Ronny Chieng and Chloe Bennet took real shots for a drinking scene on Interior Chinatown
Chieng, who is best known for his stand-up comedy, revealed that he had the opportunity to give his input on his lines.
“The writing was very solid, so it wasn’t like it had to [improvise]. The directors gave me the green light sometimes. I would pitch stuff…and they would say yes or no, and I’ll give it a try. They did give me some leeway but it’s all mutual respect,” he said.
“Fatty is a bit of a performer in the show. So when he is being a performer in those moments, I would have to put some of myself into there and just figure stuff out on stage.”
Despite the Asian-centric discourse surrounding Interior Chinatown, Ronny Chieng insists that it has universal ideas.
“[Interior Chinatown] talks about social themes but in an accessible way. It doesn’t try to hit you over the head with it,” he opined.
“It has themes that everyone can relate to, like not feeling in control of your life; feeling like a background character; feeling like you have no voice.”
“And it’s shot beautifully,” he added.
“The show is really weird and fun,” said Chloe Bennet. “We talk about serious things in an unserious way. If you’re able to let this transcendent, weird, fun, quirky world wash over you, it’s an extremely enjoyable commentary and fun project.”
All 10 episodes of Interior Chinatown will drop on Disney+ on Nov 19.