Gene Luen Yang remembers feeling pumped in 2007 when Hollywood came calling about his trailblazing graphic novel 鈥淎merican Born Chinese.鈥� But that excitement turned into exasperation when it became clear the interested party completely missed the point of the book.
鈥淚t came out that the reason why they were interested is because the Beijing Olympics were coming up in 2008. And they wanted some property that had the word China or Chinese in it,鈥� Yang said in a recent interview. 鈥淓very now and then there would be an inquiry. But I really think the world needed to change in order for there to be an appetite for a story about an Asian American protagonist.鈥�
Change has finally come. After 17 years, the cartoonist is seeing his American dream play out.
鈥淎merican Born Chinese" debuts on Disney+ on Wednesday with a mostly Asian cast that now includes two new Oscar winners 鈥� Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. The show, which also boasts Asian American showrunners, centers on high school soccer player Jin Wang (Ben Wang) growing up amid pressure to reconcile his American and Chinese sides. Mixing elements of teen drama, fantasy and fight sequences, the show, like the book, jumps between Jin鈥檚 storyline and one involving the Monkey King, an iconic character in Chinese folklore. The story threads eventually intertwine.
鈥淚t feels like a very surreal moment to have this book that I did as Xerox copies that I would put together at my local Kinko鈥檚 eventually become a show on Disney+,鈥� Yang said.
The first two episodes have been screened around the country from San Francisco to New York City to the White House, partly to celebrate . The predominantly Asian American audiences have praised the show鈥檚 heartfelt and at times humorous portrayal of an Asian American family
鈥溾�楢merican Born Chinese,鈥� you can鈥檛 do it in one long movie,鈥� said Yeoh, who鈥檚 proud of how the series turned out. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so many different aspects of it that need to be shown, it needs that space and time on screen.鈥�
Yeoh, who as the first Asian to win her Oscar category for 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once,鈥� plays Guanyin, the goddess of mercy. She was invited to the project by her 鈥淪hang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings鈥� director, Destin Daniel Cretton, an executive producer.
In the show, Yeoh gets to don a sweeping gown and headdress as well as sweats and a baseball cap. Being a revered Chinese folklore figure, many people already have an image of Guanyin. The Malaysia-born Yeoh didn鈥檛 dwell on the pressure of playing someone larger than life.
鈥淲hat I do think about is how we have to be very respectful of this goddess of mercy because she represents so many things to so many followers all around the world,鈥� Yeoh said. 鈥淲e gave her the gravitas the she deserved and the respect to show you what we love about her.鈥�
Yeoh and Quan had already when they started filming 鈥淎merican Born Chinese.鈥� Castmates and also guest-star in an episode. The best picture winner premiered in the middle of production and then 鈥渨e watched the whole world change,鈥� executive producer Kelvin Yu said.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Wang is the star after doing mostly one-episode guest spots. He still isn鈥檛 quite used to seeing himself on posters. Having grown up seeing little on-screen Asian representation, it's a novel concept that he could be an example for a teenage Asian American boy today.
鈥淚t's very surreal and strange,鈥� Wang said. 鈥淚 still can't believe that it's me. I just feel like it's someone who looks like me, which is double weird. It's like seeing your doppelg盲nger.鈥�
The television adaptation comes in the wake of other teen shows with an Asian American lens. Disney+ also has 鈥淢s. Marvel鈥� featuring a Muslim American female superhero. Jenny Han鈥檚 two book series, 鈥淭o All the Boys I鈥檝e Loved Before鈥� and 鈥淭he Summer I Turned Pretty,鈥� have been hits for Netflix and Amazon Prime, respectively. The fourth and final season of 鈥淣ever Have I Ever,鈥� about an Indian American high schooler, drops in June.
鈥淲e鈥檙e standing on the shoulders of those kinds of things, going back to 鈥楯oy Luck Club鈥� ... all the way up to 鈥楩resh Off the Boat鈥� and shows like 鈥楴ever Have I Ever,鈥欌�� Yu said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l take all that momentum. We鈥檒l take all that sort of education for an audience to get used to faces like ours and we鈥檒l embrace it and move forward.鈥�
The graphic novel was landmark literature for Asian American millennials. Reviews lauded it as a fresh take on adolescence, bi-cultural identity and racism. It won several accolades and was a National Book Awards finalist.
For many young Chinese American readers, it was the first time they had seen themselves and the Monkey King 鈥� a legend they likely heard about from their parents 鈥� in that genre. The character first appeared in the epic 16th century Chinese novel, 鈥淛ourney to the West." The tome has been adapted several times including a memorable 1980s TV series created by China Central Television (CCTV). The super-powered simian is well-known across Asia like Batman or Spider-Man, according to Yu.
Daniel Wu, who grew up in California but began his acting career in Hong Kong, plays the Monkey King. This project brings him full circle from when he dealt with his own 鈥淎merican-born Chinese鈥� issues.
鈥淓ven though I was warmly accepted by the audiences there, I always felt like slightly being an outsider because I was American,鈥� Wu said. 鈥淏ecause we knew we were trying to tell Gene's story of what it's like to be of both sides, there was this kind of special energy that was on set. We knew that we were trying to tell authentically what our story was.鈥�
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Terry Tang is a member of The Associated Press鈥� Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ttangAP
Terry Tang, The Associated Press
