warrior cinemax interview
I can give you all the kind of feel good answers. With … To actually get to know her, and to be in this circle, it's something else. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. I think that you know the show better than I do [Laughs]. Jonathan Tropper, known for the Cinemax original series Banshee, is the showrunner.. Hong's quirky character brings some much needed humor to lighten the mood of the often violent and serious show material. You want to be ripped? Be ripped. In a December, 1971 interview with Canadian journalist Pierre Berton — Bruce Lee’s only recorded interview — Lee openly talks about The Warrior as … With the election [upon us], what parallels, if any, do you see between this show and what's going on right now in the world? You want to be fat? I was like, 'No, you know what? That's the image that came to me. Speaking about areas where you had a say in your character, I know your character on the show identifies as queer. We didn't aim it for anything. I like the way they portray it in the show in saying, 'This is just how it is.' That's just their life and they don't shine too much of a microscope on stuff. Interview exclusive with martial arts actor, Joe Taslim on the Cinemax series “Warrior”, based on a concept created by Bruce Lee & executive produced by daughter, Shannon Lee. Warrior followed the lives of various parties living in San Francisco during the real life Tong Wars in the 1870s. The actor, who most recently appeared as Yao in Disney’s live-action Mulan, joined the cast of Warrior this season as a newcomer to the Hop Wei Tong. Now, in its second season, the series not only explores the conflict between rival Chinatown gangs and the Tong Wars of the late 1800s, but also the discrimination Chinese Americans faced from 1892's Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited Chinese people from immigrating to the US for 10 years. Share: Ro. We're small, but mighty," star Chen Tang told Insider. Warrior, Fridays, 10/9c, Cinemax. One of your first lines on the show that you said was: 'I'm just happy to be here.' OK. This is not shocking. Warrior is about 90% of the way through that sequence. I couldn't stop my tears. "I call [it] the little show that could. But, I’m also entering this trio of Young Jun and Ah Sahm. 'Warrior' star Chen Tang talks Season 3, Warcraft, and high-school football Chen Tang approached his role of “Hong” on the Cinemax television series … What do you want me to say? Tags Audio Interview Cinemax Warrior. There really was a Chinese Exclusion Act. So I imagine this show must be particularly dear to you; this is a show he tried making many years ago. Cinemax’s Warrior has spent two seasons delivering on its promise to remain faithful to Bruce Lee’s writings and honor his status as a martial arts legend. Warrior is barreling forward in its debut season on Cinemax, entering the half-way point with tonight's episode. “It also came from character; it was also through the way I see the world. ADVERTISEMENT. And Ah Sahm, he’s brooding, he’s angry and hurt a lot. She's a former culture columnist for San Diego CityBeat. Subscriber Tang also said he's proud that the show portrays queer representation without putting it under a microscope, adding that the series doesn't make a big deal out of people's sexuality. "I'm really proud of 'Warrior,'" Tang said of the show's writing. We were in such a different world when we shot [the show]. That was really cool. His last earnest audition was something he self-taped on his iPhone and, believe it or not, he ended up getting the gig. ... Bruce Lee Cinemax Editor's Picks Interview Producer's Picks Salon Talks Salontv Shannon Lee … And, you know, that gunfight at the end was all one take [because] we just didn’t have the time!”. Copyright All rights reserved Theme: News Base by, Rockstar Book Tours: Jack McQuade is ‘The Smartest Kid in the World’ in Chris Grabenstein’s Latest MG Novel. Get info about the exciting first season of Warrior. It’s great fun. Despite its uncertain future, this Sophomore Season has shown that the Cinemax series can really dig in and explore its complex storylines, historical references, and large cast of characters. There really was that riot that we'll eventually get to the rest of the season. I'm an honest guy. since, “No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention”. So it was always that sort of humor that I wanted to find. I dropped about seven or eight kilos. I was struck by how relevant that line felt, along with another line where Mayor Samuel Blake (Christian McKay) says, 'Americans first.' On the character and development of the show and showrunner Jonathan Tropper: “Yeah, that’s all kudos to the showrunner and the producing your writing team. Me, Jason Tobin, and Andrew Koji, we had instant chemistry.”. Chen Tang joined the second season of Cinemax's "Warrior," which follows Chinese immigrants coming to San Francisco in the late 1800s. And, I was always very cognizant of, I’m entering this world. That energy just came from set. We could always talk to him about, like, ‘I don’t think my character would do this.’ He’s like, ‘Well, I’m gonna tell you why.’ This show is very near to my heart and I’m excited as hell for the world to see [it] because I feel like this show found its footing, it found a deeper feeling of who it was in the season.”