Kim’s Convenience star Simu Liu issued a statement clarifying his recent comments regarding the cancellation of the hit Canadian series.
Released exclusively to Vanity Fair, the statement is an addendum to remarks he made through social media condemning the overall treatment of the show’s East Asian cast members, as well as the decision to cancel it after its fifth season.
“My recent comments on the ending of Kim’s Convenience were never meant to be a massive bombshell exposé, nor was I trying to call anyone out specifically,” Liu said. Expressing pride and affection with his general experience working on the ensemble comedy, Liu continued, “I am proud of everything accomplished during our run and cannot wait to see how the legacy of the show and others like it impact future generations.”
Referring to a Facebook post he made on June 2, Liu had made the comments to address several objections to the way the characters were being portrayed, attributing his grievances to a lack of Korean representation in the writers’ room, among other problems. “We were a cast of Asian Canadians who had a plethora of lived experiences to draw from and offer to writers. But we were often told of the next seasons’ plans mere days before we were set to start shooting… there was deliberately not a lot of leeway given to us,” he said.
Jean Yoon, who plays “Umma” on the CBC series, has backed up Liu’s accusations about not being adequately represented when it came to the creation of storylines. She tweeted, “the lack of Asian female, especially Korean writers in the writers room of Kims made my life VERY DIFFICULT & the experience of working on the show painful.” She went on to label some storylines that had been planned for Season 5 as “OVERTLY RACIST, and so extremely culturally inaccurate that the cast came together and expressed concerns collectively.”
Liu, who has been announced as the lead actor in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, also had plenty to say about the circumstances surrounding the show’s abrupt demise. He wrote, “The show… was not ‘cancelled’ in a traditional manner, i.e. by a network after poor ratings. Our producers… are the ones who chose not to continue.” Though the half-hour comedy series had been renewed for two additional seasons after Season 4, it was cancelled last March in the midst of Season 5, which concluded in April. Responding to a fan of the show via Twitter, Liu stated, “It was many of our hopes and wishes that S6 would be the opportunity for us to take a greater control of the creative and help guide the show back to what initially made it so resonant.”
Co-created by Kevin White and Ins Choi, upon whose play of the same name the series is based, Kim’s Convenience featured a “largely white creative team” with Choi being the sole Korean on the writing staff. As Liu pointed out, “Aside from Ins, there were no other Korean voices in the room. And personally I do not think he did enough to be a champion for those voices.” A spinoff series began production in February, and it will center on the character of Shannon, played by Nicole Power. In the wake of the news about the “one non-Asian character getting her own show,” Liu said, “I will adamantly refuse to reprise my role in any capacity.”
Not shying away from his stance that the on-set culture of the show served to alienate and disenfranchise its Asian-Canadian cast, Liu nevertheless feels that Kim’s Convenience is something he can be proud of as he moves on with his promising career. He remarked, “Kim’s gave me my first opportunity to portray an Asian character with significant story arcs and subtleties that most Western Asian actors can only dream of. The show was integral in allowing me to find my voice and shape the perspective and platform that I now have.”
Source: Vanity Fair
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