A jaw-dropping episode of The CW’s Kung Fu airs tonight (May 11) at 9pM on The CW, and this is one you might want to be sure to watch live. To promote the episode, KSiteTV had the opportunity to speak to one of the show’s newest additions – Vanessa Yao, who has been so great in Season 2 as Mia, a character who may be the key to… everything, possessing a very unique backstory in the world of the show.
You can read our interview below.
KSITETV’s CRAIG BYRNE: How much of Mia’s backstory were you told about when you got this role?
VANESSA YAO: I’ll be straight: All I was told was that she ran away from home, and her mom passed away because of her, and she’s really much just about survival, and that’s all I was told.
Does it help for you as an actress to learn things as Mia learns things?
Absolutely. 100%. It was shocking to me, because just the backstory that I did get, it was already a lot to unpack. I was already like “this so much trauma. This is depth. Like, This is great! I can use this!” And then like, as episodes go on, I’m like, “oh, my God, there’s more. Okay.!”
I love characters like that, because there’s so much involved. It’s not just one emotion. There’s so much more to just that, because of the trauma and what’s happened in her experiences, and everything. So I was so grateful. I was extremely excited.
Having been familiar with the show, was it exciting for you to be like, “wow, now I get to hang out with the Shens and I get to interact with characters like Zhilan?”
Yes! I was honestly a bit nervous as well, because they did really well on Season 1. And me coming into Season 2, I was very nervous to meet them all in real life as well, when I just saw them on television. But they were so nice about it, and I want to do my part, also, for this season and they want to just continue the good work that they’ve done already. So, yeah. I definitely came in quite nervous and a bit insecure, but it got better as it went on. But they were so nice, so welcoming… the nicest people.
It’s interesting, because the first scene that I shot in Season 2 was when I got to eat at Harmony Dumplings with the Shen family and I met them all at the same time. I remember when I was in the greenroom, they all came in to say hi, and I was like “don’t meet me just yet! Let me feel like a stranger first. This will help me. Don’t worry!” So, it was all organic. I was really bathing in that being awkward, being insecure, being cautious… all of that was as organic as it could be, because it was my first day on on set as well.
The Shens have been so welcoming to Mia, but how much does it weigh on her that she is not being told everything?
I think it weighs a lot. I think for her, she’s constantly trying to find connections with anyone. She was getting to the point where she did trust Nicky, and she felt like she was connected to her until she realized that Nicky was keeping things from her. That’s not what trust is. Trust is when you tell them everything, so I think that really hurt her and made her question everything again.
How scary is it for Mia to find out that she could be the one that causes all of this destruction?
I think it’s very scary, especially when she’s around people that care about her. So, for her personally, she would also be afraid: What if I hurt people? I can’t do that. They care for me! But at the same time, they didn’t tell me this. Do they even care about me? What am I doing here? Are they just being nice, just to be nice? I don’t need that. They don’t need to feel bad for me. I can just do my own thing. So I think there’s also a side to everything
How tempting is it to just side with Zhilan and take care of things her way?
I think it’s very tempting now, especially now that Mia can confirm that Zhilan has the same trauma than he does. At the end of the day, Zhilan did tell Mia the truth. So, even if she killed her sister, whatever, maybe that doesn’t matter, as long as we’re being truthful, and she wants and sees the same goal as I do.
You get paired with Ryan on tonight on Wednesday night’s mission. Can you talk about having scenes with Mia and Ryan?
It was so nice. When Mia and Ryan are together, it feels like he is like an older brother, and I feel like he actually cares for me. Ryan is someone that Mia maybe trusts the most of the family.
I’ve read that you’ve lived in multiple countries in your life. Did that help you identify with Mia at all?
It did, actually, because when I did go to China, I was all alone, and I had to learn how to protect myself. My parents weren’t around, but they were a phone call away. But at the end of day, I was just thrown into a whole different continent, and had to learn the language as well as I could, and I always felt like I was kind of an alien even though we look the same; our upbringings were so different that it always made me feel like I was different. I feel like that definitely was something that helped with Mia as a character.
For those who have not seen it, what can you say about Wednesday night’s episode?
It’s crazy, and the last minute is insane!
See a trailer for the May 11 Kung Fu below – photos from the episode “The Enclave” can be found here!
