The Brothers Sun: Behind the Scenes of the Wild New Netflix Series
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The post The Brothers Sun: Behind the Scenes of the Wild New Netflix Series appeared first on Consequence.
Stars Sam Song Li and Justin Chien both have their own ways of explaining The Brothers Sun, though in the lead-up to the premiere of the Netflix action dramedy, they’re still refining them. For Chien, talking to Consequence via Zoom, it’s “the action of John Wick with the humor of Rush Hour or 21 Jump Street, and the family dynamics of Ozark.” On the call, he turns to his co-star/on-screen little brother. “That’s the new one.”
Li’s answer: “I think it has the aesthetics of a Kill Bill, with sprinkles of 21 Jump Street. But actually I like the Rush Hour idea a lot.”
It speaks to how much the series, created by Byron Wu and Brad Falchuk, encompasses: The story begins when aspiring actor Bruce (Li)’s quiet life in Los Angeles gets turned upside down by the arrival of his older brother Charles (Chien): Turns out Bruce’s family is one of the most powerful crime organizations in Taiwan, a secret his mother (Michelle Yeoh) has been keeping from him his whole life — and now Bruce and Charles have to reconnect after 15 years, while trying to survive the gang war in progress.
Li says that for him, “We were doing a drama series that happened to be funny, and had action the whole time.”
“Yeah, we didn’t want to ham anything up,” agrees Chien. “We didn’t want to lean too heavily into the comedy, for the sake of being funny, but let those moments naturally arise in the dialogue and the absurdity of some of the situations.”
This all leads to a wild ride The eight-episode first season is a wild ride — and yes, the production team has ideas for a Season 2. Below, co-creator Brad Falchuk and director Kevin Tancharoen answer Consequence’s questions about everything from the casting to the location shooting to the show’s loving tribute to John Cho. (Including what John Cho himself requested from the set.)
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 1 finale of The Brothers Sun, “Protect the Family.”]
Growing Up Asian in L.A.
Tancharoen says that after reading the first three pages of the script, “I knew that I would be desperate to do it — just the way it was written, and also the tone of it.”
As a Southern California Native, Tancharoen also saw a lot of himself in the series — specifically the Bruce character. “Just growing up with those insecurities and questions, and the whole Asian-American experience growing up here in L.A., was very close to me because that’s my life. If this show came out when I was younger, and I got to see someone else experiencing the same insecurities, the same challenges, I think I would’ve felt a lot more comfortable. Having these two dramatically different upbringings coming together, but still realizing that they do tend to meet in the middle somewhere with the things that give us traumas… The biggest thing for me was the fact that I had never seen that story told before.”
Much of The Brothers Sun is set not exactly in Los Angeles, but in the San Gabriel Valley, just east of the city. The area has a large Asian community (including some incredible options for Chinese food), and its own unique vibe. So the production team was adamant about shooting in the area because, as Tancharoen puts it, “we had often said that it has to also be a character in the show, in the way that Albuquerque is such a large part of Breaking Bad.”
Falchuk notes that “there’s really no place else like the San Gabriel Valley. You can’t cheat it. There were conversations… It’s harder to shoot in L.A. now, and it’s more expensive. But the truth is you can’t fake the signage and the people and the feeling and the topography of all of that. So it was really important that we shot it there to give that sense.”
There was one issue, as Tancharoen explains: “Permitting certain locations became a challenge, because they didn’t have infrastructure in place, like if you were going to shoot in Hollywood. Our location department had to physically go into these places, and talk to the mom and pop or grandma and grandpa who owned them.”
Michelle Yeoh, “Everyone’s Auntie”
The Brothers Sun (Netflix)
Headlining The Brothers Sun is the iconic Michelle Yeoh, who was cast right before Everything Everywhere All at Once began its year-long journey towards eventual Oscar domination, This proved to be good timing, says Falchuk: “She wanted to make sure we saw [the movie] before we met, so we did. I think that we were fortunate — we were approaching somebody who had an enormous track record before that but was about to be part of something really special.”
Says Tancharoen, “We were lucky to get her, because she really brought so much to the show and she related to a lot of it too, and was excited to play something different. I think that’s what’s key for her, is to able to explore different types of characters with different types of ticks and tones. Because usually we see her as this regal, majestic person, in so much what she does. And that’s why in Everything Everywhere, I think she had a blast because she wasn’t playing that anymore — she got to be a little messy. And she got to do that on our show as well.”
Tancharoen was “very nervous” about talking to her about the project, because “I had always looked up to her — all of the stuff that I’ve watched in the past made me go, ‘Oh my God, she’s kind of like untouchable. How are we even going to approach her?’ But that’s the thing about these people who have such long, great careers: They have them for a reason. They’re really cool and they’re really chill. And she was just so gracious and sweet to our younger cast, and always had an answer for what the character was supposed to do, and came in with the character already in mind. She kind of turned into everyone’s auntie on the show, somehow. Like, she just took on that mother role and owned it.”
