If you haven’t watched Interior Chinatown‘s 10 episodes on Hulu yet, you’re missing out on one of the year’s weirdest, wildest rides.
Based on the National Book Award-winning novel from Charles Yu (the former writer for HBO’s Westworld also serves as this series’ showrunner), the meta romp follows Willis Wu (Jimmy O. Yang), a bored waiter at his uncle Wong’s (Archie Kao) Chinatown restaurant. Willis is also unknowingly (at first) a background character in cop procedural Black & White (a spoof on Law & Order and the like). With dreams of being a kung fu hero, Willis works his way from a background character into a lead, all while solving a years-in-the-making Chinatown-centric case under the guidance of glamorous transfer Detective Lana Lee (Chloe Bennet, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). And it’s all seemingly connected to his long-missing older brother (played by Chris Pang).
The story gets even weirder as the mystery delves deeper into the recesses of Chinatown — and television tropes abound. It’s silly and dazzling at times, but also dramatic. The exploration of family and generational expectations is presented as we see the entire Wu family struggle, particularly Willis, who feels like an outsider, even within his own family, especially since the disappearance of his revered sibling.
“I absolutely related to it, and I think that’s the brilliance of Charlie Yu,” Yang, who read the novel in just one day, admits. “The book was based on his own Asian-American experience of constantly feeling in the background. I was actually in the background of some shows — and some shows don’t even want me in the background, that’s how background I was. But I think that’s what’s great about it. It’s also a universal story, whether you’re Asian-American, whether you’re from New Zealand, or if you’ve ever just felt like you’re invisible at times….or just felt like an underdog, this is a story for you.”
Related‘Interior Chinatown’ Creator Talks Book-to-TV Changes and Taika Waititi’s Influence
“The show is really meaningful for me,” agrees executive producer Taika Waititi (Time Bandits, Our Flag Means Death), who also directed the first episode. “It actually came about at a time that I really needed to re-embrace my creative side. I’d been feeling a little out of touch with my filmmaking, and I came back into it with this show, and I’m so proud of it. It’s actually my favorite thing that I’ve done in the last few years.”
Check out our video interview above for more from Waititi and Yang.
Interior Chinatown, Streaming Now, Hulu
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