Yeoh is the matriarch of a powerful Taiwanese triad in the new Netflix series.
There’s never any shortage of new series to get stuck into over on Netflix, and its latest offering, The Brothers Sun, blends themes of family and duty against a backdrop of epic fight sequences to ensure you’re kept entertained throughout all eight episodes.
The show has been created by Byron Wu and Brad Falchuk, who many will know for helming series like American Horror Story, Pose and Glee.
In The Brothers Sun, we follow Charles (Justin Chien), who travels from Taipei to Los Angeles to protect his mother and younger brother after his father, the head of a powerful Taiwanese triad, is shot by a mystery assassin.
Alongside Chien leading the cast as enigmatic and legendary killer Charles is Michelle Yeoh as matriarch Eileen ‘Mama’ Sun and Sam Song Li as brother Bruce.
After the recent success of films like Everything Everywhere All at Once – which saw Yeoh win an Oscar for her performance in the acclaimed film – Chien admits that working alongside the famed actress was an experience to remember.
Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Chien explained how he felt when he first learned that Yeoh would be his co-lead in The Brothers Sun, saying: “At first, I tried to keep myself calm, but when it was confirmed, I lost my s**t.
“I remembered when it was still rumoured, I saw Everything Everywhere All at Once for the first time, and within the first five minutes I started bawling – because one, she’s so good, but two, this person might be playing my mother. It was mind-blowing.
“It’s still a little surreal that I got to act with Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh.”
The series sees Chien take on the role of older brother to Bruce, who is none the wiser as to his family’s criminal underworld links.
Although the brothers have grown up in different continents and don’t really know one another, the show sees them having to join forces with their mother to try and take down their enemies before these villains have the chance to reach the Sun family.
Commenting on his reaction to the script when he first received it, Chien admitted: “I remember when I first read the script, I got chills because I had never seen anything like that. It felt like a story that was really broadening what Asian and Asian American people are traditionally seen as.”
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He continued: “What drew me the most to this character… I have to say Tom Hardy is my favourite actor, he’s been my favourite actor for the past 10 years. There was something about Charles that I could tell – even though he comes off as this menacing, ruthless character – that there’s a vulnerable side to him.
“That’s something I think that Tom does amazingly in things that I love him in.
“It was the chance to play both this cool, tough leading character, but also explore someone that is a bit of a broken, tortured soul. In that process, I took some of those emotions home with me at the end of the day, but the entire process made me a lot more grateful for the life that I do have.”
Speaking further about the importance of representation in a Netflix series like The Brothers Sun, Chien added: “It’s so special. First, it’s a tremendous honour to be a part of something that broadens the scope of what we’re traditionally seen as, but more so than that, I hope that – and I do believe that – we’re an excellent story with an excellent cast, crew and creatives.
“It’s a universal story that I think everyone can relate to, no matter what culture you’re from. Everyone has dealt with family, everyone has dealt with ideas of duty versus desire – it’s something that I’m so proud to have been a part of.”
The Brothers Sun is available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £6.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.
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