[EW] Kung Fu’s Tzi Ma reflects on working with Coen brothers, Andy Warhol, & his ‘all-star daughter team’
He may be known as “Hollywood’s go-to Asian dad,” but Tzi Ma has embodied many other types of roles throughout his prolific career. He’s acted opposite Tom Hanks, Andy Warhol, Michael Caine, plus Rush Hour’s Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan (the first Asian and African American leads in a film), worked with directors like the Coen brothers and Lulu Wang, and he’s helped represent all the different ways Asians have been part of the “American fabric.” read more…
[HolrMagazine] Holr Chats: Kung Fu’s Tzi Ma
Kung Fu follows a young Chinese American woman, Nicky Shen, who drops out of Harvard Law School and goes on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China.
Upon her return, she finds her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption. Nicky’s parents Jin and Mei-Li are at the mercy of the powerful Triad.
Using her martial arts skills and Shaolin values, Nicky protects her community and brings criminals to justice. read more…
[Brieftake] Interview: Kung Fu’s Tzi Ma
As soon as I saw that Tzi Ma was cast in the CW series Kung Fu, I knew that we were destined to speak with the classy and dedicated actor who stars as the father of Olivia Liang’s Nicky Shen. Ma has attached himself to yet another strong project, as we were big supporters of Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, Alan Yang‘s Tigertail, Mina Shum’s Meditation Park and Niki Caro’s Mulan. Kung Fu is a wonderful reinterpretation of the classic series, featuring an almost entirely Asian cast on a network series and Tzi Ma is a wonderful advocate for representation.
We sat down virtually with the delightful Tzi Ma from the Vancouver set of Kung Fu and he provided a legendary interview. read more…
[CharacterMedia] Masala: The Kickass Cast Of ‘Kung Fu’ Are Changing The Game
In times like these, “Kung Fu” is just the show we need right now. After all, who doesn’t want a fierce warrior protecting their hometown from danger?
This kickass new series follows Nicky Shen, a Chinese American woman who returns to San Francisco after training in martial arts at a monastery in China and uses her new skills to keep her hometown safe. “Kung Fu” is also the first Asian-led drama series by a major network like The CW and is a reboot of the 1970s series of the same name. read more…
[Time] How a New Kung Fu TV Series Is Reclaiming Much More Than Just the Martial Arts
At the start of her career, Olivia Liang was “anti-martial arts.” To the Taiwanese American actor entering the entertainment industry in 2016, this was a box that Asian performers had been placed in for years—a form of typecasting she would go on to experience herself. “I had several people, the follow-up question to, ‘You’re an actor?’ was ‘Do you do martial arts?’” Liang, 27, says. And so she made a promise to herself: she was not going to learn martial arts unless someone paid her to. “I didn’t want that to be the only way in for me,” Liang explains. “And now, of course I’m on a show called Kung Fu and I’ve really done a 180.” read more…
Video Interviews
