The Season Star Chris Pang on Representation, HK Filming Style & More

Posted in: Hulu, TV | Tagged: The Season

The Season Star Chris Pang on Representation, HK Filming Style & More

Chris Pang (Interior Chinatown) spoke with us about Hulu's drama series The Season, Asian representation, adjusting to Hong Kong filming, and much more.

Published Sun, 05 Jul 2026 16:37:08 -0500
by Tom Chang
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Article Summary

• Chris Pang breaks down his The Season role and why he wants more dark, action-heavy parts beyond rom-coms.
• The Season star Chris Pang reflects on Asian representation, typecasting, and balancing artistry with action.
• Pang shares how Hong Kong filming on The Season differed from Hollywood, from fast pace to guerrilla-style energy.
• Chris Pang talks The Season’s Hong Kong backdrop, career goals, and the crime thrillers and directors on his wishlist.

Chris Pang is always looking for new challenges and wants opportunities that match his talents. As he's been fortunate enough in Asian and American markets, some of the notable works he's been on include Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010), Charlie's Angels (2019), Palm Springs (2020), and Crazy Rich Asians (2018). His latest is the Hulu series The Season, in which he plays Andrew Fung, an abrasive figure among Hong Kong high society. The Yalun Tu (NCIS: Hawai'i)-created series follows a privileged group of friends gathering for a summer of sun-drenched luxury as boating season begins, but things take a turn as a web of deception, power struggles, and life-altering consequences weaves into their circle. Pang spoke to Bleeding Cool about whether he's felt typecast in Hollywood as an Asian actor, his desire to take on more action roles, and his acclimation to the guerrilla Hong Kong filming style.

The Season Star Chris Pang on Wanting to Embrace More Balance in His Roles, and Getting Used to Quicker Hong Kong Filming Style

BC: I spoke with [your co-star] Celina [Jade] beforehand about the representation factor, and her path in Hollywood was different from yours. As a side note, I did my graduate research on Asian representation in Hollywood. One of the things we discussed was her time in Hollywood, and she told me she found herself typecast in many martial arts action roles. To expand her opportunities, she moved to Hong Kong and embraced the entertainment industry there. I've seen your rise, and you've embraced both markets and found a mix of great Hollywood opportunities with 'Crazy Rich Asians,' 'Palm Springs,' and 'Send Help,' which you just mentioned. I was wondering how you compare your experience in Hollywood, and whether you've experienced a specific kind of typecasting as an Asian actor?

Pang: You know what, Tom? I think I've messed up. I love martial arts films, and the thing is, my parents are both martial arts instructors. I grew up in a martial arts household, and I practiced Wing Chun from when I was a kid. I grew up watching Hong Kong cinema, and I just love action films. I came into Hollywood with this idea because I am an actor; I want to be taken seriously, and I'm an artist at heart, so I want to be considered for my acting and not my actions. Since I have an Asian face. I'm like, I don't want to be that stereotypical Asian actor who's just like doing martial arts stuff, so I shied away from it from the beginning. I think I might have gone too hard in the wrong direction, because people don't even know I do action now, like I'm so much of these romcoms and everything else. The only action things I've done were Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016). I did a fight scene in 'Blade of the 47 Ronin' (2022), and it's little things here and there, which I love, so I don't know…

Yeah, I saw you in 'Interior Chinatown' [on Hulu], too.

Yeah, I was in there as "Kung Fu guy," and we did a little bit of action there. That show was not an action show, and it wasn't about martial arts; it was about all the other things. It was about that conversation about the bamboo ceiling of where we're at as an Asian male and the Asian experience growing up in a Western society, which are all poignant things, and it wasn't so much about the martial arts. I think I've gone too far the other way. I love to do action [laughs]. Now I'm like, "Damn it! I should have just come in as an action guy."

Is there a dream project, actor, genre, or director you want to work with that's on a bucket list for you?

As I said, I really like action things. I've been putting all these…Maybe I smile too much. I'm too happy. I need to be more serious, but I keep getting cast for comedies, rom-coms, and all these things. I want to do a dark, gritty crime thriller and action stuff. My favorite film is 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (1991), it's the perfect action film. When you talk about the projects that I'd love to work on, it would be crime thriller stuff. I want to do high-concept ones. They're making 'Heat 2' right now, and I'd love to be in that. The original is one of my favorite movies, and when you talk about directors, every actor wants to work with all the greats, because you want to explore your artistry, and you want to put characters on screen that are memorable in great productions and projects.

I think Asian cinema's having its own little moment right now, especially with Korean cinema, right? Like you've got Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon Ho; all these guys are doing these great films, and I'd love to be a part of that. I've got an Asian face; put me in there where it makes sense. I guess I would want to be in good projects, at the heart of it. I want to do some dark stuff.

What's the biggest difference when you work on a Hollywood project versus one based out of Hong Kong?

Yeah, I think there are two sides, two main aspects that are quite different, right? You've got the actual nature of the project. Usually, if it's filmed in Asia, you've got a cultural difference, and that reflects in the story, right? You always want to be trying to bring authenticity to all the characters and world you're building, so on the writing side, there's going to be a lot of differences because it's set in Hong Kong. It's being shot there, which I love, because as I said, I love Hong Kong cinema. I have this deep affinity towards it, because I grew up watching that, and it has been the iconic backdrop of so many of my favorite movies.

To shoot there [for 'The Season'] was a dream, like photographing Hong Kong is not hard, because it's just so romantic and beautiful. We get to show off a lot of it in 'The Season,' too. We shot at all these really quite exclusive locations. No one has ever filmed the Sha Tin Racecourse before. We're the first people to ever be allowed to film there, and then Ocean Park, and all these great locations. We've captured some local places, little dim sum shops, alleyways, and stuff, so we really got to show off Hong Kong. That's very different: the location, and then the other side is the actual production side, right?

Filming in Hollywood is…this is such a well-oiled machine. Everything is set, and there's a lot of tradition there. We've been doing it for a hundred years. When I go to Hong Kong, it feels new. It feels exciting because I haven't seen any of this stuff before. First, everyone's speaking Cantonese, which I also speak, which was great. I was like, "Oh my gosh! I'm home." The first [day] I got to set, I was standing there, and there's this buzz and energy, right? One of the gaffers runs across the set carrying this C-stand, which is a light stand, and it's heavy. This thing is like, if it whacked you in the face, you're going to the hospital, because you've got stitches that you need to get done. He's running across the set with this C-stand, and I'm like, "What is going on here? Where are we?" I'm like, "It's not that late; we've only been shooting for an hour. We can't be that far behind that we're really late. What's happening? What's the rush?"

The Hong Kong cinema legend, Sylvia Liu, the first AD, comes over, who's also worked on all the Jackie Chan films. She is old school and comes across, and I'm like, "Sylvia, what's going on? Why are we running around set with C-stands? This looks dangerous." She's like, "Why is it dangerous?" [laughs]. That's just how they do it. In Hong Kong, you don't want to run, because they're used to doing guerrilla shoots with like really questionable permits where they're on the side of the street and it's just like, "Ee got to get these shots done before the cops come or whatever." They were running through, and this is how the set runs. We were so not used to it. We were moving so slowly, because we're the Hollywood style. Everything's about safety. Not to say one way or the other is better, but it was a different energy, and then I remember by the end of the first week, no one was running on set anymore. They were like, "You guys work so slow." [Laughs].

The Season, which also stars Toby Stephens, Justin Chien, and Yvonne Chapman, is available on Hulu.

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