Vanessa Yao, actor and star of The CW's 'Kung Fu,' joins Cheddar News to discuss season two of the popular show and the importance of representation on screen. 

Between Bells

Actor Vanessa Yao Talks 'Kung Fu' and Representation On Screen

Welcome back to Between Bells. I'm Michelle Castilian according to the L. A. Times only 44 of the 1300 top grossing movies from 2007 to 2019 featured an asian pacific islander. Lead. A recent study by U. C. L. A. Is revealing that four out of 10 lead actors in film are people of color and that number is even smaller when it comes to leeds of asian descent. However, there's been a noticeable increase in asian american representation in both films and tv shows. Thanks to crazy rich asians, everything everywhere all at once. And kung fu. Season two of the CW hit martial arts series is back and it's in action Kung fu's sophomore season debuted back in March. The show is a reboot of the early 1970s original of the same name and it's reimagining on the CW is more meaningful to the api community due to its representation this time around joining us. Now to discuss is Vanessa Yao, she's the actor and one of the stars of CWS kung fu. So welcome to the show and it's so great to have you. So from the beginning, people have been huge fans of the show. You just joined the cast this season. What does it mean to be part of a show that's being so well received by audiences. Well, honestly, I was quite nervous um, when they first cast me but um, I was just shocked at how like the community was so nice and like inviting of me and it was so nice to see that. Like pretty much almost the main cast was all asian and like just that family vibe that they were getting off even offset was just so nice to be around. Um and yeah, it was just such an honor and I was so happy that they cast me into season two into the shen family. So you play me a on the show who's Nicky's cousin and you guys don't have a loving reunion, you actually go toe to toe and head to head on to fight. So what can we expect from your character and especially what can we look forward to this season? Um well, I feel like, you know, everyone is not specifically good or bad and I feel like she definitely is a representation of that um that if you have something that that's pushing you forward, it can be either good or bad, but at the same time, like you don't want to hurt anyone at the same time. So I feel like for her, Nikki is is representing a representation of only something great good, but for but for me a she's like, no, she wants to do what she wants to do. And um nothing can stop her. So it's nice to see um how like her backstory is so different from Nikki, even though they are related, but they're very different at the same time. So Mia's a little weary of others due to her heart upbringing. She also feels a lot of guilt over her mother's death. So what inspiration did you draw on to play such a layered character? Um Well honestly, because it was, it was really heavy what she went through, right, her leaving home and her mom dying because of her not being there to get into that. Like I really just like try not to talk to a lot of people like on set, like I I did, I tried to like really enter her psyche and not downplay anything that she had been through. Obviously it was very hard because you know, it's not every day that you can meet someone that's been through as much as she has, but um I tried my best to like, you know, not downplay any of the grief and guilt that she had gone through. Yeah, so the martial arts in the show is so artful and intricate um I know martial arts is so difficult, I actually studied karate for several years, I'm a brown belt, What did you do for training? Okay, well um I have to say that the stunt team is absolutely amazing, like they're so professional and they make you feel so safe, like you know, they'll go through every single move with you and make sure that you know that like when you are on set you won't be hurting anyone on like, you know, like what the what the distance is to be to protect everyone um when you're fighting, which is an important part when you are doing these fightings and um just like that. Like they'll show you the sequence that they want you to do and it's just amazing how they're able to like think of that whole thing and just like cory choreograph like the whole thing. It's just it was just amazing. Um The stunt team is absolutely like the best that I've ever worked with. So one of the things that people love about kung fu is it's a predominantly asian cast and there's I think it's the only show that features a female lead that is asian, what is it like being part of such a historic program. It's amazing. Like honestly um so Olivia Olivia Laing who plays Nike shoes so nice. Like I was shocked at like how genuinely nice she is. And um I wanted to like highlight a thing where like you know when we're acting, she always does her best even though like the camera's not on her just so like the rest of the cast have correct reaction to um like to what she's saying. So it's just she's such a respectful person and she really considers everyone on set and honestly like she deserves the best and it was so so nice working with her real quick before we go. Do you remember the first time you saw an asian american woman on air and how did that affect you um I think it would probably be crazy Rich asians and when I saw it I was like so happy because I was like finally like finally we're, I can see this like this, this has never happened before and just for it to be received so well, it was just so inspiring and I hope that there will be more of that in the future, but it was just, it was definitely so refreshing to see that definitely hope there's more of that in the future as well. Thanks to Vanessa Yao, she's the actor and star of CW's kung fu.