As Tze Chun and Brendan Hay’s ‘Gremlins’ prequel debuts its second season on October 3, the EPs, along with famed actors James Hong and Ming-Na Wen, talk about how far Asian-American actors have come in mainstream Hollywood casting, and that their show’s success is a testament to the draw of unique stories and characters from the East.
When thinking back to Steven Spielberg and Joe Dante’s original 1984 Gremlins film, which showcases the monstrous havoc wreaked on the town of Kingston Falls when one family neglects the rules of the Mogwai, James Hong remembers his late friend Keye Luke.
Luke played the Chinatown shopkeeper Mr. Wing, the original keeper of Mogwai creature Gizmo, in both live-action Gremlins films. Though Luke passed away in 1991 just seven months after Gremlins 2: The New Batch released, Hong now voices for Grandfather in Tze Chun and
Brendan Hay’s animated prequel series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, which tells Mr. Wing’s and Gizmo’s origin story. Hong, considered a “pioneer” in entertainment as one of the earliest Asian-American actors to gain mainstream Hollywood fame, now carries on the memory of his friend each time he enters the Gremlins sound booth.
“I always remember my friend Keye with that glassy eye as Mr. Wing,” says Hong, known for his work in Kung Fu Panda, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Mulan, and one of his first projects, The New Adventures of Charlie Chan. “Keye was a very good friend. And Izaac Wang is a wonderful actor and a great talent to play Sam’s character. All these young people now are great talents. And this series shows a lot of great Asian American talent.”
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai will debut its second season, titled, Gremlins: The Wild Batch, tomorrow, October 3 on Max. The new season takes place one year after the events of Season 1 and follows Gizmo (A.J. LoCascio), Sam (Wang), who will later be known as Mr. Wing, and friend Elle (Gabrielle Nevaeh) as they travel from their home in Shanghai to San Francisco, bringing even more magic, mystery and Mogwai mayhem. Hot on the trail of a new brood of evil Mogwai, the heroes journey deep into the American West, coming up against new supernatural creatures and picking up a few mysterious characters along the way.
Check out the Season 2 trailer:
The series boasts many talented Asian American actors – like Hong, Wang, Ming-Na Wen, BD Wong, Ronny Chieng, Eric Bauza and George Takei to name a few – and, to Hong, is a testament in how far the industry has come in celebrating extraordinary talent hailing from the East.
“I wanted to thank the producers for giving Asian American talents a chance to voice a series like this,” shares Hong. “As a so-called ‘pioneer’ in this industry, I am totally amazed and very happy to see the amount of talent put forth in this field. Now [Asian Americans] are no longer unwanted. I was here when The Good Earth was being shown in 1937, and they didn't want the Asians to play the leading roles. They gave it to white actors, who put on these eyepieces and spoke in funny accents. They ‘became’ Chinese. Horrifying. It makes my skin crawl. And then, as time goes on, now Simu Liu is the [Marvel] hero. Jackie Chan and Ming-Na Wen are beautiful on screen. How can you not do more projects with Asian Americans?”
Chun, showrunner and executive producer with Hay on the series, adds, “I felt lucky that a major studio got behind a story with pretty much an all-Asian cast in Season 1. It does show how times have changed in terms of not just who's in front of the camera, but also who's behind the camera. My grandfather immigrated to the US around the same age as Sam is in this second season when he comes to America. To be able to think about what it would have been like for him at that time was amazing. And, from a personal point of view, I'm glad I get to introduce American audiences to the really fun and weird and scary creatures and monsters that I grew up hearing about and being afraid were under my bed and in the closet.”
The word “mogwai” is the transliteration of the Cantonese word meaning “monster,” “evil spirit,” “devil,” or “demon.” Derived from Indian folklore, these creatures from Chinese mythology are considered violent and ferocious beings with sadistic tendencies, especially during the rainy season.
Though the lovable, sweet-natured Gizmo is far from such a monster, any Mogwai can turn into a gremlin under the right conditions. This is why, in the original film, Mr. Wing’s grandson makes a point to tell Gizmo’s buyer not let it come in contact with water and, above all, never feed it after midnight.
“Gremlins and Chinese mythology both happen to have a unique tone where something can go from being kind of seemingly ridiculous and silly to absolutely terrifying in an instant,” notes Hay. “That isn't something you find everywhere and the more we delved into both, the more these two things felt like such a natural fit for each other.”
For Wang, the terror element was pretty prevalent the first time he watched the 1984 film at the tender age of seven.
“I hated horror, and I still do,” says Wang. “I fell asleep halfway the first time I watched it because my natural reaction to seeing scary things is to just fall asleep, which doesn’t often work out because then I get nightmares. So, when I booked this job, my first time ever voicing for a series, I thought, ‘Oh, this is a really cool script. It's really cool idea,’ but, based off my nightmarish trauma, I didn't really want to watch it. But about halfway through recording Season 1, I just couldn’t help myself.”
The 2D/3D hybrid animated series is described by Wang as a more family-friendly version of Gremlins and, perhaps, a more balanced combination of the silly and frightening story ingredients to which Hay refers.
“There are moments when I still jump watching the animation,” says Wen, who voices for Fong Wing, Sam’s mother in the series. “Then, suddenly, it seems so cute. Gizmo is so adorable. The animation captures it all. Tze and Brendan did an amazing job. And it’s great Steven Spielberg and Joe Dante still have their names attached to the project.”
Dante, who was a consulting producer on the animated series, adds, “I've done a lot of other stuff, but none of it has ever resonated as much with people as Gremlins, for reasons that are completely beyond me. It's 40 years later and people are still finding it for the first time, which is, which is pretty remarkable. If I get hit by a bus, the headline is going to say, ‘Gremlins Director, Hit by Bus.’ I can’t get away from it. But I’ve made my peace with it. It's a story that enjoys invoking the past, but also looks toward the future. And this is a very contemporary show.”
Though Gremlins is a film that everyone, as Chun puts it, “watched a little too young,” it still holds tender, familial memories for many of the actors and writers who are now part of the prequel series. For some, it comes from getting in touch with their Asian roots. For Gizmo voice actor LoCascio, it’s something else.
“Gizmo’s voice was a voice that I've been doing my whole life,” shares LoCascio. “My dad used to do that voice for my stuffed animals when he made them talk. It was something I picked up naturally, weirdly. It’s a family trait. We give each other voices.”
The actor goes on to say that he always felt Gizmo was “the appeal of Gremlins in general,” and it does seem like the tiny fuzzball is the beating heart of the Gremlins story. Gizmo represents the best of the Mogwai, the face of great strength and determination and an example of how a soul can flourish in an environment where those around you believe in your capabilities. Season 2 also dives into Brain Gremlin’s story.
“We also got to do an episode on Brain Gremlin, one of my favorite characters, and what it is like being the smartest Mogwai,” notes Hay. “He’s smarter than all of them but is still considered an evil Mogwai. We got to explore what that would be like, what that life would be like, then even being able to tie that into immigration was a really unique story that we got a chance to tell.”
“I think young people are going to look at this series and be amazed and impressed,” adds Hong. “I remember the first time I watched the first episode with my wife and daughter, and I was stunned.”
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