. We'll meet you half way.' Taking the production costs and difficulty of shooting into account amid the pandemic, most of the ‘Warrior’ cast is already eyeing other projects. When things started happening this year, including the Black Lives Matter protests, we were not surprised at all. Warrior ran on Cinemax for two seasons, until the network stopped producing original programming, but now it's on HBO Max. Tang lost about 18 pounds for his role on the show by eating just one meal a day after finishing up Disney's live-action "Mulan" in which he played Yao. In a conversation with Insider held before the US presidential election, Tang spoke about the underrated gem, which is based on an idea from his childhood hero, Bruce Lee. JT [Jonathan Tropper] was a dream to work with. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Menu. Chen Tang: When I first heard about it I was like, Wow. I was like, well, how can I balance this triangle? There are things people don't realize about the other parts of the country until you drive through them. It's just a good show. Speaking in a new interview with Collider, here is some of what series star Dianne Doan had to say about the idea of there being more down the road: Wrapping up the season, we didn’t know if it was gonna be the end, so there are a lot of loose ends. In our exclusive interview, she narrates the journey of Mai Ling and fore-glimpses into her power struggle as the Long Zii leader. The official website for Warrior, an original series on Cinemax. His whole life. With Cinemax’s Warrior drawing their second season to a close, we talked with Chen Tang about his character “Hong” in the drama based on both Bruce Lee’s script treatment and the Tong Wars of the late 1800s. Joe Origins) returns to lead the cast as Ah Sahm, a fierce fighter with the powerful Hop Wei tong in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Was that a bit of the case? But still, just to bring attention to that and live in that part of the world, at time of the world, you know, with our Chinese American history and race relations. Based on a '70s treatment from Bruce Lee, the Western follows martial artist prodigy Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) as he immigrates from China to San Francisco during the late 1870s as tensions between Americans and Chinese immigrants are at an all-time high. Olivia Cheng as Ah Toy in Warrior. These things really happened. That scene was my first day on set, too. Every single detail. 'Yeah, It's representation,' and that's important too — believe me — but damn, man. And every detail was thought about. You mentioned on social media that you survived on boiled eggs and Nutribullets in New Zealand for 'Mulan.' Cinemax The historic lack of equity and inclusion in Hollywood begins behind the camera and shapes the sort of narratives that make it to our screens. But then, they were like we’re running out of budget! I started watching and fell in love with the show's choreography, fight scenes, and the journeys of Ah Sahm, Ah Toy, and Penelope. After a good but flawed first season for Cinemax’s martial arts drama, renewal looked iffy as ratings were never really high. There's a line said in season two, episode two: 'We cannot allow anxiety and dread to become the law of the land.' I'm really proud of 'Warrior,' and I know a lot of us are and the reason is with the storyline and the writing, everybody kind of has a say. If I'm not on a good show, I wouldn't be like, 'Yo, our show's awesome.' Visit Insider's homepage for more stories, most of the cast performed their own stunts, 'Warrior' star Chen Tang said he did all of his stunts on the show except one where he was told he could break his neck, Here's the cast of Disney's live-action 'Mulan' and who they're playing. It's your role now. We just told the story of the time. You don't see it handled like that all the time. That's about 17, almost 18, pounds from 'Mulan' on to 'Warrior' because I wanted to be sort of like a stray dog. To be honest, it doesn't stand out for all the right reasons. "Warrior" Season 2 airs on Cinemax beginning Oct. 2, and both seasons will soon head to HBO Max. Andrew Koji (2021’s Snake Eyes: G.I. The sophomore season of Warrior premieres tonight on Cinemax and actor Dustin Nguyen returns as a series regular in the role of the big baddie Zing, who was introduced at … We're in media...This thing is real. Insider: I'm going to be honest: I hadn't really heard of "Warrior" until recently. That episode was a whirlwind because it was just so fun to shoot, because of all that energy. Talking to MEAWW about the Cinemax show, she also spills the beans on her character's relationships with Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) and teases a major spoiler involving her and Hop Wei's brothel boss Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng). I love him like a brother. These are age-old things that just happened to be addressed now that...has more of a microscope on it. Young Jun doesn't go into the details. OK. Just two words, plain and simple: Bruce Lee. That's just another human being and that's the way they really wanted to approach it. Here we are, on the eve