Kung Fu: Eddie Liu Talks Henry’s Journey in Season 2

The second season of The CW’s Kung Fu is in the home stretch with just this week’s “Alliance” and next week’s “The Source” left, but even with the stakes higher than ever for Nicky Shen and her allies, the whole season has itself been a wild ride and not just for Nicky. The season has seen major developments for her boyfriend Henry Yan as well with Henry not only taking a more active role in the various missions, but in terms of dealing with his own complicated family matters as well. It’s a journey that’s not been lost on actor Eddie Liu, who recently told ComicBook.com that Henry’s been through it and could use a hug — but that playing such a versatile character has been a lot of fun as well.

“Henry could use a hug for sure. He’s definitely been through it this season. But I can say that it’s been absolutely a gift just as an actor doing this job to go from Season 1 where you see him be supportive, strong ,cool-headed boyfriend of Nicky and the keeper of book smarts in the show, and then, Season 2, you get to see him show all these colors and you get to see this deep seated resentment and some rage and hurt that he has been carrying all these years because of his relationship or lack of with his father,” Liu said.

It’s that relationship with his father that has brought forward a big shift for the character, particularly how he’s perceived. While Henry may not have a great relationship with is dad, Liu says the two are a lot more alike than Henry might realize – but also that Henry still has so much potential

“I think that Henry is, ironically, even though he’s been resenting his father for not being around all these years and thinking that he had this sh-tty ass dad, the great irony is that he’s so much more like his dad than anyone else could have ever expected,” Liu said. “Henry has so much potential to grow into his own where he was living a fairly ordinary life. And then, along comes the love of his life who turns his life, not upside down, but more like sideways in a really great, exciting way, that’s full of adventure, and full of life, and the ups and downs of what life is all about. It’s cool to tap into Henry’s potential to grow as an individual. I think he’s also having to be a leader when he needs to be. He’s happy to be a teammate as much as possible in every which way and that’s what I love about playing Henry. He’s versatile in all these ways.”

Kung Fu airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.