Exclusive Interview: Sam Song Li Talks ‘The Brothers Sun,’ the Golden Age of Cinema for Asian Creatives, and More

Sam Song Li stands out as one of the most captivating voices of his generation. A multifaceted storyteller and trailblazer, he is renowned for his dynamic and compelling performances in notable projects such as The Offer, Women Is Losers, and Never Have I Ever. However, it is his breakthrough portrayal as Bruce Sun in Netflix’s action-packed series, The Brothers Sun, that truly sets him apart.

Created by Byron Wu and Brad Falchuk, The Brothers Sun centers around Charles Sun (Justin Chien), a Taiwanese gangster who must travel to Los Angeles to protect his mother, Eileen (Michelle Yeoh), and younger brother, Bruce (Sam Song Li), after his father, the head of a Taipei triad, is shot by a mysterious assassin.

Pop Culturalist had the privilege of catching up with Sam to delve into The Brothers Sun, his creative process in embodying Bruce on screen, this golden age of cinema for Asian creatives, and more.

PC: You’re one of the stars of The Brothers Sun, and one of the major themes within the series is the power of choice. Throughout the series, we find Bruce discovering his voice. You brought so much nuance and depth to that. As an actor, how did you create the space for yourself to dive into that emotional arc?
Sam: There was a lot in the story that I could personally hold onto. The entire theme of The Brothers Sun is tradition versus new-wave freedom and the new age of thinking. There’s a lot of traditionalism in our culture, the Asian culture, but in Bruce’s struggles, there are also the ideals of American freedom and independence. Those two things clash. So in a lot of ways, I feel like Bruce is struggling with that. But, as Sam, I struggled with that growing up.

My parents wanted me to pursue certain things, and I was very stubborn about the things that I wanted. It just so happened to have worked out. I can totally see the frustration on both ends. So much of the story works when you see these characters struggling to fight for what they want.

PC: When you’re playing a character from whom you’re able to draw so many similarities, is that more or less challenging for you as an actor?
Sam: That’s an interesting question. There are a few different ways to answer that, but for me as an actor, I always have to use myself as a vessel because all I have is myself. So much of Bruce and every single character that I’ll ever play for the rest of my life will have a lot of elements and qualities of me. I think that depending on the character’s story, it’s always going to be some heightened version of me. With Bruce, I really leaned into that. Bruce is very afraid of a lot of things. A lot of crazy, turbulent times are happening in his life, and he’s trying to be as brave as possible because he wants to be a cool guy. But he’s also someone with a lot of insecurities. I drew from my own insecurities and heightened it to a point that I think matched what I thought was right for Bruce.

PC: In addition to the incredible work that you’ve done on screen, you’ve also written, produced, directed, and edited. How have your experiences behind the camera impacted the way that you approach your work on screen and interpret characters like Bruce and scripts like The Brothers Sun?
Sam: The awesome thing about writing, directing, and producing on your own is that you’re taking control over what you’re putting out. You get a lot of instantaneous feedback. You can watch something, and if you’re going to edit and put it out, you have to know the performance right away. That is very different from on set where, one, you have less time, but two, you don’t necessarily get the chance to have that instantaneous feedback. It’s more of a leap of faith on set.

But being on the other end of it helps you communicate with decision-makers. I felt like I really understood where our showrunners and our directors were coming from. They had some amazing feedback for the show and scenes and how things are supposed to be played out. Honestly, the show wouldn’t be where it is without them. They did so much to make everything work. But being behind the camera helped me understand and expedite those conversations faster.

PC: The creative team wanted each of you to bring your own interpretations to these characters. How did that trust allow you to take agency over Bruce’s arc? What’s something that you brought to him that wasn’t initially on the page?
Sam: That all started during the audition process. We all came in with choices, and if it works, it works. Everybody who ended up being on The Brothers Sun made some bold, interesting choices that we knew would really work. If you look at the show, it has so many fun, zany characters left and right. The contrast of the characters is one of the most interesting things to me; not everybody is living in the same world. That’s actually very reminiscent of life. That stood out to me. When I first saw The Brothers Sun, that’s how I interpreted the dynamic between Bruce and Charles. These two people living in completely different worlds. In the pilot, these worlds collide. That’s the beauty of where I see the conflict and the interesting premiere of The Brothers Sun.

