212. Chen Tang (HBO Max's WARRIOR)

Warrior quietly took the world by storm in 2019 after the premiere of its first season, so much so that it was renewed almost immediately for a second season which premiered in 2020. A few episodes in, the series introduced us to soon-to-be fan-favorite character Hong, played by Chen Tang, a smiley-but-deadly newcomer to San Francisco who joins the Hop Wei. Chen joins us on Actors With Issues to look back at his time on the show, the hopes for a future home as the show dropped on Netflix last month, and discuss the many lessons learned throughout his career working on iconic shows like 30 Rock, Agents of Shield and one of his proudest projects besides Warrior, the live-action adaptation of Disney’s Mulan. 

Chen’s first TV role was on an episode of 30 Rock in 2011 where he played Jake Hu, a character in a show within the show who is an investigative reporter without a sense of smell and “has to get the story using his eyes, ears, and other senses”. The role didn’t call for him to perform with any of the series core cast, but he recalled how he still felt a tad nervous coming on to an established show as a guest star. But an encounter with series star and creator of the show Tina Fey made him feel welcome and put his nerves at ease.

“I remember Tina was walking by and she had a bunch of people following her, since she was also the producer and writer of the show, so she was busy. She actually stopped by and took the time to talk to a little guest star and that always stuck out to me. I always try to emulate that. I believe it’s our sacred duty to send the elevator down and to be kind and respect other artists and people. I remember being blessed that being my first gig in New York.” (34:20)

Speaking about his casting in Warrior, Chen shared that because the series had been renewed so quickly after its premiere, he didn’t have a chance to watch the show before booking the role and dove right into his preparation to play Hong and join the world of 1870s San Francisco and Chinatown.

Playing the role of Hong in Warrior, Chen said his approach to the character had constant duality, as he was a sensitive, caring person with a positive attitude but also a ferocious warrior, “you can always play off your internal life and it was fascinating to look at it through that lens. It was fun to zig when everyone else was zagging. You always have a cool choice to make.” 

During the ‘Dear Chen’ Q&A segment of the episode, we turn to fan questions who asked Chen to delve more into his character-building process for Warrior, pivotal moments from throughout the series, and the impact of portraying a gay character that was completely devoid of harmful stereotypes. 

“We never wanted to put a microscope on his sexuality. He just so happens to like men, but that’s not all he is. It was such a pillar of the creation process because that was the first thing that opened up this sense of duality and gave me so much as Hong,” he explained. “You look at the world he came from, Ching Dynasty China, which was already a very stereotypically masculine-dominated sphere, and then you’re also in a gang. You’re a soldier for the mafia. You’re already inhabiting this world that’s very masculine but deep down there’s other things around that life, how could those two things play off of each other? And that’s where I found humor, that’s where I found everything based on Hong’s sexual identity.”

Watch the full episode or tune in on your favorite podcast platform, and be sure to watch all three seasons of Warrior on Netflix to help secure a new season!