Comedian Jimmy O. Yang’s latest role is in Hulu’s Interior Chinatown, based on Charles Yu’s National Book Award-winning novel. Yang plays Willis Wu, a waiter at his family’s restaurant who dreams of leaving Chinatown. His uneventful life changes when he teams up with a local detective to solve the disappearance of his older brother.
Yang tells Press Play that his character is an insignificant background actor in a Law and Order type of series, and he doesn’t know he’s in it.
“It’s a satire on television and procedurals. But it's also a metaphor for Asian American experiences,” Yang describes. “Often in America, where we feel invisible and stuck in the background, and we don't know how to get out of it. And we'll almost have to find little shortcuts or find creative ways … just get a bit part on the show, which I guess in life, to scrape together the crumbs.”
Yang says that he couldn’t even land good background parts when his career began. One of his first roles was “person in line” on the sitcom Two Broke Girls. “I just felt so blessed to even have two lines, I can get into SAG. Everything was a real win and bonus, because I didn't see a lot of … my own representation on TV.”
He continues, “Even Silicon Valley, it started off … as a two-line part. It started off … like a very side character, a little one-dimensional, but then it developed into a full-on villain. But even that, it wasn't like … ‘Oh yeah, you’re gonna be on 10 episodes with us and you’re gonna get this deal.’ … I have to fight for each little bit of it. ‘Okay, you’re two line. Now you’re in two episodes. Now, okay, second season, you’re in three episodes.’ And then they finally made me a series regular, which was a blessing.”
How did he fight for his place on Silicon Valley? “Just being good. I don't know. Just being funny, being present. But also bringing in your own ideas. Being not just prepared as an actor, but also as a storyteller. Like, okay, what more can I bring to this character?”
L to R: Chloe Bennet, Sullivan Jones, Jimmy O. Yang, and Lisa Gilroy appear in “Interior Chinatown.” Credit: Mike Taing/Hulu.
Yang came to the U.S. at age 13, and he says he still sometimes feels like life is a duality.
“Especially when I first moved here, it's like, which world do I belong in? I spent the first 13 years of my life in Hong Kong and with very Chinese culture. And my parents are very Chinese, and I speak Chinese at home. And then when I went to school in America, I had to reconcile with that. … Do I assimilate? Am I fully American now? Because it's not just food, right? It's not just the language. It's a mentality. Chinese culture, you do what you're supposed to, and it's less individual. … You take care of your family and you do right by your family. Whereas American culture is very individual. … You got to go live your dream. So I felt guilty doing that. And I feel also wrong being just Chinese. So I had to find … a path for myself where I can walk the line of both worlds.”
Yang points out that after he became an actor, his dad did too. His father auditioned to be Willis Wu’s parent. The part went to Tzi Ma instead. “He was like, ‘Oh of course. I can't even be mad. Tzi Ma is such a legend.”
Tzi Ma and Diana Lin appear in “Interior Chinatown.” Credit: Mike Taing/Hulu.
Yang says both his parents love Interior Chinatown, and since they’re on Chinese social media, they update him on people’s reactions to his work. “Recently I did an interview in Cantonese, right? And I haven't really had the chance to speak Cantonese for … 20 some years, because I speak to my parents in Shanghainese. … And I got roasted online because every other word I was trying to speak Cantonese and I just go back into English. And I think I became a meme of people speaking Cantonese not so fluently anymore.”
As for Hollywood’s handling of Asian actors and storylines now, Yang says it’s definitely better compared to 10-15 years ago when his career started.
“I think it's really up to the storytellers. We got to tell good stories. We got to tell authentic stories and … be undeniably good in a casting room, or write an undeniably good script, whether it's an Asian story or not. So you gotta get in.”
He notes that there’s still a lot more work to be done. “If you look at the top-end movie stars that can green-light a movie, it's still overwhelmingly white. … It's not just America. … I think the world, a lot of times, is so used to seeing a white movie star. It will take a lot of artists pushing and being good, and also the world to get used to it, and Hollywood to … allow different types of stars to rise to the top.”
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