Inner ChinatownThe film’s protagonist feels like 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 ValleyJimmy O. Yang), a background actor who plays Asian-American tropes in the police procedural Black and white. The “Generic Asian Man” gets a chance to level up, however, when he witnesses a kidnapping in front of his uncle’s restaurant, Golden Palace.
Each episode of Inner Chinatown it intersects with the world of Willis’ fictional cop show, led by Detective Sarah Green (Lisa Gilroy) and Detective Miles Turner (Sullivan Jones) and is as straightforward as TV gets. But Black and white it also turns upside down when detective Lana Lee (Image: Disclosure)Agents of SHIELDChloe Bennet) is brought in to deal with crime in Chinatown and informally recruits Willis into the case. Soon, Willis realizes that the events in Chinatown may be linked to his brother’s disappearance, and so he comes closer and closer to gaining his own main character status.
TelaRant interviewed Ma and Kao about Inner Chinatownthe 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 deals with the disappearance of his eldest son, while Kao recalls his time as Kai Chen in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy.
Lisa Gilroy and Sullivan Jones aren’t used to a third wheel in their police procedurals
“Black and White is a procedural that has always been the same and plays out the same way in every episode.”
Screen Rant: Tell me a little about Detectives Green and Turner and the series Black and white.
Sullivan Jones: Turner is a classic procedural detective, where he wears the suits, looks the part, hits the target, catches the criminal – the whole shebang. We enter their world and they are at the top of their game.
But then slowly, over the course of the season, we start to see cracks in the relationship, in the show, in the reality of what’s going on. 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 want. What do you think of Chloe Bennet’s character Lana Lee in the series?
Lisa Gilroy: In Sullivan’s opinion, Black and White is a procedural that has always been the same and plays out the same way in every episode. So having another detective there isn’t really the trope. Green is upset about this.
I love Chloé Bennet. It was the most fun I ever had, being so cruel to her.
Interior Chinatown takes its show-within-a-show to a whole new level
“We have become essential to help [Willis] discover the mystery he is trying to solve.”
Screen Rant: How do you think Inner Chinatown used the police procedural drama format to explore deeper themes about identity and ambition?
Sullivan Jones: The procedural revolves around archetypes. You have the beauty salon employee who is murdered. You have the tall black detective who is always in control.
Lisa Gilroy: The guy on the docks unloading boxes, the stripper who says, “I can’t talk right now. Talk on my break.” All these things we know.
Sullivan Jones: Yes, we know and see that. And it’s taking one of those peripheral characters and bringing them to the center of the series, following them and giving them more time.
Screen Rant: Lisa, do you have a favorite pun? Your character is known for these zingers.
Lisa Gilroy: Yes, I do. Actually, yes, but I can’t remember which episode… When [they’re doing] construction.
Sullivan Jones: Oh, right, right, right. The needle, with the glasses, and you’re looking at the body.
Lisa Gilroy: Yes, the violinist. Something about the music. “She couldn’t face the music!” You crouch down in front of a body and say, “Huh, looks like someone couldn’t face the music.” That’s so heavenly to say.
Screen Rant: Can you discuss how Miles and Sarah’s roles fit into the larger narrative of Inner Chinatown?
Sullivan Jones: The procedural they’re in is called Black and White, and they’re the two leads. In the media, perhaps we allow there to be space and categories for black and white people, but where are the other people who are not represented? This is one of the metanarratives.
So in the series, you’re dealing with the mystery of Willis Wu’s family drama. He’s trying to find someone.
Lisa Gilroy: This man is about to ruin the whole show. Every episode. He’s literally like, ‘Hold me.’ He will say everything!
Sullivan Jones: “And in episode 10…” [Laughs] We become essential in helping him discover the mystery he is looking to solve.
More about the interior of Chinatown, season 1
Based on the award-winning book of the same name by Charles Yu, the show follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural called Black & White. Relegated to the background, Willis does his job on screen, waiting tables, dreaming of a world beyond Chinatown and aspiring to be the protagonist of his own story. When Willis inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, he begins to unravel a criminal web in Chinatown, while uncovering his own family’s buried history and what it’s like to be in the spotlight.
Check out our others Inner Chinatown interviews here:
Source: Screen Rant Plus