Kung Fu Star Olivia Liang Talks the Importance and Timeliness of The CW Series

On Wednesday, The CW’s new series Kung Fu debuts. A reimagining of the classic 1970s series, Kung Fu stars Olivia Liang as Nicky Shen, a young Chinese-American woman who returns home to San Francisco after a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China only to discover that her city has been overrun with crime and corruption and that her own family is at its mercy. While the series is inspired by the original Kung Fu, it’s a fresh new tale and one that is not only groundbreaking but comes at a time when hate crimes against Asian-Americans are on the rise. Speaking with ComicBook.com, Liang says that while they always realized Kung Fu would be significant, in the wake of the increased violence against Asians, she hopes that the series is part of the solution in humanizing the Asian-American community and that it brings a bit of joy as well.

“We always knew our show was going to be important. From the beginning, it felt different,” Liang said. “It felt impactful for all of us in so many different ways. And we’ve been going through this since February of 2020, and this pilot, this show was starting to be created before the media really started shedding light on these anti-Asian hate crimes, rhetoric, sentiment. And the fact that we get to bring some joy from an Asian perspective onto screens juxtaposed with what’s really going on, I’m so excited that people will get to see us experience some joy as well.”

She continued, “And hopefully, we’ve mentioned… we’re not the solution, but we’re part of the solution. We’re going to move the needle forward. And so, I’m excited that we’re going to be part of humanizing the Asian-American experience, and hopefully, people will see themselves the way that you saw yourself in the pilot. Yeah, we never could have predicted just how poignant the show would be, but I’m very, very honored to part of telling this story.”

Inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, Kung Fu is from Warner Bros. Television in association with Quinn’s House and Berlanti Productions, with writer/executive producer Christina M. Kim (“Blindspot,” “Lost”) and executive producers Martin Gero (“Blindspot,” “LA Complex”), Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Riverdale”) and Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Riverdale”).

Kung Fu premieres Wednesday, April 7th at 8/7c on The CW.

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