There’s another bit in your Netflix special where you talk about how young American men are specifically susceptible to the YouTube algorithm that can feed them extremist content. Is that something that you think is unique to this country?
No, I think it impacts everybody. If you are a man on the internet in the English-language sphere, it definitely influences you. The Chinese internet might be a little different, but they have their own toxicity. I do know for a fact that you could be in Singapore and fall into the same kind of toxic online circles that that American men do. I’m not saying Asia has their own equivalents, I’m saying they literally watch the American incel toxicity.
Do you have any early memories of seeing Asia portrayed in American media and whether you felt those depictions were accurate?
When I lived in New Hampshire, we never heard about Malaysia once. [Chieng lived in Manchester, NH from 1989 to 1994] I remember saying I was from Malaysia, and people didn’t even know what that was. So we weren’t portrayed at all.
That ties into Interior Chinatown, which satirizes how Asian Americans are presented in pop culture. What often gets missed by Hollywood is that Asian cultures aren’t monolithic, and those differences are rarely explored.
Yeah, in America, “Asian American” is not just its own voting block, but it’s also its own lens to view Asia from.
Is it ever frustrating to be thought of as belonging to a cultural monolith instead of an individual country?
No, not really. I mean, I kind of came here knowing the deal, and I’m honestly surprised when people can tell the difference. I do think Americans are now starting to see those differences a little bit. If you talk to anyone who is connected to pop culture right now—even in the smallest way—I think they understand that, say, Parasite is a Korean movie, and not a Japanese movie; Japan is a different country. But I didn’t come here with an expectation that they would know that.
Does that ever factor into the parts you choose to play as an actor? Would you not accept the role of a Japanese character, for example?
No, I took a role as a Korean guy recently in Vacation Friends 2. If the director thinks I can pull it off and I think I can pull it off, then I don’t really mind. Acting is part of the job. That being said, it’s not like I can convincingly speak native Japanese, so it’s understandable if I don’t get a job because of that.
I ask that partly because there’s a larger conversation happening in Hollywood right now about whether actors from a certain background should play characters with a different lived experience.