Step into the mind of Charles Yu, the visionary series creator behind Interior Chinatown! In this exclusive interview, Charles discusses the journey of adapting his award-winning novel into a powerful television series, the challenges of balancing humor and heart, and how Interior Chinatown tackles the complexities of identity and representation. Hear firsthand about Charles’s creative process, the inspiration behind Willis Wu’s story, and the importance of telling authentic Asian American narratives in today’s media landscape. Whether you’re a longtime fan of his work or new to Interior Chinatown, this conversation is both insightful and inspiring.
Hi Charles, my name is Neil. I’m with Dorkaholics, where we believe that there’s a dork in everyone. It’s our job to bring that dork out into the world.
Charles Yu: Hello Neil, nice to meet you. I like that worldview.
Yeah, I just want to say, I’ve been reading Interior Chinatown, the novel, and it’s so interesting to compare and contrast it with the series. If I understand correctly, Interior Chinatown, the novel came out in 2020, a little after Crazy Rich Asians came out, and as a tale, it touches upon lack of representation for the Asian community, as well as the reasons why, our experiences with that. Four years later, the series is coming out and it’s kind of like an answer to the question because now we have this series that is all Asian cast predominantly. Just how have your feelings about those topics changed over the last four years with the development of the series?
Charles Yu: Yeah, that’s a really good question. They’ve changed a lot. I’ll be honest, there was actually a moment after Crazy Rich Asians came out I was working on the book and after years of trying to crack it, I had finally cracked it and I was getting close to the end and I was like, ‘oh no.’ Not that I was not happy about the success of that movie, but just like, is this story relevant anymore? And I think that was a challenge going into the writing of the script. And then eventually in production we are kind of living in a world where representation for a lot of groups, including AAPI has gotten much better pretty quickly. And I don’t want to be too much of a pollyanna about it. I don’t think it’s all solved or anything, but I don’t feel like we can talk about it in the same way that we could 20 years ago for instance, obviously, but even 10 years ago. Things have changed from 10 years ago. Things have changed a bit and so to me the question becomes a bit less about “Can we have representation at all versus what do you do with that representation?””
And what does it mean? If someone, and I think that’s shown in the story, is like, Willis is invisible at first, and I won’t spoil too much, but he gets more visible through the course of the season. And I think that kind of, in some ways, maps onto what’s happening for AAPI representation is, what do you do with visibility, and what kinds of new challenges does that bring? And in some ways, can you be more visible and yet still somehow not part of the conversation or still trying to find your role or part in the conversation, which is, very much what Willis goes through in the course of the season is trying to figure out his role in a new world.
To speak of new worlds, building this new world of Interior Chinatown, going from this book that is so on the nose, like I remember going from page 3 to 5, it’s literally the same page, he wants to be Kung Fu Guy, maybe the next day, and it’s the same page as the next, it’s like, is this a printing error? No wait, that’s page 3, this is page 5. Just those kinds of moments, and the series does have its humorous parts. One thing that came to mind was like the first fight in the restaurant and how for a TV series that is choreographed in the novel that that has that would be written out. How did you go about rewriting this? As a television adaptation that incorporates more visual components because the novel itself is written with a lot of narration, inner thoughts, naturally just text heavy in order to convey its themes and ideas.
Charles Yu: With a lot of help, with a lot of people who are much better and much more experienced at their jobs than I was at mine. This is my first time creating and showrunning a TV series. I’ve worked in writers rooms, but I’d never done anything like this where I got to make the decisions. But thankfully I get to do it with 150 other people, basically. And so, Taika Waititi, who directed the pilot, was instrumental. I mean he’s the one who kind of helped translate those ideas into a visual medium. And so you, you brought up like sort of the early pages of the book, the idea that Willis’ life is so repetitive, that you literally aren’t sure if it’s a typing error, which it’s funny you say that because one of the publishers of a foreign edition thought it was. They’re like, is this an error? And I’m like, no, actually see, there’s a tiny difference. And it’s like, oh, right. But how do you show that kind of repetition, that rhythm and Taika is so good at finding nuance and finding heart. And so seeing Willis living his ordinary life, basically, his mundane existence, and then repeating that through the pilot, giving that feeling using music as well, that using slightly different variations on shots that’s one way. And then, in terms of something with the fight, it’s like, how do you create a fight that’s very exciting, but also kind of hopefully funny and a bit off kilter. Again, we shot that fight, which is three minutes or something in the cut. It’s two days, two very full days of shooting and so many stunt performers that are amazing. And then obviously Jimmy and Ronnie as the leads and Archie’s in there as well. They all bring their own kind of creativity [of] how do you bring these beats to life? Because I can write a few words on a page, but they’re the ones who really make that a fun action scene.
When you talk about the visual storytelling of a mundane, repetitive life, I’m instantly recalling that scene where Jimmy is spinning the table at the restaurant and the cups fall off perfectly and it’s like that doesn’t seem mundane and boring but it’s like after like the second or third time i’m saying “oh okay I really liked it but i can tell that oh this is just another day for him.”
Charles Yu: It was a neat trick that was definitely a Taika kind of invention and I think he had seen waiters doing it on the internet. It was very cool. I think you’re right. I had a day job for many years as a lawyer. How do you find the little moments of joy to just break up your day, and you get a sense of Willis and who he is and what his life might be like, and just tiny moments like that.
I don’t want to call it a habit, but I noticed that there is a pattern with you and your writing where in some ways you’ve inserted yourself into it. I think your past novel, the science fiction one, the main character is literally named Charles Yu, right?
Charles Yu: Yes. That’s the lack of imagination on my part.
Oh, because I was going to ask if for Interior Chinatown, I know that you have a younger brother, Kelvin, if you see you and Kelvin as Willis and his older brother in some regards.
Charles Yu: I am definitely not Chris Pang, nor will I ever be. My brother Kelvin was an actor. He’s also a showrunner, writer, and still an actor. I definitely had the benefit of hearing and knowing Kelvin’s experience coming up as an Asian American actor. So that was a part of my influence, but Willis and, and his older brother don’t map onto me and Kelvin at all. I think if anything, though, hopefully, you know, people maybe growing up AAPI in America, I feel like they’ll recognize aspects of their experience or feelings or sort of psychology in Willis.
To close this out. I enjoy asking people this question. What made you a dork growing up?
Charles Yu: Comics and video games, for sure. Dungeons and Dragons. I was on the math team. But I was, this is, I shouldn’t admit this, I was actually a benchwarmer on the math team. So that’s pretty dorky.
Hey, all, all Asian American experiences about whether you are on the varsity math team or bench warmer.
Charles Yu: Yes.
Thank you so much for your time today, Charles. It’s been a pleasure speaking with you and I can’t wait to see the whole entire series for interior Chinatown.
Charles Yu: Thanks, Neil. It was really nice talking with you.
