In Hulu’s “Interior Chinatown,” Jimmy O. Yang stars as Willis Wu, a “generic Asian man” stuck in the background of police procedural show, whose luck begins to shift when he breaks into a leading role — a trajectory that resonated heavily with the actor.
“I felt that often in my life, especially when I first started as an actor,” Yang told TheWrap of the “almost invisible forces” holding Willis on the sidelines. “I was a background actor. I was Chinese teenager No. 1 in ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ a show that Chloe [Bennet] was the star in, actually.”
Like Willis, Yang explained he “snuck [his] way into being tech guy,” which he explains is “exactly what Willis has done in the book and in the show” as he secretly works with Detective Lana Lee (Bennet) to solve a string of crimes in Chinatown that could be related to the disappearance of his brother.