In just under a month, Jimmy O. Yang will be Chloe Bennet's unlikely man on the inside in Hulu's new limited series Interior Chinatown. The official trailer was shared today showing Yang as Willis Wu, a long-suffering background character in a police procedural who's about to be thrust into the spotlight when a new crime spree envelops Chinatown. Upon witnessing a crime, he rises from waiting tables, taking orders, and delivering food to cracking cases with a skilled detective and unraveling his family history. Based on Charles Yu's groundbreaking award-winning novel of the same name, the ten-episode limited series drops in its entirety on November 19.
The footage opens with Willis lamenting his situation as a nobody in the procedural "Black & White" to his best friend Fatty Choi (Ronny Chieng). When they get a glimpse at Detective Lana Lee (Bennet), on television, however, it foreshadows her arrival into their world to elevate Willis into a much greater role. She recruits the "loser" of a restaurant worker to be her inside man due to his knowledge of Chinatown, welcoming him into her high-drama story following a series of violent crimes around the area. Further connecting him with the investigation is that his brother is among the people who vanished after working with the police himself. Willis's heightened involvement with the show's main story puts him in greater danger and stranger situations while working closely with the enigmatic woman he admires. Though he knows he can never be the main character, he longs to eventually be a "karate man" who's ready to fight whenever something breaks out either in the streets or at his restaurant.
Interior Chinatown looks to be packed with comedy and color as a character who is really not ready for the wider world is thrust into a story beyond his comprehension. Yang and Chieng both have plenty of experience making people laugh on-stage as stand-up comedians and on-screen, with the former known for his turns in Silicon Valley and Love Hard, while the latter is known for The Daily Show and M3GAN. The pair have also shared the screen on multiple occasions, including in Crazy Rich Asians and more recently in Gremlins: The Wild Batch. Taika Waititi was also tapped to direct the pilot and executive produce the series, which Yu created as a direct adaptation of his novel. Rounding out the cast are Lisa Gilroy, Sullivan Jones, Archie Kao, and Diana Lin.
Bennet Promises There's Nothing Quite Like 'Interior Chinatown'
Just as Yu's novel earned accolades and praise aplenty by tackling the Asian-American stereotypes that exist in media, his adaptation for Hulu looks to continue leaning into that metafictional angle to create something unlike anything on television right now. During an interview with Collider's Steve Weintraub last year, Bennet teased how the series "breaks all the rules" of procedurals in the process, making for a hilarious story with something important to say as well. The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. star also gave credit to Yu and Waititi at the top for helping to make the show extra special:
"I can solidly say there's nothing like it out there right now, and we're making something that feels really important, but then diametrically just so weird and wild and funny. I'm very excited for people to see it. We have some pretty heavy hitters, you know, (author/showrunner) Charlie Yu and Taika Waititi are pretty brilliant, and this as a collaboration for them has been wild to be a part of, and I just really can't wait for people to get to see it."
All ten episodes of Interior Chinatown premiere on Hulu on November 19. Check out the trailer in the player above.