“The Scepter” is the title of tonight’s (February 22) new episode of Kung Fu as we get closer to the season finale and the action intensifies. The episode features an adventure for Nicky (Olivia Liang) and Zhilan (Yvonne Chapman) as they continue to pursue Xiao, and, if they can, rescue Nicky’s Shifu and Zhilan’s sister Pei-Ling in the process.
Making her first appearance at the start of the series as an antagonist, Zhilan has teamed up with Nicky and the good guys with hopes of rescuing her sister. It’s been quite a journey for the character, and to promote tonight’s show, we spoke with actress Yvonne Chapman about what’s happened so far as well as getting some hints for what to expect from tonight’s Kung Fu on The CW.
KSITETV’S CRAIG BYRNE: Since I haven’t spoken to you since last year, I have to ask: Were you as scared as the audience was at the end of Season 2 that your character would not be back?
YVONNE CHAPMAN: I was very fortunate that before we got the final episode in our e-mail inboxes, Bob and Christina gave me a call, and they’re they’re like, “hey, you’re gonna read that you’re dead, but you’re not dead.” So I was really grateful for that phone call, because I probably would have been really scared if I had read the script without having known that.
How has it been working on the same side as Nicky this season?
It’s been fun, and from what I’ve seen, the audience was waiting for more of that to happen, and we were excited for more of that to happen. It was a nice segue from Season 2 to see more of that in Season 3.
They have a common goal now, and that’s Pei-Ling. That’s a very strong link between the two of them, so I think it makes perfect sense that they really come together as a team to to save her.
Can you talk about Zhilan helping Althea on her undercover mission?
It was kind of a situation like “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.” You see Zhilan enter the Shen family household, having been away trying to do this on their own, again going back to her roots of being a lone wolf that we’ve seen her be in Seasons 1 and 2, and that didn’t work for her. She comes back with her tail between her legs, like “okay, I need help. I tried to do it at my own. I can’t figure this out. So I think we need to work together.” I’m coming here admitting that, and then she finds out that they have this other situation playing out, and Nicky is on house arrest, where she can’t go and help out. So really, the default for Nicky is like “okay, I’ve got to call in Zhilan. This makes sense.”
That situation was really fun for Zhilan because the whole David Wheeler situation was child’s play, and I hope that came across in the episode. She was having fun, like “kay, this is what I used to do. But, you know, I’m trying to be good now. I’m trying to stay away from those situations. But now I’m doing this for the good guys.” This is nothing for her, in comparison to the situations that she’s been in before as a ruthless assassin.
She went in and she’s like, “yeah, I’ll get this done. It’s not a big deal.” And she had fun doing it.
Is redemption a direction that you ever expected for your character?
It’s hard for me and almost impossible for me to play a character that I don’t have any sympathy or empathy for. So having that backstory and understanding exactly where she came from… for me, she was always redeemable. Even though what she did was really horrible, I was always able to justify it in my head, and really love her, no matter what.
So, I always thought that redemption was possible for her if that was the route that they show was going to take, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that she would be in the Shen family household. We haven’t seen her have food with them yet, but maybe that’ll come down the road. I don’t know. The girl just needs a good home cooked meal, I think. I can’t say that I ever thought that she would be here in these circumstances, but I think that she was always capable of being redeemed.
One thing I was wondering when I was watching the screener for the episode: What would Nicky and Zhilan talk about on a long flight together?
That’s what me and Olivia talk about, too! What do they do on all these long haul flights? Especially going to China… it’s not a short flight! Like, did Zhilan buy a first class ticket and Nicky an economy? How does that play out? That deserves its own skits on YouTube.
The crew are always talking about that as well. The cameraman and other crew members are like “what did they talk about? Is there something that we could just like film real quick, that will be just be like this funny anecdotal story to like what happened as we got here?” We go through all those scenarios. I like to think that Zhilan who she is, she’s like, “I got you an economy class ticket. I’m flying by myself in First!” I think that’s probably the most likely scenario!
Of all of the characters that Zhilan is now somewhat friendly with, is there a particular interaction that you’ve enjoyed the most?
I really loved the last episode [“Alias”]. It was an absolute blast working with Shannon [Dang, who plays Althea]. I mean, it’s always fun working with her, but getting to actually have scenes with Althea was brand new. It is always fun figuring out what a new interaction looks like, especially with a character that has been on the show since the beginning. It’s nice to find that newness of what that dynamic would look like, and being thrown in that situation was a lot of fun to play out.
I also really love the new dynamic between Zhilan and Henry. It’s very playful, very banter-y, in a “buddy cop” kind of way. I think that’s very interesting and very surprising, because out of all people outside the family, who would have thought that they would become… they’re not buddy-buddy, but who would have thought that they would have made a good team?
