What can you reveal about Reggie’s relationship with Archie this season?

“There’s definitely a rivalry between the two. It stays true to the comics in that sense, in that they’re friends but they are butting heads all the time. [Reggie] is always pranking everyone in the group, I’m hating on them, they’re hating on me... It’s a camaraderie that is staying true to the comics. We’re keeping it more real – I’m not playing pranks by throwing a pie in [Archie’s] face... We’re butting heads literally on the football field. It’s a timeless rivalry that fans [of the comics] will enjoy and new fans will be able to connect with.”

Did you read the comics before auditioning for the show?

“I wasn’t an avid reader [of Archie Comics], but I was familiar with them. It was an interesting contrast to see how this new script and new story line compares to the super-famous, family-friendly version of Archie. [There’s] a dark underbelly in this series."

There’s a lack of Asian representation on TV, which is slowly changing. As an Asian-American actor, have you faced any particular challenges?

“This is something that has been a core [part] of me as an actor, ever since I [became one]. We’re a very underrepresented population in Hollywood, but we are the majority population of the world. It’s a weird dichotomy that we have here. It’s starting to get better and we are starting to see more Asians in roles, but we’re not seeing a lot of Asians playing roles [that are] not specifically written for Asians. So when I first started out, I was being sent on auditions for ‘the geek,’ ‘the techie.’ Let’s be honest guys, I don’t look like a techie [laughs].”

“I told my agents, ‘Don’t send me out for [roles written for Asian actors].’ For a while, I didn’t get any auditions, or I’d get very few... But then I started to pick up momentum and started booking roles that weren’t [necessarily written for] Asian actors. For ｢K.C. Undercover｣, my role wasn’t written for an Asian actor, and I was the only Asian in the audition room. That’s a trend I see today, when I go out for non-Asian roles: I’ll be one of the only Asian people in the room, if not the only one.”

Now you play a football player!

“When I was a kid, there wasn’t an Asian-American Ryan Gosling, or an Asian-American Robert Downey Jr. that you would look up to... Now, [on ｢Riverdale｣] I play kind of a jerky football player, and on ｢Thirteen Reasons Why｣ I play a nice basketball player who does a bad thing, and on ｢Teen Wolf｣ I played a lacrosse player. Asians can be athletic, we don’t have to fit into this image that [the media] has for [us]. Booking these roles that aren’t necessarily [for Asian actors] is something I’m proud of and, hopefully, will keep doing.”

Can you tease a little bit about your character in Netflix’s ｢Thirteen Reasons Why｣?

“I play Zach Dempsey, who is a basketball player, one of the jocks... He’s a guy’s guy, he fits in with all the guys, he’s one of the bros. What I’ll say about him is that he isn’t what you expect him to be. He is a jock, but he has a depth to him that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with a jock that hangs out in the popular group. He isn’t as smart as the other kids, but he has a sensitive side to him. How that ties in... you guys will have to see.”

｢Thirteen Reasons Why｣ is based on Jay Asher’s book – is your character in the novel?

“He was in the book briefly... what they did with the book is that they used it as a foundation to build a whole story around. [The Netflix series] does stay true to the book, but it adds so much more to it. They give a lot more backstory... We have 13 episodes to tell the story and flesh out all of the characters.”

Any dream book or other adaptations you would want to star in?

“Anything by [『American Gods』author] Neil Gaiman... He’s my favorite author and he’s a genius when it comes to mythology. His characters are so unique. I don’t watch a lot of [anime], but there’s this one – ｢Cowboy BeBop｣, it’s so good!... And anything ｢Dragon Ball Z｣.”

Your character, Erwin Kim, is very awkward and has a lot of tics and mannerisms. How did you start building those?

This being my first big feature film, I thought I would just use the nervousness that I had in my body, you know? I think suppressing it made me less interesting. As Hayden, being on that set felt like Erwin. I was trying to fit in with all these great talented actors that have quite the legacy already. So I tried to embody that and it became the physicalization of Erwin, how he behaves and how he works. But I made sure that all his mannerisms came from trying to be strong and not trying to be awkward, because if you’re trying to be awkward then it doesn’t come off as endearing.

Did you draw back on your own high school experiences?