Special Guest Star Paul Hollywood
The Brothers Sun (Netflix)
Wu’s original draft of the pilot included an early version of what would become the show’s opening sequence: Charles fighting off invaders who have interrupted his cozy evening of The Great British Baking Show and cake-baking. “That was, I think, what made me and everybody react to the idea right away,” Falchuk says. “Like, okay, this is different. This is an action show that’s a little different. There’s a wink to it. There’s a twinkle in its eye. That was really Byron’s dream.”
Charles’ love for baking, and the globally beloved reality show, is a defining aspect of his character, but incorporating a clip did take some effort, even with GBBS sharing a platform: “These things still cost money — it wasn’t free,” Falchuk says.
In addition, the show’s producers “are obviously protective, as they should be, of making sure that we’re not messing with the show in any way,” Falchuk says. “But everybody was pretty cool about it. And I hope that when they see it, they really get a kick out of it.”
“I think they understood that we were portraying a character who was obsessed with the show, and trying to do his own version of it. And that really is what made it work for us,” Tancharoen says.
Very Special Guest Star John Cho(‘s House)
The Brothers Sun (Netflix)
Episode 6, “Country Boy,” features the brothers and friends hiding out at the least-expected safe house of all time: actor John Cho’s palatial pad on the beach, every wall of which features Cho-inspired art, like framed magazine covers and an Andy Warhol-inspired portrait. As an industry veteran, Falchuk says “There were a couple of details there which I’ve actually seen in other famous people’s houses, where I was like, ‘Oh, we gotta put that in there.'” (Alas, he declines to specify what kinds of details, or famous people, he might be referring to.)
Falchuk credits writer Amy Wang for really embracing the bit, and “creating this character of John Cho who’s a massive narcissist, who is obsessed with himself. The joke of that seemed really funny because it’s counter to who he really is, and also it’s perfect for the character of Bruce to see like, oh, this is what a successful actor lives like.”
Says Tancharoen, “I remember reading that episode and laughing so hard. And [Viet Nguyen], when he directed that episode, he killed it because on the page it was so funny, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, how is this going to translate?'”
The team wanted to make sure that the real-life Cho was comfortable with the idea, so Falchuk cold-called Cho’s representation and explained it. “I said, this is what we’re saying — I don’t want there to be any surprises, and if John has a problem with any of this, we’ll either change it or we just won’t do it,” Falchuk says. “Like, this has got to be an honoring of him and how cool he is.”
Cho’s response, according to Falchuk: “He said, ‘Just go for it. Just have fun.’ And then he saw some of the stuff we had done, and apparently was very tickled by it — and asked for the Warhol. And the slippers or the robes, I think we sent him those. I really hope that he likes it when he sees it, because it’s a salute.”
Tancharoen also kept one of the John Cho robes seen in the episode, and confirms that Cho did record the “John Cho’s house” greeting heard at one point. “The fact that he was totally down with it made it that much more special,” he laughs.
What About Season 2?
The Brothers Sun (Netflix)
While Brothers Sun has yet to be renewed for a second season (understandable, given that the show just premiered), the team already has ideas for where the story could go in the future. “I think for Season 2, the plan is that these characters have lived in under a certain structure for the last 15 years, and that structure is now blown up for all of them,” Falchuk says. “So Charles and Mom and Bruce are now in a brand new world with different dynamics and different relations with different triangulations and different possibilities for dreams coming true. And, especially when it happens quickly, that puts people in a dangerous place.”
For Tancharoen, “unpacking everything that happened with the family and the fact that they’re finally a unit is just step one. Now comes the ‘more money, more problems’ situation, and how that affects everyone. You know, Bruce is now part of the family. TK is now part of the family. June is a part of the family, and it’s all held together with love, but it’s also very fragile because of the world they live in.”
In case you missed it, there is a mid-credits sequence, which Falchuk says “tells you where the story’s going to go, but there’s no specificity to it. It’s like, that guy’s not locked away for good, there’s problems here. And when he is thrown back into the mix, that could be a real problem.”
Adds Falchuk, “I think emotionally in terms of family dynamics, plot-wise, the criminal world is very big and there’s lots of places to explore there. But to me, the family dynamics were always the most important part of the show. Now this family’s dynamics have just changed a lot. How is that going to affect these characters and their relationships to each other?”
Plus, as Tancharoen says, “Now they are the Jade Dragon. So I’m sure someone’s going to be coming to try and take it away again.”
The Brothers Sun is streaming now on Netflix.
The Brothers Sun: Behind the Scenes of the Wild New Netflix Series
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