Streaming giant Disney+ released a behind-the-scenes featurette on Saturday, Sept. 10 for the upcoming action-comedy series American Born Chinese.
As previously reported on AsAmNews, the series is based on the 2006 graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang. It will explore the themes of culture, family, and identity through the lens of adolescence.
The show stars Ben Wang as Jing Wang, an everyday teen with typical teenage problems and woes, juggling his social life and immigrant upbringing.
The series starts when Jin meets foreign exchange student Wei-Chen, played by Jim Liu, on the first day of school. After meeting Wei-Chen, Jin becomes entangled in a battle of Chinese mythological gods. In the behind-the-scenes featurette, showrunner Kelvin Yu describes the friendship between Jin and Wei-Chen as the heart of the show.
Executive producer Dustin Daniel Cretton said in the featurette that a dream team of creatives has been put together to create the series, both behind and in front of the camera, with Peng Zhang and Lucy Liu among the names of directors for the show.
The impressive list of cast members includes Daniel Wu and Michelle Yeoh who star as Sun Wukong “The Monkey King” and Guanyin, respectively. Yeo Yann Yann is also part of the cast as Christine Wang, Chin Han as Simon Wang, Poppy Liu as Princess Iron Fan, and Ke Huy Quan as Freddy Wong, among others.
According to Variety, American Born Chinese is written by Kelvin Yu, who also serves as an executive producer for the show. The series also reunites Cretton and Yeoh, who previously worked together on the Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Principal photography for the series began in Los Angeles on February 8 and wrapped five months later on July 6. It is set to premiere on Disney+ but no exact date has been released as of writing.
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