Disney+ has announced the main cast for the upcoming series adaptation of American Born Chinese, which is based on Gene Luen Yang’s 2006 graphic novel. Leading the talented international cast is Michelle Yeoh, who is reuniting with director and executive producer Destin Daniel Cretton after last year’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Production is expected to begin later this month in Los Angeles.
Joining Yeoh are Ben Wang (MacGyver), Yeo Yann Yann (Wet Season), Chin Han (Mortal Kombat), Daniel Wu (Reminiscence), and Ke Huy Quan (Finding ‘Ohana), along with former Taekwondo champion Jim Liu and Sydney Taylor (Just Add Magic).
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Their official character descriptions are listed below:
- Yeoh’s Guanyin – an unassuming auntie, who helps her nephew Wei-Chen navigate the challenges of American high school while maintaining her secret identity as the all-powerful Buddhist bodhisattva of Compassion.
- Wang’s Jin Wang – an American teen whose parents immigrated from Taiwan, who is struggling to carve out exactly who he’s supposed to be socially and culturally.
- Yeo Yann Yann as Jin’s mom, Christine Wang – a strong-willed, opinionated woman with a sly wit, who loves her family deeply.
- Chin Han as Jin’s father, Simon Wang – a hard-working, devoted father and husband who is bumping up against the “bamboo ceiling” at his job.
- Wu’s Sun Wukong “The Monkey King,” – the legendary, all-powerful god of the Chinese epic Journey to the West, who enters our world in search of his son.
- Ke Huy Quan as “Freddy Wong,” – a fictional character from a popular mid-1990s sitcom.
- Jim Liu as Jin’s confident friend “Wei-Chen,” – a teen who has just arrived in the United States, whose sweet demeanor belies the deeper mystery of his true identity.
- Taylor’s Amelia – a friendly “All-American” girl who is Jin’s classmate and crush.
“It tells the story of Jin Wang, an average teenager juggling his high school social life with his home life,” reads the synopsis. “When he meets a new foreign student on the first day of the school year, even more worlds collide as Jin is unwittingly entangled in a battle of Chinese mythological gods.”
Pick up a copy of the graphic novel here!
Disney+’s American Born Chinese will be directed by Cretton from a screenplay written by brothers Kelvin Yu (Bob’s Burgers) and Charles Yu (Westworld), with Kelvin Yu also set as the showrunner. It is being described as a genre-hopping action-comedy that is set to explore issues of identity, culture, and family.
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American Born Chinese will be executive produced by Cretton, the Yu Brothers, Gene Luen Yang, Erin O’Malley, Melvin Mar, Jake Kasdan, and Asher Goldstein. The series is a production by 20th Television.