of the Warrior season two finale. I would like to be super skinny.' But these times haven't changed as much...There's a long way to go. On the Chinese Exclusion Act and the show shedding light on these historical events: “This part of history is never talked about. Original Series Home. Jonathan Tropper, our showrunner, and HBO, they're a dream to work with because they were like, 'Hey Chen, how do you want Hong to look? Jonathan was like, 'It's kind of cool. Dianne Doan talks about THAT reveal during the “Warrior” season finale! They were very specific. Everything from the cinematography to the realistic fight scenes (for which most of the cast performed their own stunts) to even the catchy title theme are engrossing, making the show an easy binge. This is honest; straight up honest. We have a gay hatchet man,' but we never shined a microscope on it. I read that Bruce Lee was one of your heroes growing up. [That's] not to say I didn't have good experiences before, but I was like, Wow. They went ambitious with it. But in doing so, they knew who they were.”, He continued, “And that all comes from the top. The season finale of Warrior airs tonight, Friday, December 4th at 10pm EST/11pm PST exclusively on Cinemax. Chen Tang joined the second season of Cinemax's "Warrior," which follows Chinese immigrants coming to San Francisco in the late 1800s. What was your diet like for 'Warrior?'. We didn't set out to make [the show] timely, we were just trying to tell a story that was true to that time in a traumatized way, obviously. He just says, 'Oh, it's just breakfast.' People feel this way. I really, really enjoyed the fact that that they gave everybody humanity like that. [Laughs] Why does it have to be queer representation? Is that something that stood out to you about the show as well? It felt like we were living in several different countries instead of one. Recently, in an interview with Inverse, Andrew Koji — who plays the titular role of Ah Sahm — opened up about the next season after Vanity Fair mapped out its struggle for Season 3 renewal. You can see why, Leary (Dean Jagger), feels how he feels about the Irish and hates the Chinese. You know, they know that there are other things that are actually bad out there. It is based on an original concept and treatment by Bruce Lee, and is executive-produced by his daughter, Shannon Lee, and Justin Lin. I'll explain what I mean: It doesn't stand out for all the right reasons because it really shouldn't. They really don't just go, 'Oh, it's an Asian story.' Triple meaning: As the character [Hong], I'm happy to be here in San Francisco. The final two episodes of season two did an incredible job of paying homage to Lee’s groundbreaking work on screen, including specific tributes to Enter the Dragon and Fist of Fury . That's made a little more clear at the start of season two, episode six. I wanted to start off asking what drew you into this show? INTERVIEW: Get to know Chen Tang, star of Disney’s ‘Mulan’ and Cinemax’s ‘Warrior’ A drive for greatness, rooted in Memphis soul Will Maye November 2, 2020 In a conversation with Insider held before the US presidential election, Tang spoke about the underrated gem, which is based on an idea from his childhood hero, Bruce Lee. I drove across the country with my brother at the end of 2019 to come out here. "It's the most underrated show ever," Tang said when asked why people should tune into the series. Original Series. These are not new problems. They were like, we’re not trying to tell the historically accurate drama, we’re trying to tell a pulpy kind of fantasized version of it. We were all running around, rushing around. Insider spoke with Tang before the US presidential election about creating his character's look, the show's portrayal of queer representation and how it's setting a new standard in Hollywood, and how the show unintentionally draws some parallels to systemic racism in America today. It was the last episode we shot of the season. 'Warrior' stars Olivia Cheng and Miranda Raison think there's a lot of story left to be told in the Cinemax martial arts drama. I basically just ate one meal a day, but because of that I could eat whatever I wanted and I had a protein shake after training. And how it actually came out on set was… sometimes the only thing I would be doing in a scene, I would just try to get Andrew Koji the laugh or smile. We can do a fictionalized version of it. That's crazy. That’s, to me, one of the big things that I want people to take away from it. They were like everybody is kind of gray on 'Warrior.' One of the best TV shows that you're likely not watching right now is "Warrior" on Cinemax. Account active Interview: Chen Tang on the newest member of the Hop Wei on Cinemax’s WARRIOR Now that Warrior Season Two has officially kicked off, this week’s episode “Now How We Do Business” brings newcomer Hong to the Tong, played by Chen Tang (Mulan, Fresh Off The Boat). Worth Watching Saturday, March 6 Oprah and the Ex-Royals, Daryl’s … A lot of people say, 'Oh my God, this is so shocking.' We want to see this section of history that nobody talks about, you can barely read a paragraph about it.”