Eddie Liu Talks Kung Fu Season 3, Henry’s Compass Power, Chopin, and Tackling Different Angles of the Asian Identity

Eddie Liu is enchanting audiences with his magical performance as Henry Yan in the CW’s Kung Fu.

Now in its third season, the series picks up following the aftermath of an earthquake that hits Chinatown, leaving Nicky (Olivia Liang), her family, and her community attempting to rebuild their beloved city in more ways than one. Nicky, still reeling from her abrupt breakup with her boyfriend Henry (Eddie Liu), and the shocking death of her nemesis-turned-ally Zhilan (Yvonne Chapman), puts on a brave face as she juggles a new job teaching kung fu while fighting a growing crimewave in San Francisco. But she’s thrown on her heels by the introduction of a mysterious vigilante, Bo (guest star Ben Levin) — and the shattering return of a woman who appears to be her deceased shifu, Pei-Ling (Vanessa Kai).

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to catch up with Eddie to talk about Season 3 of Kung Fu, Henry’s compass power, his new independent feature Chopin, and exploring the different angles of Asian identity.

PC: The aftermath of Season 2 has left Henry in this different state of mind and led to his decision to leave everything that he knows and loves behind in order to discover himself. Given everything that’s unfolded in Season 2 and where we find Henry at the start of Season 3, how did that affect the way that you approached this character, both mentally and emotionally?
Eddie: In no particular order, one thing about that journey was I reflected for a moment that my castmates and I are friends in real life. We spent so much time together at work and outside of work when we were not shooting. One thing that helped me get into that space was the fact that, “Okay, if I know that Henry’s going off on his own for a little while, does that mean that I can’t see my friends and my coworkers for a while?” I had no idea how long Henry would be off on his own when we ended Season 2. I thought about what that would be like. What would it be like for me to be isolated from all of my friends? I pretended that I was working by myself. Obviously, that wasn’t the case because I’m with my crew, and they’re great. It’s always fun to be at work with all these people.

But another aspect of that journey was thinking about where he had started and ended in such a short amount of time, from the moment he catches up with his estranged father to watching his father get killed right before his eyes while dying and trying to save him as they were mending this broken relationship. If you look at the enormity and intensity of all those feelings happening at once, that’s going to spin somebody out.

While I don’t know if Henry made the smartest decision by breaking up with Nicky and going off on his own, we’re all human. Sometimes, that emotional weight breaks you a little bit, and your sense of logic or what’s the smartest decision at any given moment. It falls off a bit. Henry was dealing with a lot of emotional baggage, to say the least.

PC: As he’s ventured off on his own, it’s also revealed his power and ties to the compass. How early on did Christina [M. Kim] and Robert [Berens] clue you in on Henry’s evolution and his destiny in the Kung Fu universe?
Eddie: I didn’t know anything about the powers until much closer to Season 3. When Season 2 ended, I thought, “He’s going to look for this compass. He’s probably going to find it.” Little did I know, I am it. I am the compass. That was a very, very cool reveal.

I had a meeting with Christina and Bob. Before every season starts, we talk to our showrunners. They give us a brief overview of what to expect for the story in the grander scheme of things and what to expect for each of our characters. I thought it was so cool that I was going to get superpowers. Also, because of the fact that I thought we were done exploring Henry’s background for a while, I wasn’t sure how much more there was to dig into, but sure enough, there’s always more to dig into. It was really cool from a storytelling standpoint to look like, “This is where Henry started. Oh wait, this thing happened in the past. He has these latent magic abilities.” It seemed fitting and poetic that somebody like Henry, who was so connected and so passionate about finding the mystical weapons and helping Nicky’s hero journey, also has something special about him as well.

PC: You’ve also said in previous interviews that Henry’s journey this season has led to a lot of personal growth for yourself and as an actor. How did his self-discovery impact your relationship with your craft?
Eddie: It really gave me such great opportunities to go deeper into the work, to focus on the work, to really craft what these moments, these points in the story look like, even from a stunt perspective, because I’d never worked with wires before. That was such a fun week and episode to work on, where they dangled me up there for a bit. It was super fun and also very, very safe. They were keeping a careful eye on me the whole time. I wanted to keep going up and doing things, but they’re very mindful of that sort of thing. I learned a little bit about those kinds of stunts and rigging.

But going back to the acting thing, these are key moments in Henry’s life. They were triggering from the moment that he watches his father die to the moment when the powers in him get triggered and activated for the first time to each time he starts to use them and starts to feel something new. Then, even going to when he has to save Nicky and bring her back from the other realms—all of these were new heights and depths. I’m going further than I have before or going deeper within myself than I ever have.

PC: This is also the longest that you’ve lived with a character. Has anything surprised you about the experience? Has it influenced the way that you look at future projects?
Eddie: It’s definitely the longest that I’ve ever sat with a character. I think it’s an interesting lesson in fluidity and that you can let go of an initial concept or impression of how you think a character can be. Having been in Henry’s head space and in his wardrobe for three seasons, it’s about allowing myself the space to go and change, because people do that in real life, and not beholden to this concept or “I always have to play it this way.” It’s like, “No, these characters grow. They go through things like people do and change.” That’s been rewarding and it’s been fun to be like, “Try to take yourself out of it for a second.” How would the audience view this and how much fun is it for them to see these people go on their journeys as they face new, bigger challenges?