Without spoilers, how would you preview Wednesday night’s episode?
I think Wednesday night will surprise the audience, and it will also give them something that they’ve been wanting to see.
How would Zhilan react if she found out that Pei-Ling could not be saved?
I think she would go through the whole stages of grief. And I think the first one that she would respond with would be disbelief. Zhilan has a very focused, obsessive mindset, as we’ve seen from her. When she has her mind set on something, she relentlessly goes after. Right now, she’s just focused on saving Pei-Ling. That is her focus. She has blinders for everything else. So if that was not a possibility, I don’t think she would accept that.
[Pei-Ling] is the only family that she has left, and aside from their father, the only family that she’s really ever known/ I don’t think she would be willing to give that up without a very good fight.
Can you talk about the filming locations of this week’s episode?
We go back to the monastery, so we get to go to that familiar stomping ground. It was so great being back there, and it’s such a beautiful location. Just walking through it was really wonderful.
Can you talk about the opportunity that was presented when Zhilan was reunited with Pei-Ling earlier this season?
I think one of my favorite themes this whole season was the reunion of the sisters. For them to actually be face to face again, without any interference, without any animosity… which sounds weird because so much stuff has happened, clearly… but you go into there and it’s just very vulnerable for the both of them.
It’s ironic, because the audience knew that before these two characters did, I think, so Zhilan, so going in that situation, she was so scared of being rejected again, like she was from her mother, and she just she wouldn’t be able to take that emotional turmoil again.
But to actually be face to face with their sister and have to say, “look, I know what I did was wrong. I know what I am.” She wasn’t expecting any apology from her sister. Of course not. So I think it was more of a situation of “well, will you forgive me?” So then when Pei-Ling says “no, I need you to forgive me,” it was such a beautiful moment of these two sisters coming together.
That opportunity really set Zhilan free from all of her guilt about the situation, and it allowed her to be on a trajectory to redeem herself and to get to that place, but also, it’s freed her from the the turmoil of what she felt of what she did to Pei-Ling, because they’re able to resolve that. And now, she has to face everything else that she she has done in her past, and try to reconcile that with who she would like to be now. I think that presents her with the opportunity of finding out what that is and how to do it.
It’s really sending her on a course for, I think, true redemption. She hasn’t gone there yet. She hasn’t gotten that yet. But I think it sets the tone for that for her.
What can you preview about the final episodes of the season, after this week?
You’re in for an emotional roller coaster. I’ll just say that I was sobbing for the last two episodes. Both good and bad. That’s all I can say without giving it away.
How hopeful are you for Kung Fu Season 4?
I really, really hope that we get to continue the story. I think there’s so much story left to tell for all of the characters, because we have a large cast, and they’re all fantastic, and all the all the work that they’ve done in creating the characters that that they have created… there’s just so much story left to tell. We’ve just scratched the surface on these characters, and I think Season 4 would unearth a lot more about each and every one of them. I hope we get the opportunity to do that.
Do you have a dream type of Kung Fu episode that you’d like to see in Season 4?
I would like to see Zhilan in a totally different context. I’m speaking purely selfishly here just for my character. I really had fun in Episode 10, where she kind of dropped the accent a bit and tried to play more espionage. I would like to see that in a personal context for her. Like, her like her trying to re-figure out her life. “What does Zhilan look like outside of all of this?” would be really fun to play with. If we can get snippets of that, that’s something that I would love to see.
Do you have any other projects coming up during the hiatus?
Not at the moment. Honestly, my projects are currently making my own things. So, I’ve been writing a lot. I love directing. I directed a couple of shorts in the past. I’m really trying to pursue that during the hiatus, to make most of my time for that. But also, I’m just traveling. I just got back from a trip in Asia – from Hong Kong, Korea, Japan. I’m going to be going back in March just to visit some family and some friends over there, and really taking the opportunity to see them again, because it’s been such a long time, especially since everything closed up during the pandemic. It’s just been really nice to reconnect with people.
Have you ever been approached or considered writing or directing an episode of Kung Fu?
I don’t feel that I am ready yet, to be honest. I’ve shadow-directed Joe Menendez, who is absolutely wonderful. He’s a master at it. He knows the show better than anybody, being an Executive Producer and Director as well. He was amazing and taught me so much at that time when I got to shadow-direct him. Eventually, I think I would love to enter that fray, whether it be on Kung Fu or not, but right now, for me, it’s more about experimentation and understanding the process of it, before getting onto set in that capacity.
Kung Fu “The Scepter” airs at 9PM ET/PT Wednesday, February 22 on The CW. Take a look at a trailer below!
