American Born Chinese Interview: Producers on Forming an Asian American All-Star Cast

What does it take to translate a graphic novel like American Born Chinese into a full television series? The 2009 Eisner Award-winning graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang underwent quite a transformation before its debut on Disney+. The television series American Born Chinese follows the story of Jin Wang (Ben Wang), a Chinese-American teenager who is struggling with his own identity. When he is introduced to Wei-Chen (Jimmy Liu), an exchange student, his life is turned upside down at the reveal that Wei-Chen is more than he appears.

Incorporating elements of Chinese mythology and cultural identity discussion, we talked with executive producers Melvin Mar and Gene Luen Yang about turning a 200-page graphic novel into a fully fledged TV series. We talked about what were Yang's must-haves when changing the series for television. We also discussed the change of the in-universe fictional character of Chin-Kee to Ke Huy Quan's Freddy Wong and the connection that character had to beloved, but complicated, stories by John Hughes. Mar and Yang talked about how they decided to expand the world of mythology and bringing in Eastern mythological characters. And they talk about what it takes to bring together an all-star cast of Asian and Asian American actors.

#AmericanBornChinese #GeneLuenYang #MelvinMar

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