PC: Henry’s mission and discovering his identity have affected his relationship with Nicky, but there are a lot of parallels that you can draw between their respective journeys. Will that eventually be what brings them back together? What can you tease about their future?
Eddie: What’s so awesome about Nicky and Henry’s relationship is there is this way that our bosses describe their dynamic to us: they’re a couple, and they’re like Batman and Robin. They’re this crime-fighting duo. But beyond that, because they’re broken up, they are these two people who are cosmically connected on this earth and across realms. That was such a beautiful revelation to see, especially during 306 when Henry doesn’t know if he has it in him to bring her back and to see that their love for each other connects them across different worlds. You’re going to see more of that as the season continues, and you’ll see how truly deeply connected they are.

PC: The fantasy and magical aspects of this show have created the opportunity to introduce new dynamics and relationships that we never thought were possible. What has it been like for you getting to collaborate with actors like Vanessa [Kai], who are so integral to the story, but you haven’t had the opportunity to work opposite of given the storylines?
Eddie: It’s been such a gift. Vanessa and I have been friends since the very beginning, but we never got to work together. But I said this to my castmates, I said, “How funny. Who knew back when we started this that fast-forward to Season 3, Pei-Ling would be giving Ryan dating advice about his boyfriend? Who knew that’s where we were going to go?” Getting the opportunity to explore new depths, angles, and situations within all these relationships that we’ve fallen in love with has been a blast.

Vanessa, as a friend and scene partner, is so present and strong. I could feel how much she was there with me every step of the way. There were moments and days where I felt I was a little nervous or maybe feeling a little nervous about making sure we execute the story and job. She was there with me every step of the way. Those are times when art imitates life when Vanessa was there for me as a friend and teammate. This job can be very challenging and can be hard at times, but having people like that, knowing that people are in your corner and got your back, it’s great. That’s what you take with you—those memories and things that you’re grateful for, you take with you.

PC: Outside of Kung Fu, you actually announced that you’re going to be in a feature film. Is there anything you can tease about that project and what fans can expect?
Eddie: Yeah, I’m working on an indie called Chopin, like the composer, which does come up in this story. It’s very much, in a lot of ways, a very relatable child-of-immigrant story, especially for children of Asian immigrants. There’s so much that I connected to when I read the script that we are going to delve into, and themes of generation gaps, especially Asian American generations where we feel like there’s this deafening silence. There’s this gap between us where there’s so much that we want to say that we don’t say. It’s the idea of wanting to connect with your roots while also connecting to your own identity, especially for many of us growing up in the West. We push it away for different reasons, whether it’s to fit in, whether it’s because it’s a burden, too much to carry at times, or just because we’re so occupied figuring our own sh*t out. The story is about reconnecting with your family and your identity and finding love in many different layers.

PC: Have you started your prep work? How does this differ from television?
Eddie: Time is a huge difference. I first got involved with Chopin about a year and a half ago. That’s when I met Vincent Lin, our writer-director—that’s when I connected to him. We’ve been chatting about it and messaging each other the entire time. I don’t ever get to spend this much time sitting with a story in my head, because in TV, things move so fast, faster than anybody is really comfortable with. There’s so much that you have to accomplish in such a short amount of time in the TV world. Everything is on a fast turnaround. There are definitely a lot of days and episodes where you’re like, “I barely feel like my feet are beneath me.” We have to turn out this episode. We have to shoot this fight scene. We have to learn all these lines for this monologue, and that’s so thrilling. That’s a thrilling challenge in its own way.

I’m really looking forward to working in a different medium of an indie film, where you get to have a little more time to breathe. Then, of course, when we get to set and we get to shoot it, I’m sure there will be some moments that need a bit of urgency, but I’m looking forward to having time and the space to talk it out and flesh things out.

PC: Throughout your career, you’ve always picked projects that have an entertainment factor to them but also create these conversations and have a meaningful impact on audiences. What is your vetting process like when you’re deciding what projects you want to go out for?
Eddie: To be honest, I don’t have much of a vetting process, especially when I started out. It was a lot of, “You’re willing to hire me and pay me money for this? Cool. Where do I park?”

When you’re a new actor, that’s pretty much what it is. You don’t feel like you get to say no to things. But with something like Chopin, especially with me coming off having wrapped Season 3 of Kung Fu, I love being able to tackle a different angle of Asian American identity because there are so many layers and so many ways to slice it. There’s not enough time to fill it in one book or in one hour of TV when it comes to discussing race and identity in how to be Asian American in the West or in America.

I do personally value and very much look forward to the opportunities where I can work on anything that is not only a positive work experience but can also spark any conversation or get people to watch it and say, “Hey, I relate to that. I know that conversation. I feel like I know these people,” or “I am this person. I didn’t see that on the screen until now.” That’s amazing. As an actor and performer and somebody who does care about those things and thinks about those things, I hope to do more of that. It’s a gift.

To keep up with Eddie, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Catch new episodes of Kung Fu every Wednesday at 9/8c on the CW.

Photo Credit: Justine Yeung/The CW — © 2023 The CW Network, LLC.