Oh, definitely. It took no work to bring me back there, especially shooting in my hometown, Vancouver, in schools that I recognize. We shot in the Ferris wheel that I rode when I was 15. When they dress you as a high schooler and put you in an actual high school, and it being my first movie and being nervous all the time, it felt like high school, man. It took no work. I wish I could say, “Oh yeah, I had to write a diary as my 17-year-old self.” But I didn’t need to. It came so naturally, just trying to fit in with this cast.

When did you start acting?

My first dip into the pool of acting was when I was in high school, and I think that’s when I caught the bug. After college, I went back to acting school. So I’ve been doing it for a long time, over seven years. This is my first big movie so it was a long struggle. A lot of people don’t see that. They’re like, “Where have you been?” And I’m like, “I’ve been right here. What are you talking about?” I’m like every other actor in L.A. or in New York. Any bartender, every server that you meet is a triple threat. They’re so talented but they just don’t get the opportunity and it’s heartbreaking. Some of them will never get that opportunity and I was just lucky and you pray. There’s a lot of praying in this industry.

What do you think changed for this one, for this role? This is a big deal.

It’s a big deal. It’s the biggest movie I’ve ever worked on. It’s a really good part. I think you’re implying being an Asian-American, this is a big deal. Yes it is, because it’s such a character. Erwin is such a great character and it’s a revolutionary role, I feel. I’m really happy I got the opportunity to play him.

I wanted to ask you if Erwin Kim’s ethnicity specified in the original script?

It was specified, yeah.

That in and of itself is fairly rare to see.

Oh, for sure. I asked [writer-director] Kelly Fremon Craig, “Why did Erwin have to be Korean?” And she said, “You know, real life is diverse and films should reflect that.” She told me that growing up she had two best friends who were Korean and Filipino, so she wanted diversity in her film. Thank God she believed in that and she found me.

How do you feel race has affected the audition process and the kinds of roles you go out for?

Yeah. I used to. You know what, I don’t really see that it’s any easier for anybody no matter what color you are. I feel like acting in the end is just hard. We all level out. It’s not any easier for my white, straight, male actor friends or my really pretty white female friends. It’s not easier for them. The pool is so vast for them. I don’t feel there’s an advantage to being them and there’s not an advantage in being me either. I think we’re constantly at a disadvantage being actors in this industry. It’s really, really hard and nobody ever talks about that. I could sit here all day and talk to you about, ‘Oh yeah, we need more inclusion and we need more diversity.’ But nobody ever talks about the hard work you need to put into it.

I’ll tell you what really wounds me. I’ve auditioned for really, really big parts where ethnicity was not an issue and I got a chance to audition for these parts and that’s huge that they were open to that. And I heard a couple of people in the audition room saying, “I don’t know if I should waste money on acting class.” I’m like, That is offensive to me. Where do you get off thinking that you don’t need any training? You think people in the NBA or the NFL, they just practice right before the game? They just warm up and they’re ready to go? They’re in shape year-round. That’s how actors should be. Not enough actors treat it that way and then we complain about how much we’re not included. I don’t buy that for a second. People who work, people who work hard get their break. People who really dedicate themselves to this, get their break.

I know many big casting directors in town, over at Warner Brothers and over at Fox, they’ve been doing it for 30 years, and 30 years back it was never about ethnicity, it was always about how actors embody the character and that all comes from training and comes from the soul. That comes from acting training.

Okay. But if we’re talking about 30 years ago, the character was Long Duk Dong from ｢Sixteen Candles｣.

Yeah, I know it.

So it’s not quite as simple as just saying that actors of color just have to work hard and they’ll get the good parts that they want. I don’t think that’s historically been true at all for people of color in the industry.

And that’s really unfortunate.

Have you seen ｢Sixteen Candles｣?

I’ve seen it. Yeah, ｢Sixteen Candles｣.

What do you think of it?

It was a great movie.

It’s an interesting movie to talk about compared to ｢Edge Of Seventeen｣ and the representation of Asian-American men in teen comedies.

I do really think times have definitely changed since then. Unfortunately, there is still some writing out there that still come off very offensive. Like, “Oh wow. This is still a joke? Who still laughs at this?” But I think now, it is more inclusive you know? You see Daniel Wu in ｢Into the Badlands｣, you see Steven Yeun, Daniel Dae Kim in ｢Lost｣. It’s been happening. We’ve made strides. It’s becoming normalized but I feel like what’s really holding us back is headlines. At a Q&A, some lady was talking about the desexualization of Asian males, I’m like “Who’s been saying that? You’ve been saying that. Nobody’s been saying that to us.” We amongst ourselves are saying that to each other. The people at the top are spending no energy on us and we’re talking about how we’re desexualized. I feel like that’s doing us a disservice; we do more harm to ourselves because we headline ourselves that way. Even though what we talk about, it’s not in that context. We’re trying to talk about it from a positive angle but because we headline it that way. Imagine an Asian-American kid growing up and he’s never heard of those headlines, how different he would grow up. If he grows up hearing headlines like “Asian males are desexualized,” how would he feel?

