‘I came here with nothing’: The Cleaning Lady producer and writer Miranda Kwok on starting out, and telling Asian stories

Writer and executive producer Miranda Kwok can really relate to the lead character of her latest TV show, The Cleaning Lady. No, she wasn’t an “illegal alien” in the US, didn’t clean nightclub toilets, doesn’t have a sick child and no medical insurance, nor has she been coerced by a mobster to do some dirty work, literally, as the drama’s lead character has had to. But to pursue a career in film and television, the Chinese-Canadian did move to Los Angeles with no money, no place to live, and no industry connections. “I came here with nothing,” recalls Kwok, whose new show began airing in the US early January. “I was an actor in Toronto and had thoughts of coming down. When one of my closest friends moved here, I came too. I had no car, no work visa, and stayed in her studio apartment. This was 2000. “I pounded the pavement and it was extremely difficult. There weren’t enough roles and those that were available tended to be ones I didn’t want.” So many people are disregarded, considered invisible and discarded. That’s part of the story I wanted to tell Miranda Kwok, recalling seeing Filipinos on the streets of Central, Hong Kong on their day off So to tell the kind of stories she was interested in, Kwok switched to writing. She worked her way up slowly, writing spec scripts, studying producing, and entering writing competitions. Her first screenplay, a story about Chinese “comfort women” – enslaved in brothels serving Japanese soldiers – in World War II won the Grand Prize at the Slamdance Screenplay Competition in 2004. This, eventually, helped land her writing positions on shows like Spartacus: Blood And Sand and The 100. The next big step came after Kwok produced a couple of short films. BBC’s climate-change series The Green Planet, where plants are the stars With The 100 on hiatus in 2020, unsure if it would be renewed or cancelled, Warner Bros thought enough of Kwok that they worried she would take her talents elsewhere. So they pitched a development deal, proposing to her a property licensed by Pretty Little Liars’ actress Shay Mitchell and based on an Argentinian show, La Chica Que Limpia, about a single mother. Kwok reshaped the premise and created The Cleaning Lady, about a woman without status desperate to help her sick child, who reluctantly agrees to work for an underworld criminal. “Shay found the original format,” Kwok explains. “What was exciting to me was the story of an undocumented immigrant and making her the underdog and unlikely hero. “We bring in a lot of interesting themes very relevant to today. We also adapted her into a doctor who can’t practise, so she’s forced to work under the table as a cleaner. “It’s a thrilling drama … that we use as a Trojan Horse to put in these interesting issues. I did draw a lot on my own experience, coming to Los Angeles with no job, no papers and beginning to find my own path. That’s sort of the mentality I infused into the character.” The Cleaning Lady stars French-Cambodian actress Elodie Yung, previously seen as Elektra in Marvel’s series Daredevil and The Defenders. Instead of downplaying her Asian roots, Kwok makes the resourceful mother half Filipino, half Cambodian. Kwok’s family are Chinese immigrants to Canada and she still has relatives in Hong Kong. Her decision to feature a Southeast Asian character was partly inspired by a visit to the city several years ago. “One of the things that struck me was seeing all these Filipino workers just crammed onto Central pavements and corridors, eating their lunches on cardboard boxes each Sunday,” Kwok says. “All over the world, these situations continue ... and so many people are disregarded, considered invisible and discarded. That’s part of the story I wanted to tell, that you can’t judge a person by their profession. Everyone deserves the same respect and dignity. Shay is also half Filipino so, I thought, ‘why not have a Southeast Asian lead?’ I’m not sure there has ever been two Southeast Asians in any dramatic show Miranda Kwok, producer and writer “It’s a very challenging role because the character is so multilayered. She has to be formidable and the smartest person in the room, while other times be invisible as a cleaner. It’s very nuanced and amazing to watch.” The series is also another major step for Asian representation on American television, the most significant being Kwok joining the ranks of decision-making executives. In front of the camera, in addition to Yung, there’s Filipino-Australian actress Martha Millan in another leading role as the sister-in-law and the protagonist’s best friend, while Lou Diamond Philips returns to acting in one episode. Succession actress on Season 4 and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter “Shay is also half Filipino so, I thought, ‘why not have a Southeast Asian lead?’ I’m not sure there has ever been two Southeast Asians in any dramatic show.” Like Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, Kwok is unapologetic about injecting some of her personal and social agendas into the show. She’s keen to create more stories about marginalised women. Another project in the pipeline is a cable TV pilot called Snakehead, a complicated tale of a female Chinese human smuggler, with Michelle Yeoh attached as star. “When I was younger, I thought I would be a psychiatrist,” Kwok says. “At 18, I was a volunteer for a rape crisis hotline and worked for a women’s shelter. That’s where I felt like I learned a lot about women going through hard struggles. I think a part of me is sensitised, moved and motivated to that kind of story. “And it’s still rare to have our own stories on the screen. Some people say that every story has been done and told, now it’s a matter of telling it differently. Well, I don’t think it’s true because our stories have not been told. “Fortunately, I hit upon a time when audiences are opening up and embracing different perspectives, different cultures. I think developing a show like The Cleaning Lady now is timely and relevant.”

‘I came here with nothing’: The Cleaning Lady producer and writer Miranda Kwok on starting out, and telling Asian stories

Moving to the US with nothing to start her film career, as Miranda Kwok did, allows her to relate to her new show’s lead character In The Cleaning Lady she cast French-Cambodian actress Elodie Yung as a doctor working as a cleaner and Filipino-Australian actress Martha Millan as her friend

Moving to the US with nothing to start her film career, as Miranda Kwok did, allows her to relate to her new show’s lead character

In The Cleaning Lady she cast French-Cambodian actress Elodie Yung as a doctor working as a cleaner and Filipino-Australian actress Martha Millan as her friend