‘American Born Chinese’: ‘Shang Chi’ Star Michelle Yeoh Set for Lead in Disney+ Series
After a collaboration with Disney and Destin Daniel Cretton in Shang Chi and The Legend of Ten Rings, Michelle Yeoh has been tapped to lead a team of an international cast for another Disney project. Yeoh is set to star in American Born Chinese, a fantastical series for Disney’s streaming platform – Disney+.
Alongside Yeoh, Ben Wang (MacGyver), Yeo Yann Yann (Wet Season), Chin Han (Mortal Kombat), Daniel Wu (Into the Badlands), Ke Huy Quan (Finding Omaha), Sydney Taylor, and Jim Liu have been cast in various roles in the series.
Yeoh will play the character 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.
The series will focus on Jin Wang, an average teenager juggling his high school social life with his home life. On the first day of the school’s new year, he meets a new foreign student leading to worlds colliding as Jin gets entangled in a battle of Chinese mythological gods. This action-packed series explores themes of identity, culture, and family.
Wang portrays Jin whose parents immigrated from Taiwan and is having an identity crisis culturally and socially. Yann plays Jin’s mom, Christine Wang. She an strong willed, highly opinionated and loves her family deeply. Chin Han plays Jin’s dad, a hardworking and devoted father and husband.
Daniel Wu potrays Sun Wukong, “The Monkey King.” The Monkey King is a legendary and powerful god of the Chinese epic journey to the west, who come to this world in search of his son. Huay Quan plays Freddy Wong, Jim Liu plays Wei-Chen, Jin’s confident friend. Hidden behind his sweet nature, lies the deeper mystery behind his true identity.
Sydney Taylor plays Amelia, Jin’s classmate and crush.
The project will be produced by 20th Century Television. It is adapted from Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel. Kelvin Yu (Bob’s Burgers, Central Park) is the executive producer and showrunner. The series will be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and also executive produces alongside Melvin Mar and Jake Kasdan, Erin O’Malley, Asher Goldstein and Gene Luen Yang.
Production will begin later this month in Los Angeles.
