In ‘Expats,’ Stalwart Actors of Color Finally Have the Opportunity to Show Their Range
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There’s a very specific emotion I felt while watching Expats, Lulu Wang’s drama series about American expatriates in Hong Kong: frustration.
There was also admiration, of course, and enjoyment and suspense, but at some point, while watching the performances of Sarayu Blue and Brian Tee, the indignation set in: We could have been seeing them do this kind of work this whole time?
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It’s a reaction that uniquely arises when you finally witness the full potential of someone whose face (if not name) has been a familiar presence on screens for quite a while, but almost always in a supporting role where they are serving the story — just not their story. These artists tend to disproportionately hail from historically excluded backgrounds, often cast to make an ensemble diverse but usually relegated to bridesmaid and never the bride. And in recent years, as Hollywood has sought to cash in on diversity as a “trend,” studios have turned to buzzy newcomers or a handful of established stars, passing over the faithful working class of actors of color when it comes to plum parts.
I’ve known Blue for several years now and have always enjoyed seeing her pop up in various TV shows and movies (recent faves include Never Have I Ever and A Million Miles Away), but seeing her so capably co-headline Expats felt like a vicarious vindication of her gifts. And in a pre-Crazy Rich Asians world, for two decades Tee was one of the few mainstays of Asian American representation, making the most of supporting roles in tentpoles and procedural work. Yet it was genuinely stunning to see him emerge in a prestige drama, holding his own opposite Nicole Kidman in his portrayal of a husband and father facing unimaginable loss.
It’s worth noting that neither Blue nor Tee would have been cast had Wang stayed faithful to Expats‘ source material, the 2016 novel The Expatriates, in which both of their characters were white. So this week’s Culture Shift lesson is two-fold: When a creator has the imagination to think outside the box not only for character conception but also in casting beyond the usual suspects, true hidden gems can emerge.
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Sarayu Blue has been working in Hollywood for two decades, dependably showing up as a guest star on hit shows like The Big Bang Theory, Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS: Los Angeles and Veep and in the To All the Boys franchise. Brian Tee’s 25 years of screen credits include The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Jurassic World, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and Chicago Med, where he spent eight seasons as a series regular.
But it’s their latest project, Lulu Wang’s limited series Expats, that both veteran actors say has given them the deepest roles of their careers. Blue plays Hilary, one of a trio of women (alongside Nicole Kidman and newcomer Ji-young Yoo) toplining Amazon’s adaptation of Janice Y.K. Lee’s 2016 novel The Expatriates, about Americans living abroad in Hong Kong. Hilary’s chic and charmed exterior belies the painful reality of her husband’s infidelity, her ambivalence about becoming a mother, and the generational trauma passed down by her parents. Tee plays Clarke, who with his wife, Margaret (Kidman), is grappling with the disappearance and likely abduction of their youngest child. “Sarayu and I held each other’s hands through this whole entire process,” Tee tells THR. “We are from, you could say, a bit of an older generation that really had to mine the opportunities that were given to us, and most of them weren’t these types of roles, the depth of this kind of story. To really be fully fleshed characters is something I’ve never been a part of, and I’ve been doing this for a long time.”
Hollywood has seen a relative increase in representation of people from historically excluded backgrounds, leading to an influx of new talent in recent years. But in keeping with the industry’s risk aversion, the trend has often resulted in just a handful of go-to stars being cast in seemingly every POC-centered project, leaving journeyman actors of color who have faithfully guest starred, supported leads and populated procedurals wondering if the movement is passing them by.
Wang was aware of that reality when she cast Expats, her follow-up to 2019’s The Farewell, which won best feature at the Independent Spirit Awards and made her an auteur to watch. “I get so emotional talking about Brian and Sarayu because they’ve been working so diligently for as long as somebody like Nicole Kidman has, and they haven’t received their flowers,” says the director and showrunner, choking up. “This is an industry that cares so much about newcomers, so much about stars, and we forget that there are people who have been working for many, many, many years without getting the pay and recognition they deserve.”
In fact, Blue spent last summer — two years after donning Hilary’s designer wardrobe to film Expats in Hong Kong — picking up shifts at Mirabelle Wine Bar in Valley Village during the SAG-AFTRA strike. “The reality is, to have a career that allows you to make a living means roles where people can see that you have range. And actors of color, LGBTQ+, disabled actors are often placed into roles that don’t make people go, ‘Oh my God, look what that person can do,’ ” she says. “It doesn’t mean they’re not capable, but the opportunities aren’t necessarily there.”
It’s a refrain that was memorably stated by Viola Davis on the Emmys stage in 2015 when she became the first Black woman to win lead actress in a drama (“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there”) and has been echoed by other veterans who have finally gotten to flex their full chops, like Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Ke Huy Quan and Greta Lee.
Each of these actors received their breaks when a filmmaker, also from a marginalized background, had the vision and authority to create those meatier parts. In the novel, Hilary and Clarke are white, but Wang scripted them as South and East Asian American, respectively, to reflect her experience of expat diversity. She also notes that having powerful allies backing her choices was key. “The show wouldn’t exist without a Nicole Kidman [who optioned the novel and is an executive producer],” Wang explains. Kidman says she fully trusted Wang’s decisions: “Even though I was involved in all casting and saw all auditions, I fought hard to support her and give her full creative control.”
That included making sure Expats’ multiethnic cast felt like a true ensemble, whether it was Wang adding to Tee’s role so that Clarke would feel “as complex and fleshed out as possible,” or having Blue prominently displayed on billboards. Blue says that witnessing her veteran co-stars like British Indian pioneers Sudha Bhuchar and Kavi Raz, who play her parents, and Filipina star Ruby Ruiz, who plays Clarke and Margaret’s live-in helper, get to showcase their talents has been an added joy. “Brian Tee, who’s been doing it forever, getting to shine as the hot male lead, roles that wouldn’t necessarily be given a story in many circumstances,” she says, “I’m just so lucky that I’m alive for it.”
This story first appeared in the Feb. 21 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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