But that’s supposing that that only happens in the media. I grew up without the the internet, so I never read headlines like that. But it was definitely part of my life in some way that I didn’t quite understand or know how to articulate. I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you but I also think that the thing exists regardless of whether the media packages it. It’s possible that the media’s making it worse.

Exactly. The only thing we can do is ask, how do we limit the amount that we put that into the media? The damage that’s been done has been done. But now, how can we progress past that? I feel like we’re still having a lot of the same conversations, you know? I’m not saying we shouldn’t celebrate our victories, but I feel like we shouldn’t celebrate small victories too much, because that makes us look less than. Do you understand what I mean? Like this part bringing it back to ｢Edge Of Seventeen｣, it’s great. We should definitely give it a nod. But not make it too big of a deal, you know? Because I’ve been talking about it with many outlets like, “It’s making Asian guys sexy.” And that implies that Asians guys were never sexy and now we’re opening up a whole different can of worms. People are like “Whoa, what’s going on here?”

Do you feel like there should’ve been a kiss at the end?

No. I really don’t. A kiss would’ve been too predictable and that’s not what the movie’s about. It’s not about the love story between Erwin and Nadine; it was about Nadine’s journey in finding herself. She just made the good decision that she stopped beating herself up and started making the right decisions and the right person was right in front of her. The fact that she made that decision was important. We did talk about it. We did shoot several endings.

Did you shoot an ending where you kiss?

Yeah, we did. We had a couple more romantic endings, but I felt like it would’ve been too cheap. This movie has way too much heart to cheapen it right at the very end. It was such a smooth finish. It cuts right there, off her reaction. That’s all you need. I like that because it’s like, “Oh, now what happens?” There’s not going to be a sequel. We don’t want to do a sequel. Now it’s all up to audience interpretation: Where do they go from here? I think it’s very beautiful the way it ended.

Did you get super-ripped for the role?

I try to work out as much as I can, but for this role, fortunately I was pinned to a different project which required me to be very physically fit so I was on a very strict diet leading up to the movie and then I ended up walking away from that project and jumping into ｢Edge Of Seventeen｣. In the script, Kelly Fremon Craig says Erwin has a really nice chest. And I’m like, “Well, just make him have nice everything!” I’m just kidding, but I lost a lot of weight for this role. I definitely don’t look like that anymore. The secrets of Hollywood, man. I did a lot of push-ups before the shot. Did a lot of sit-ups before the shot. Made sure I was under a warm coat so like when you’re warm, your muscles activate. They look nicer. So it’s all Hollywood. They shot me from a hero angle, from down below. So, of course, I look nice. But I don’t look like that in real life.

What was the hardest scene to shoot?

I don’t swim, so in that swimming pool scene, it was physically challenging to mimic how to swim. I did manage to get swimming lessons from my sister a week before the shot. And Hailee, of course, helped me as well. She’s like, “Hayden, I’ll hold you.” She’s like, “Do a handstand.” I’m like, “No, I won’t do a handstand.” “‘Why?” “I’ll drown, Hailee.” I’ll save you.” “I’m not going to let you save me, True Grit. That’s embarrassing.” But it was fun. I remember doing my first cannonball ever into the pool.

Have you reflected on this as your big break?

Yeah, I definitely have. I’ve been so happy lately because I get to do these Q&As, and it’s making me learn a lot about myself: What I want to do with a platform should I have one now.

What have you learned?

I’ve learned what I stand up for. How I want to represent myself and now Asian-Americans. I feel like there’s some sort of responsibility. What I say, how I help the community. There is responsibility whether I like it or not; I’m learning how to be comfortable in that. Like this conversation we’re having now, I’m learning a lot at the same time.

I try not to get overly political, because I feel like I’m not good at that. Some people are better than me and I’m not mad about that, because I feel like we need people to lay down cover fire for some of us to advance. Because those people got political is why I probably got this audition. I’ll forever thank them for that. Ultimately, whatever we get out of this interview, I just want to represent Asian-Americans well without beating that headline into the ground like, I’m representing Asian-Americans. I can’t have that be my thing. My job is just to be a good actor, and in turn, that will represent Asian-Americans. But I can’t make that my mission statement.

