Interior Chinatown's protagonist feels like he's a background character in someone else's story, which is exactly the premise of the new crime comedy series. Adapted from Charles Yu's 2020 novel of the same name, the show premiered November 19 on Hulu and centers Willis Wu (Silicon Valley's Jimmy O. Yang), a background actor playing out Asian American cliches in the police procedural Black and White. The "Generic Asian Man" gets a chance to level up, however, when he witnesses an abduction outside his uncle's restaurant, Golden Palace.

Every episode of Interior Chinatown intersects with the world of Willis' fictional cop show, which is led by Detective Sarah Green (Lisa Gilroy) and Detective Miles Turner (Sullivan Jones) and is as cookie-cutter as TV gets. But Black and White gets upended as well when Detective Lana Lee (Agents of SHIELD's Chloe Bennet) is brought in to deal with crime in Chinatown and informally recruits Willis to the case. Soon enough, Willis realizes that the goings-on in Chinatown might tie back to the disappearance of his brother, and thus he inches ever closer to earning his own main character status.

ScreenRant interviewed Ma and Kao about Interior Chinatown's themes of identity and family — which are universal despite the specificity of the show's Asian American cultural landscape. Ma also explained how his character Joe copes with the disappearance of his eldest son, while Kao looked back on his time as Kai Chen in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy.

Lisa Gilroy & Sullivan Jones Are Not Used To A Third Wheel In Their Police Procedural

“Black and White is this procedural that's always been the same, and it plays out the same way every single episode.”

Screen Rant: Tell me a little bit about Detectives Green and Turner and the series Black and White.

Sullivan Jones: Turner is a classic procedural detective, where he wears the suits, he looks the part, he hits the mark, he gets the perp — the whole thing. We come into their world, and they're on top of their game.

But then slowly over the course of the season, we begin to see cracks in the relationship, in the show, in the reality of what's happening. Who's a good guy, who's a bad guy — all of that.

Screen Rant: Lisa, talk to me about the third wheel, if you will. How do you feel about Chloe Bennet's character, Lana Lee, in the show?

Lisa Gilroy: To Sullivan's point, Black and White is this procedural that's always been the same, and it plays out the same way every single episode. So, to have another detective in there is just not really the trope. Green's pissed about that.

I love Chloe Bennet. It was the most fun I've ever had to be so mean to her.

Interior Chinatown Takes Its Show-Within-A-Show To A Whole New Level

“We become integral to helping [Willis] figure out the mystery that he's looking to solve.”

Screen Rant: How do you think Interior Chinatown used the procedural cop drama show format to explore deeper themes about identity and ambition?

Sullivan Jones: The procedural is all about archetypes. You have the nail salon worker who gets murdered. You have the tall black detective who's always in control.

Lisa Gilroy: The guy at the docks unloading boxes, the stripper that's like, "I can't talk right now. Talk on my break." All those things that we know.

Sullivan Jones: Yes, that we know and we see. And it's taking one of those characters who's peripheral and bringing them to the center of the show, following them, and giving them more time.

Screen Rant: Lisa, did you have a favorite pun? Your character is known for these zingers.

Lisa Gilroy: Yes, I do. I do, actually, but I can't what episode... When [they're doing] construction.

Sullivan Jones: Oh, right, right, right. The needle, with the glasses, and you're looking down at the body.

Lisa Gilroy: Yeah, the violinist. Something about the music. "She couldn't face the music!" You squat down in front of a body and go, "Huh, looks like someone couldn't face the music." That is so heavenly to say.

Screen Rant: Can you discuss how the roles of Miles and Sarah fit into the larger narrative of Interior Chinatown?

Sullivan Jones: The procedural they're on is called Black and White, and they're the two leads. In media, maybe we allow for there to be space and categories for Black people and white people, but where are the other people who aren't represented? That's one of the meta-narratives.

Then in the show, you're dealing with Willis Wu's family drama mystery. He's trying to find someone.

Lisa Gilroy: This man is on the brink of spoiling the whole show. Every single episode. He's literally like, "Hold me back." He's going to say everything!

Sullivan Jones: "And in episode 10..." [Laughs] We become integral to helping him figure out the mystery that he's looking to solve.

More About Interior Chinatown Season 1

Based on Charles Yu’s award-winning book of the same name, the show follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural called Black & White. Relegated to the background, Willis goes through the motions of his on-screen job, waiting tables, dreaming about a world beyond Chinatown and aspiring to be the lead of his own story. When Willis inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, he begins to unravel a criminal web in Chinatown, while discovering his own family’s buried history and what it feels like to be in the spotlight.

Check out our other Interior Chinatown interviews here:

• Jimmy O. Yang
• Tzi Ma & Archie Kao
• Taika Waititi & Charles Yu
• Chloe Bennett & Ronny Chieng

All 10 episodes of Interior Chinatown are now available to stream on Hulu.

Source: Screen Rant Plus