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Agence France-Presse

Interior Chinatown, a “meta” detective series in which a struggling Asian waiter becomes the unlikely hero of a police-procedural-style criminal conspiracy, satirises Hollywood’s stereotypical treatment of minorities – while also nodding to the progress the industry has belatedly made.
The new show, out on Disney+ on November 19, is based on a novel by US author Charles Yu, who is of Taiwanese descent.
Yu’s 2020 bestseller delivered a humorous takedown of racism in US society through the adventures of Willis Wu, a Hollywood extra who plays roles like “Background Oriental Male” but who dreams of one day being promoted to “Kung Fu Guy”.
Yu created the television series and is its executive producer.


“I grew up watching TV in the 80s and 90s and I just never saw Asians on TV. It’s as if they didn’t exist,” he told a press conference in July.
“They existed in real life when I’d go outside, but they weren’t somehow in my screen. And so, that sort of shaped me in wanting to tell this story.”
Even a decade ago, Hollywood would probably have ignored Yu’s literary creations.
But in recent years, breakout successes for Asian-American productions like Crazy Rich Asians and Everything Everywhere All At Once, not to mention South Korean hits Parasite and Squid Game, have proved the commercial appetite for diverse storytelling.

Hong Kong-born US actor Jimmy O. Yang, who appeared in Crazy Rich Asians, stars as Wu in Interior Chinatown.
Oscar-winning New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) directed the pilot episode.
Viewers are introduced to Wu as an ordinary waiter at a restaurant in Los Angeles’ Chinatown – but quickly find out that he also appears to live within a police procedural.
In these scenes, Interior Chinatown adopts the visual codes and tropes of a TV police drama. Wu is relegated to a background character role, as the series’ black-and-white police officer duo solve crimes.
Even more strangely, unexplained cameras are shown filming Wu and his colleagues, reminiscent of 1998’s comedy drama The Truman Show – which follows a man who does not realise his entire life is being live-streamed to the world.
I literally was told at the beginning of my career … ‘You’re just not white enough to be the lead, but you’re not Asian enough to be the Asian’
Chloe Bennet, who plays Lana Lee in Interior Chinatown
The distortion of reality echoes the premise of the original novel, which was itself written in the form of a television screenplay.
“It’s such a great metaphor for what it means to be Asian-American in this country,” said Yang.
“But at the same time, it’s a universal story of someone longing to be more, someone finding themselves in their career.”
When Wu witnesses a kidnapping, twists and turns see this background actor take on increasingly important roles in the narrative of a criminal intrigue.
“He moves on to be kind of like a guest star,” Yang said. “And then the tech guy, which, of course, I played before. So it really drew a lot of parallels to my own career.”

The series blends English, Mandarin and Cantonese dialogue.
Among its characters is Lana Lee, a mixed-race novice police officer, who is assigned a case in Chinatown by superiors who incorrectly assume that she must know her way around the Asian neighbourhood.
The irony was not lost on actress Chloe Bennet, who plays Lee. She was born Chloe Wang to a Chinese father and white American mother, and in real life had to change her last name to land roles in Hollywood.
“My journey through the industry is so meta for Lana,” she told the press conference.
“I literally was told at the beginning of my career … ‘You’re just not white enough to be the lead, but you’re not Asian enough to be the Asian.’”

Wu’s best friend Fatty Choi, played by comedian Ronny Chieng (The Daily Show), provides a hilarious counterpoint to audiences’ preconceived notions of Asians as the “model minority”.
A video-game-addicted stoner, Choi aggressively lectures the restaurant’s demanding white customers that they are “not the centre of the universe”.
“To do something this cool, this meta, this mind-bending and smart – social commentary, but not hitting people over the head with it … this is the stuff that you only dream of being able to do,” he said.


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TV shows and streaming video

How Disney+’s Interior Chinatown with Jimmy O. Yang mocks Asian stereotypes in Hollywood

Jimmy O. Yang (left) and Ronny Chieng arrive for the premiere of Interior Chinatown in Los Angeles. Yang stars as an Asian actor who finds his world turned upside down in unusual ways. Photo: AFP

(From left) Actress Chloe Bennet, actor Jimmy O. Yang, show creator Charles Yu, actor Ronny Chieng and director Taika Waititi at the premiere of Interior Chinatown in Los Angeles. Photo: AFP

Bennet, born Chloe Wang to a Chinese father and white American mother, had to change her last name to land roles in Hollywood. Photo: AFP

Yu’, whose 2020 bestseller delivers a humorous takedown of racism in US society through the adventures of Willis Wu. Photo: AFP

Jimmy O. Yang gets personal in his first lead role as Interior Chinatown’s Willis Wu

Jimmy O. Yang as Willis Wu, his first lead role, in a still from Hulu series Interior Chinatown. Photo: Hulu

Jimmy O. Yang recalls getting a reminder of prevailing attitudes towards Asian-Americans when he arrived at a Hollywood studio to film Interior Chinatown and the guard refused to let him in. Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images/TNS

Jimmy O. Yang (left) with co-star Ronny Chieng in a still from Interior Chinatown. Photo: Hulu

(From left) Interior Chinatown stars Ronny Chieng, Jimmy O. Yang and Chloe Bennet, and executive producer Charles Yu, author of the book on which the Hulu series is based, on the red carpet at the Hawaii International Film Festival. Photo: Instagram/@shtanlee

Jimmy O. Yang and Alyss When in a scene from the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Photo: ABC

Jimmy O. Yang and T.J. Miller in a still from HBO comedy series Silicon Valley. Photo: HBO

Jimmy O. Yang as Bernard Tai is a still from Crazy Rich Asians. Photo: Warner Bros

Jimmy O. Yang as Willis Wu and Chloe Bennet as Detective Lana Lee in a still from Interior Chinatown. Photo: Instagram/@chloescereal

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Paul Mescal as Lucius in a still from Gladiator II. Photo: Paramount Pictures

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Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk at a screening for season two in Los Angeles in November. He talks about exploring whether humanity can prevail in an increasingly polarised world, and coming back with a show that’s bigger and better. Photo: AP

Hwang (left) and Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae arrive at a screening for Squid Game season two in Los Angeles, in November 2024. Photo: AP

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Two people dressed like Squid Game characters stand at a special event for season two in Los Angeles. Photo: Reuters

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Lee You-mi (left) and Woo Do-hwan in a still from Mr Plankton, one of our top Korean drama picks for November 2024. Photo: Jiyeon Kim/Netflix

Yoo Yeon-seok (left) and Chae Soo-bin in a still from When the Phone Rings.

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

Jimmy O. Yang plays an actor whose world is turned upside down in Interior Chinatown on Disney+. Ronny Chieng and Chloe Bennet co-star


Jimmy O. Yang plays an actor whose world is turned upside down in Interior Chinatown on Disney+. Ronny Chieng and Chloe Bennet co-star.


Disney+

Asian diaspora

Chinese overseas

Hollywood