I really don’t care about my own vanity at all. I really care about young Asian-Americans reading it and what they get out of it. Because I’ve grown up feeling those pains of Asian-Americans. I’ve interviewed many of my Asian-American actor and actress friends and they’ve told me heartbreaking stories, like it was like a therapy session. How we improve that condition is my concern. Because my kids will grow up as Asian-Americans one day, whether they like it or not. Doesn’t matter who I intermix with, they’re still going to be Asian-American. I want them to grow up in a better place, and hopefully I can start that conversation now. That’s what I care about.

You’ve co-developed the series with Action for AIDS – how did that collaboration come about?

I’ve been actively involved in LGBT activism in Singapore – producing and directing videos for Pink Dot, our version of a pride rally and movement. In 2014, at the press launch of the campaign video which I directed, I was approached by Action for AIDS with the idea to create an episodic web-series for the MSM community through their Gayhealth website.

The idea was that the show would be educational and entertaining at the same time. I said I was very interested, but that this show shouldn’t have a scene which has a characters going to a clinic to get tested – it shouldn’t be preachy. They wholeheartedly agreed, saying it was exactly what they had in mind.

Action for AIDS wanted to portray four gay men of various age groups and ethnicities, and I got to work immediately. Then, I fleshed out the characters and storylines. Eventually, it became six, 10 minute episodes, mostly based on my own experiences, friends, research from AFA, and some fiction and creativity.

Did you find it difficult to weave the safer sex messages through the narrative that you were creating?

It was challenging, for sure. However, our primary goal was to ignite discussion and promote awareness about the social and sexual situations gay men experience. We also wanted to be sex-positive and non-judgmental – we all know how judgmental the community can be. If we shied away from ‘taboo’ or ‘controversial’ situations such as sexual assault, saunas, condom-less sex, and chem-sex, then we exacerbate the silence by sweeping it under the carpet.

One thing we explored with the Joel character is how gay men negotiate – or don’t negotiate – sexual risks, condom use, talking about STIs, HIV status and more. We all know how emotions and desire cloud our judgement, so we have Joel and we juxtaposed him with Ridzwan, who is closeted and more paranoid about safer sex.

One episode involved sexual assault and, to further the educational aspect we have the guys behind Action for AIDS at the end of the episode talk about PEP – post exposure prophylaxis – and how viewers can access such help.

What was the casting process like?

I’m most excited for casting because I can finally hear actors say what I have written and bring these characters to life.

We did a casting call on the Internet, reached out to actors I knew, and had three days of auditions.

For Ridzwan, it was easy. I wrote the role specifically for Irfan Kasban– a crazy talented actor-writer-director himself, who graciously agreed to play the part.

For Joel, Josh Crowe said that a friend sent our casting call to him, saying he’s perfect for the role. This twenty-something Asian actor with a non-Asian last name, who grew up in Colorado, showed up and really impressed us. He worked as a stage performer for musicals and Universal Studios Singapore and this was his first starring role on film or TV. Interestingly, his mother is from Singapore and, after a few lessons taught by yours truly, he got used to the Singlish accent and could pass off as Singaporean.

For Hemant [Ashoka], who played Rai, I found him in a bar in Singapore. I kid you not. It was during pre-production and I was having drinks with friends. I thought he looked the part, asked if he did any acting – he did a bit of theatre – and invited him to come for an audition. He floored us with his vulnerability and innocence.

Finally, for Isaac, we saw a few actors but I wasn’t sure about them. One day my producer, Jen Nee, sent me a news article about the cast of ｢Growing Up｣ – a hit Singapore period TV drama – and it mentioned Steven Lim. I reached out to him, he fell in love with the script and weeks later, we started filming.

You’ve subtitled the series, even though most of the dialogue is in English – what were the considerations for that decision?

It’s so that everyone can understand the dialogue. Ever since we gained independence from the British, English is the primary language of business and education in Singapore. However, we’ve developed Singlish – a pidgin of sorts, with a staccato way of speech, mixed together with words from Mandarin and other dialects, Malay, Tamil and regional languages.

The series is mostly in English but, like a thick Irish or Scottish accent, Singlish takes getting used to. I’ve learned from screening my early short films to American film festivals, which were made in English and Singlish, that without subtitles, no one can comprehend the film.

