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Kim’s Convenience star Simu Liu has addressed the show’s cancellation on CBC in a scathing message posted to his Facebook page.
As the fifth and final season hit Netflix this week, Toronto-raised Liu addressed the show’s abrupt cancellation earlier this year and hit out at the series’ “overwhelmingly white” producers. He also slammed the decision to give a spinoff to the show’s only white character, Shannon (played by Nicole Power).
“I love and am proud of Nicole, and I want the show to succeed for her,” he wrote. “But I remain resentful of all of the circumstances that led to the one non-Asian character getting her own show. And not that they would ever ask, but I will adamantly refuse to reprise my role in any capacity.”
Liu, who tweeted he was “heartbroken” by the cancellation in March, said the actors on the show wanted to embue their characters with their own lived experiences as Asian-Canadians, but “were often told of the next seasons’ plans mere days before we were set to start shooting.”
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“Our producers were overwhelmingly white and we were a cast of Asian Canadians who had a plethora of lived experiences to draw from and offer to writers … there was deliberately not a lot of leeway given to us.”
The characters never seemed to change, he added. “I can appreciate that the show is still a hit and is enjoyed by many people… but I remain fixated on the missed opportunities to show Asian characters with real depth and the ability to grow and evolve.”
Liu said that other than Ins Choi, who executive produced and developed the series, “the writer’s room lacked both East Asian and female representation, and also lacked a pipeline to introduce diverse talents. Aside from Ins, there were no other Korean voices in the room.”
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The upcoming star of Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings went on to reveal that he tried on multiple occasions to contribute creatively sending Choi “spec scripts” and offering to job shadow in the writer’s room.
“My prior experience had taught me that if I just put myself out there enough, people would be naturally inclined to help. And boy was I wrong here,” he wrote. “Many of us in the cast were trained screenwriters with thoughts and ideas that only grew more seasoned with time. But those doors were never opened to us in any meaningful way.”
When a Twitter follower asked Liu whether the actors had considered taking over as producers on a potential sixth season, he replied, “This was something we pushed for but were (clearly) unsuccessful at. Hence, huge slap in the face for us when producers claimed they ‘couldn’t find’ anyone to fill the showrunners’ shoes.”
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Behind the scenes, Liu admitted there was tension among the Kim’s Convenience cast.
“We didn’t always get along with each other,” he disclosed. “This part really breaks me because I think we all individually were SO committed to the success of the show and SO aware of how fortunate we all were. We just all had different ideas on how to get there.”
Liu also shot down any speculation that his upcoming turn in a Marvel blockbuster meant that he was looking to get out of Canadian TV.
“I’ve heard a lot of speculation surrounding myself – specifically, about how getting a Marvel role meant I was suddenly too ‘Hollywood’ for Canadian TV. This could not be further from the truth,” Liu wrote. “I wanted to be a part of the sixth season.”
The cast’s wages were also abysmal, Liu charged.
“Compared to shows like Schitt’s Creek, who had ‘brand-name talent’ with American agents, but whose ratings were not as high as ours, we were making NOTHING. Basically we were locked in for the foreseeable future at a super-low rate … we were paid an absolute horsepoop rate.”
'Kim's Convenience' star Simu Liu bashes show's 'overwhelmingly white' producers and 'horsepoop' pay - Toronto Sun
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