culture, traditions and people as one-dimensional negative stereotypes.

For Chloe Bennet (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Abominable, Valley Girl), who plays Detective Lana Lee, being part of this project and having read the book reinforced to her how Asian Americans continually get pigeonholed by society and by Hollywood. As a mixed race Asian, Bennet stated that she always felt she was neither here nor there and it took a long journey for her to find her own sense of belonging, and she hopes playing Lana, that this shines through.

“What I really respect about the book after reading it and what I love about being part of this series is how it shows the audience the struggles, challenges and discrimination we as Asian Americans face in America and in Hollywood. Like Willis we have always been seen as background actors and generally have always been treated that way in society – and in many ways still do today. I hope through this series and my character, we as Asian Americans can free ourselves from this prison, have our own thoughts and work in all sectors as the leading character”.

Tagging onto this topic of being background actors – it is important that as Asian Americans there is an escape route that can be taken to avoid the categorizing and the pigeon holing. Things have changed where Asian actors are now playing leading roles and romantic leads, but so much more needs to be done. For director Taika Waititi (What We Do In The Shadows, Jojo Rabbit, Reservation Dogs) to be in leading roles, we need to live our lives like we are leaders and not care about what others think.

Waititi stated that he is dedicated to elevating minority voices into leading roles in his work as a director, but before more of this can happen Asian and minority Americans need to live their lives like a boss.

“So, I think it is important that we all live our lives the way we want our lives to be. As different minorities, we need to do this even more because we need to be and feel like the leading character. I am a boss, and I definitely feel this way, but it has taken me a long journey to get to this point. I have come from a background where there were not many opportunities out there. I took the Hollywood opportunity when the door opened and for that to happen I had to create ore own opportunities to show the world what I am made of”.

Finally, Yu reflected on his journey with Interior Chinatown – from writing the book to becoming the show runner for the series. For Yu, this story is one which he would have loved to see as a child growing up in America and feels that his identity journey would have been different if he did see more examples of authentic representation in books and on the screen.

“If I had been able to see myself represented in stories and on screen in America as a child, my aspirations and my appetite to be a creative and a writer may have started earlier and/or be different. Many of us grew up in environments where we were subjected to real exclusion and felt that as we went along in life. Maybe some of this hasn’t really changed in the present. This is why I felt it was so important to tell this story and make those of us who have always been invisible and in the background, be visible in the most authentic way”.

AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.

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