What sort of response have you had to the series?

We’ve been fortunate to have received a lot of good responses to the series. Interestingly, there hasn’t been flak from the more conservative camp.

We had a private screening for the gay community in Singapore and comments on Gayhealth and YouTube are very positive, with fans clamouring for a second series or more episodes.

As a filmmaker, it’s very heartening to receive comments about how viewers connected with one character or another’s situation, or how they saw themselves as Rai, Joel, Ridzwan, or Isaac. At the screening, people laughed, and that’s when you know people are connecting.

As icing on the cake, we scooped up the Best Short TV Drama award at ITVFest last October 2016 in Dover, Vermont. Funny story, at the inn where many festival attendees stayed, everyone put out post cards. Ours has Joel and Ridzwan kissing and for two nights, someone would only overturn our stack of postcards.

Has there been any discussion about how the series demonstrates that Singapore’s anti-gay laws are a bit outdated?

Singapore is like how the United States was 8-10 years ago. With ｢People Like Us｣, one of our creative objectives was to portray Asian gay men neutrally or positively – we certainly need more of such portrayals and images. With that, the series could play a part in changing the hearts and minds of the citizens and government of Singapore. Hopefully, then, the country will do away with such laws and censorship sooner rather than later.

Will there be a second series?

It’s not a 100 percent sure-thing, but we really want to make a second season. The challenge now is funding. We’re exploring possible storylines – we’re thinking of tackling PrEP, living with HIV, and seeing what will happen to Joel, Ridzwan, Rai, and Isaac.

“We pushed a lot of envelopes,” Cheo said to Plus. “It was multifaceted. We wanted real locations, real bars, real bathhouses... A lot of [global] gay representation is not Asian. I’m glad we made a film primarily about gay people in Asia and their stories. They have different ways of coming out, different cultures — being gay in South Korea or Japan is completely different [than in Singapore].”

“The first thing I said was ‘We cannot have a scene where a character gets tested,’” Cheo recalled. “We didn’t want it to be too moralistic, I didn’t want to see the character going through the emotions of getting tested and, you know, that usual scene we see a lot. And they agreed. We wanted to create something that didn’t preach to the audience. I thought about these characters, I drew from my own experience.”

“We had a private screening for the [Singapore gay] community,” Cheo said. “People laughed and really connected with the characters. The response has been really good. One of the things we sort of hoped would happen is to provoke a little controversy with one of our characters. His name is “Ridzwan,” which is a very Muslim name. There isn’t talk about religion in the show, but we wanted to inspect religious people, how they deal with being gay... I think they needed an intersection as well.”

I am proud of who I am and the skin that I am in.

I’m half-Asian, and physically look a bit more Latino, so I don’t think I’ve really ​felt ​​triggered or affected by this, fortunately.

I don’t consider myself undesirable because of my ethnic background and I’m secure in my sense of manhood.

I’m pretty well endowed myself.

We want to be heard. No, it’s not cool to say shit like that.

So I’ll just keep knocking until they open that door.

The fact of the matter is that Asian men are desirable.

Constantly being called a “fag” or “chink” didn’t help.

I can remember being Asian as an issue growing up.

“He’s cute, but I can’t imagine having sex with him.”

I fear that Asian kids growing up today will hear comments like these, believe it is true and then have society confirm it.

As for me, I’m certainly not naive enough to think that my race has never been a factor in my dating life.

I distinctly remember『GQ』doing a best haircut roundup and not having any minorities.

How did you come to audition for ｢Iron Fist｣?

Well, I knew about ｢Iron Fist｣ before anyone was talking about it in the public. I heard it going around inside the industry, and I was like, “Wow, if I get a chance to audition for the lead, this could potentially be a great vehicle for me.” I had a lot to offer here, but I knew that the character is white in the comic book, so I was concerned. But I thought at least I had a shot – I’m half white and I do martial arts and I could easily play that role. So I was excited. And then I read for Danny and they liked me a lot. I read again and again and again, and it was a long process, and it got to the point where they were talking about my availability and my dates. That’s always a good sign, you know? And then they went with Finn and they had me read for a villain part maybe two weeks later. I was in Spain, and I read for the part and I got it.

So you originally read for Danny Rand.

Yeah, I read for Danny originally. I think they were highly considering it at one point in time, but it would have definitely changed the dynamic of the show. It would have been a different show.

