INDIANAPOLIS — Before Ryan Reynolds' "Free Guy," there was "Interior Chinatown"
Author Charles Yu is adapting his award-winning 2020 book into a TV series, while also serving as showrunner and executive producer.
"Interior Chinatown" follows Willis Wu (Jimmy O. Yang), a background character trapped in a police procedural and trying to maneuver his way into the larger story as he witnesses a crime.
"What we watch in the course of the season is him basically leveling up and entering that story, trying to go from background guy to main character," Yu said.
A breakout star as Jian-Yang in HBO comedy "Silicon Valley," Yang sees many similarities to the character he plays in "Interior Chinatown."
"I related to it so much. I was on 'Silicon Valley,' and now, I'm starring in the show," Yang said. "I fell in love with the story."
Also joining as executive producer and director of the pilot episode is filmmaker and actor Taika Waititi ("Jojo Rabbit," "What We Do in the Shadows").
"The idea of the story really spoke to me," Waititi said. "It's like a really mind-boggling, great world to be in, and to be part of that felt very special."
The show-within-a-show blends multiple genres like comedy, action and mystery, while also addressing important topics of conversation.
"It started off with Charlie Yu with the book and the brilliant story and all the themes he tackles in there, things that aren't easy to talk about a lot of times — the invisibility of Asian people, the rejection that marginalized people face all the time and internalization of a lot of those things," Yang said. "He's able to tell it in such a brilliant and entertaining way."
All 10 episodes of "Interior Chinatown" will be released Tuesday, Nov. 19 on Hulu.