. [But,] somehow he pulled it off. Watch videos from Warrior online including trailers, interviews, episode recaps and more. I just loved it and it gave me so, so much of life and creativity to go from. IndieWire’s Hanh Nguyen had a fantastic interview with writer Kenneth Lin and director Kevin Tancharoen, where they discussed the influences of this episode. Of course, I’m going to love these guys.”. He is how he is. They were hung up. ET. Warrior is an American action-drama television series that premiered on April 5, 2019, on Cinemax. New episodes of "Warrior" air Fridays on Cinemax at 10 p.m. Warrior star Dianne Doan on Season 2 of the Cinemax martial arts show, her hopes for Season 3, and her role in the Agents of SHIELD final season. It often is that people who’ve been through a lot, things don’t matter as much to them. Videos Schedule Shop. Yeah. They just built Mexico. Get it now on Libro.fm using the button below. Inside the saloon, Ah Sahm and Young Jun encounter a Chinese cook, Lu (C.S. There really were people that died. Was that always a part of Hong's character or something that you had a hand in developing? Sundance 2021: “Mayday” Suffers From A Weak Script and Weaker Characters. Exactly. It was a dream come true because this is my first series as a series regular and to be able to work with something that's part of a legacy, not [just] for me personally, but also, Shannon [Lee], his daughter, as our executive producer. The official website for Warrior, an original series on Cinemax. Three: Being in South Africa, everything that I'm experiencing as Hong, I'm experiencing as Chen in K-Town when we shot it, because I'm genuinely happy to be here. Cinemax's Bruce Lee martial arts TV series Warrior effectively ended with the season 2 finale, which aired December 4, 2020. And Dustin Nguyen, who plays Zing, directed it, and that was great and had all these ideas. So for me, I saw the world through those through that lens, through those eyes alone. That's the great power of what you and I do. Warrior Dustin Nguyen. Simple as that.". I love that this show embraces whatever form of love — no matter what it may be — without judgment, whether it's bi, straight, gay, or interracial. With a second season ordered the … No, that was always part of Hong's character from the audition. "They really don't just go, 'Oh, it's an Asian story.'". I had to like pinch myself. But I will say that the quirks came from me, they were my creation and my interpretation. A lot of things happen. It's just the endgame. Tang, who joined "Warrior" in its second season after his role in Disney's "Mulan" as fan-favorite Yao, plays Hong, a lovable yet dangerous sidekick to the show's lead characters, Ah Sahm and Young Jun, in one of San Francisco's most powerful tongs or secret organizations. I'm in LA right now, but I'm from Jersey. Two, [there's] the happiness with everything that it means to be with Bruce Lee's legacy. I couldn't help but feel like that had a double meaning, knowing your love for Bruce Lee. “I can’t take full credit for it because the writers gave me so many great zingers and one-liners and all these things. Ro is a freelance entertainment writer, book reviewer, film/tv critic, and Editor for the MTR Network currently living, working, and podcasting from San Diego California. Meeting her, for the first time...I was just so emotional. The one thing I will say for Warrior and going into something like the show was it was so refreshing to just be basically on a show that knew what they were. "It's just f---ing good. Because the whole episode is so energetic. Lee) who welcomes them with some authentic Chinese Drunken Chicken. Andrew Koji stars in ‘Warrior’ season 2 (Photo by David Bloomer/Cinemax) Cinemax’s critically acclaimed dramatic series Warrior kicks off its 10-episode second season on Friday, October 2, 2020 at 10pm ET/PT. Chen Tang talks “Warrior,” the Chinese Exclusion Act, and Jonathan Tropper With Cinemax’s Warrior drawing their second season to a close, we talked with Chen Tang about his character “Hong” in the drama based on both Bruce Lee’s script treatment and the Tong Wars of the late 1800s. I wanted to note that I especially loved the moment where Young Jun (Jason Tobin) stood up for Hong when he was being discriminated against at breakfast. When I found out I got the job I was just floored. On Young Jun speaking up to defend him in the Hop Wei when his sexuality is revealed: “Look how much that would mean to someone who has faced repression and discrimination, not only for being Chinese, but for being gay his whole life. Be fat. Get info about the exciting first season of Warrior. INTERVIEW – Jonathan Tropper, Executive Producer of Cinemax’s ‘Warrior’ Talks a Darker, More Character Driven Season 2 Posted on October 1, 2020 October 4, 2020 Author Ron Seoul-Oh Warrior is the greatest martial arts show in the history of American TV. I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. Honestly, the first time watching him was the first time I felt truly proud to be an Asian in America. His father, Jun (Perry Yung) walks in and says, 'What's going on?' The only way that we can get closer as human beings is to address it, not to run, not to ignore the problem, not to push it away, not to bury it under things, but to be real with it. On filming the Western-style standalone Episode Six: “That episode was my favorite shoot.