Did you have conversations with them about the significance of casting an Asian-American?

I personally think it would have been a really interesting dynamic to see this Asian-American guy who’s not in touch with his Asian roots go and get in touch with them and discover this power. I think that’s super interesting and we’ve never seen that. We’ve seen this narrative already; we’ve seen it many times. So I thought it would be cool and that it would add some more color to ｢The Defenders｣. And obviously I can do my own fight sequences, so those would be more dynamic. I think it would be really interesting to have that feeling of an outsider. There’s no more of an outsider than an Asian-American: We feel like outsiders in Asia and we feel like outsiders at home. That’s been really difficult – especially for me. It’s been hard for me, because in the casting world, it’s very specific. So when they see me and I’m six-two, I’m a 180 pounds, I’m a muscular half-Asian dude. They’re like, “Well, I don’t know what to do with this guy.” They’re like, “He’s not Asian, he’s not white … no.” That’s what I’ve been dealing with my whole life. So I understand those frustrations of being an outsider. Like Danny’s character. I understand him very well.

There was a huge push from Asian-Americans to cast an Asian-American actor as Iron Fist, and it would have made this story more compelling for precisely the reasons you’re saying: The narrative of having an Asian-American going back to Asia after losing his parents as a metaphor for regaining power is a really great one. It feels like a missed opportunity.

It is a missed opportunity. That’s exactly how I feel about it, word for word. It would’ve been a brave thing to do, for sure, for Marvel. I can see how that was difficult to make that decision. I think, personally, it would’ve paid off. But I think it’ll come next because people are feeling underrepresented. People are like, “Yo, this was a perfect opportunity to represent us.” They chose not to, and it’s not even their fault. I see why they stuck to the source material because it’s very risky to move away from that, but they’ll move away from it in other areas and in other shows where they’ll take an Asian character and make him white. So you can’t really win with that argument. Because we’ve seen many times when they’ve taken Asian characters and made him white.

Did they tell you why you didn’t get the part?

No. It doesn’t really work that way. I mean, you put your blood and sweat and tears into these things and then you just end up not getting a phone call. I got a lot of positive feedback and a lot of positive encouragement from Marvel and from the casting people. So I know they were saying good things about me, but then they chose not to [cast me]. But then the fact that they asked me to read again for a different character is a testament to they liked my work enough.

What have your experiences been like going out for auditions?

It’s been a learning process, but my whole life has kind of been like that. And before me, my father had a really rough childhood and upbringing, but it made him strong and he succeeded in so much. His parents abandoned him when he was a kid on the streets in China and then he raised himself and he’s achieved so many things in his life. That pressure made him strong and made him courageous. He’s a great man. I look up to him a lot. It’s done the same for me because I had a really hard time, because I want to be the best in my ability – not just in martial arts, but in my craft too. So when I go in the room, I am the best one there, so they don’t have an excuse. So they can’t say, “Well, this guy he’s Asian so, you know, let’s not give it to him.” They see my craft and they go, “Damn. Okay, this is an option.” That’s my goal. That’s why I work hard and that’s why I train.

It’s been real frustrating when you put in that much work and you get very little, but then I look back at Bruce Lee, I look back at Jackie, I look back at these guys who were paving the way and they also suffered. Bruce wrote this series [｢Kung Fu｣] that didn’t get picked up, because they didn’t trust that Bruce Lee was a star. He’s a superstar. That, to me, is courageous. It makes me inspired and keeps me going, but yeah, it’s been a long, hard process. I have been blessed and fortunate enough to be working. I don’t have another job. This is all I do.

Do you feel like you do martial arts because it’s something you need to keep up as an Asian-American actor?

That’s a good question. I actually love martial arts. If I didn’t love it, I would’ve stopped. To me, it’s meditation and it’s put me in tune with my body in so many different ways. It’s also made me a better actor. Like Stella Adler said, acting is not in the words. Everything else is acting: the emotions, the physicality, your energy, your spirit. That’s where it comes from and that’s connected to martial arts. I love it. And if I got to whoop that ass, I can whoop that ass.

Have you tried to avoid roles that you think are stereotypical or offensive?

I’ve turned down a couple roles. My agents will tell you when I first signed with them, I turned down the first three or four things that came up. I’ve just turned down roles that were super-stereotypically Asian that I didn’t feel represented me and I didn’t want to do. Not to necessarily say they’re bad roles, but it just wasn’t me. I’m not going to do this dorky Asian accent and just play someone in the background. That’s not why I’m here to act. I’m here to represent and to make stories that I believe in and to achieve new things in the industry. If it’s not pushing that, then it’s hard for me to take those jobs. But a lot of the roles that I got when I first started acting were villain roles: Yakuza, Chinese gangsters. I’ve played every single Asian gangster there is on every single ｢CSI｣ or crime show. I just have to try make something different each time or else I get bored.

What do you think you need to do to get to the next level?

It’s just getting in front of the right people. I read for a Forest Whitaker film called ｢Sacrifice｣ that’s not released yet. We shot it already, and he cast me as a Southern football player. That’s it. There’s no martial arts. It’s just a drama. I play a Southern football player from West Texas. And man, he’s an artist. Forest Whitaker is a visionary. You have people like that and they see the future and they don’t see you as some ninja. They’re like, “Oh, right, he’s an actor.” It’s going to take people of color behind the camera, it’s going to take even Caucasian people with a broader scope or a deeper understanding of how the world looks now. The world doesn’t look black and white. The world is grey. Everything is grey. Everybody’s mixed up. Like, it’s 2017. People want to see themselves represented and we want to see what our real life looks like on film and on TV. That’s why those movies that don’t show that – they flop. Because people are like, “Ah, that’s not how it is.” And now people are pretty angry.

Do you feel like you have to work harder to get the same opportunities?

Yeah, we have to work harder to see ourselves represented. But like I said, that determination makes the greatest actors and the greatest artists if you don’t shy away from it. When you see these people and they do get roles, they take an inch and they make it a mile. They really go there. That’s how I’ve looked at it. Even with this part with Marvel. Was I frustrated being on set knowing that I was on hold for the lead and that I can do that? Yeah, it was frustrating. But when I do my thing and when you see me on camera, it’s always going to be dynamic. Because I put in ten times more work. I hope that the fans see it and they notice those things and people enjoy it.

What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

One time for a commercial, I was in Chicago and I snowboarded behind a train and I got caught in the tracks and it threw me and I almost broke my ribs. If you Google “Mountain Dew Train Boarding” that’s me. That was one of the gnarliest things I ever did.

What was it like working with Finn Jones?

He has a lot on his shoulders. He just seemed focused, and he was a nice guy.

Okay.

[Laughs.] I mean, you know what? It’s hard for me to answer that and I’m not trying to be weird about it or anything. The real reason is, I’m so focused on what I’m doing that when him and I are there, he’s focused on what he’s doing and that’s what it is. It’s not like we really get a chance to hang out and chill. I mean, Jessica Henwick was in the gym training with us every day so we got a chance to become friends. Finn and I never really hung out. If he wasn’t on set, he was doing something else because he’s busy. He’s the lead. So we never really got a chance to connect. But as far as when we’re doing our scenes together, I’m just in character. I’m just there, in the zone, focused on what I have to do.

What kinds of roles do you want to play?

I want to play roles that are going to give the younger generations of Asian-Americans hope, where they see themselves as love interests, as heroes, as badasses, as confident protagonists. It’s a vicious cycle: They see themselves as nerds and fourth and fifth secondary characters in the background, and that’s how they start to feel. And they start to think that other people feel that way about them because of their ethnicity. Everybody loves cinema, everybody watches it and it affects the world. So I want to play roles that they can look at and be inspired by. I would love to just play normal roles – just a character, it doesn’t have to be an “Asian” character. I would love to play interesting roles. I would love to do Macbeth. I mean, you fall in love with the words and you’re like, “I’m never going to get to play that.” That’s disheartening. I get to do that stuff in class. I get to do it when I put plays up. But I would love to take on all types of roles and not have to worry about my race.

“It is a missed opportunity. That’s exactly how I feel about it, word for word,” Tan said. “It would’ve been a brave thing to do, for sure, for Marvel. I can see how that was difficult to make that decision. I think, personally, it would’ve paid off. But I think it’ll come next because people are feeling underrepresented. People are like, “Yo, this was a perfect opportunity to represent us.” They chose not to, and it’s not even their fault.”

“I see why they stuck to the source material because it’s very risky to move away from that, but they’ll move away from it in other areas and in other shows where they’ll take an Asian character and make him white. So you can’t really win with that argument. Because we’ve seen many times when they’ve taken Asian characters and made him white.”