When it comes to choices that I feel like I brought on, improv is a huge, huge part of Bruce’s character. It’s funny because I actually feel like we toned down some of the things that I actually wanted to bring to Bruce more. [laughs] Have you ever taken an improv class? Improv comedians are unhinged. They’re so unhinged in the best ways possible. They’re so sharp. They’re so funny. They are so not afraid to be themselves. They’re not afraid to commit to a bit. That’s really what it is. I feel like one of those elements that really stood out in general is Bruce sees improv as a way of life. It’s not just a hobby. It’s his career path. He’s really dedicated to it. He has this demeanor that I feel like is larger than life at times.

That comes from my own experiences in improv rooms and meeting people who have dreams of wanting to be improv comedians, who want to be on SNL; they all have larger-than-life personas, and in so many different ways. He’s more free and goofy, and he’s very visceral in that sense. So improv is huge. In improv, there’s a big saying and it’s a really important thing in improv, which is “Yes, and.” That’s a really important phrase. Bruce sees the world through that lens. He goes with the flow with a lot of the things that happen.

PC: Speaking of that contrast, in a series where everything is so high stakes, your character does bring so much levity, and it keeps it so refreshing for the series. How much fun is it for you as an actor to bring that humor? How much of what made the final cut was scripted versus improvised?
Sam: A good amount is scripted. [laughs] I would say the majority of it was scripted, but there were a lot of fun moments that we got to improvise. There was a bit when I’m in the car with Charles, and I keep wanting to listen in and then boom, phone slap. All of those little reactions were improvised on the day.

There were a lot of surprises that our directors and showrunners wanted to create for us so that the scenes didn’t feel stale. There was a scene where I get a gun pointed at my balls. In the shot, I didn’t realize that was happening. Our director decided to surprise me and told the guy who was holding the gun, who’s one of the henchmen, to do that in the scene. You see my natural reaction. I freaked out because I was living in the moment. I felt like I had a drop in my stomach the moment a gun was pointed at my balls.

PC: There’s also that emotional scene in Episode 108 where Bruce and his mother are talking about sacrifices, choices, and the things that they wanted. It’s such a standout scene throughout the series. How did you prepare for that moment in particular? How much do you feed off Michelle’s performance to elevate your own?
Sam: Michelle Yeoh makes everyone on the show, and throughout her career, better. She really sets the tone and standard. Michelle has this incredible ability in the show to feel the love of the family. Without her, I don’t think we’d feel a certain chemistry. There’s a particular playfulness and these nuances that come out between Bruce and Charles, and me and Justin when we clash. When Michelle’s in the room, we have this competitive edge that comes out. She sucks us all into the scene. She heightens everything for us. It’s also Michelle. We just want to do our best work.

PC: You’re not giving yourself enough credit. You’re also fantastic on this show. When you first told your mother that you wanted to pursue a career in the arts, she was really against the idea because opportunities for our community weren’t as prevalent as they are now. What does it mean to you to know that you’re part of a community that’s blazing a trail for young Asian creatives who may want to follow in your footsteps? Have you had time to reflect on your own contributions in this much-needed step forward in this industry?
Sam: Thank you for asking that. I don’t think I’ve reflected yet. I’m sure I will at some point soon. But I want to say that, first off, I want to pay homage to everything that came before us. If it wasn’t for all of these historically groundbreaking projects that came before us, we would not be here. That is really important. Everyone who’s been a part of an Asian project or if you’re an Asian who is in the media, I have to thank them. Truly without their efforts, we would not have these opportunities. I can only hope that we do the same for the upcoming generation and upcoming projects.

I hope the whole world loves The Brothers Sun and I hope they love what we’re doing. I hope they love to see Asian artists like ourselves performing and setting that bar high for good performances so that we have more and more projects like this being made because I don’t think we have enough of these. Let’s have more stories. We’re living in a world where people are hungry for content like this. There’s so much of the same thing we’ve been seeing over and over and over again, any time we get to see a fresh perspective like this, that’s what people are hungry for.

So I’ll get back to you. I can only hope that people are inspired to pursue the things that they feel like society tells them they can’t do because that’s very much what I felt when I wanted to pursue acting at a time when it felt delusional to do because there was no one at the time who was pursuing acting at the time that was Asian.

I wanted to start in 2013, 2014. The year after I decided to tell my parents that I wanted to pursue a career in the performing arts, there was a study that came out from USC that showed how unlikely what I chose to do is. The stat was that like 73% of all speaking or named characters in the Top 100 grossing films in 2014 were White roles. I felt like it was delusional at that time. I just hope that it feels more realistic to this upcoming generation of young Asian artists. If I had a message for them, I would say that this is the golden age of cinema for Asian artists to be in entertainment, to be in cinema, to be in film and TV.

Historically, if you look at just the history of Hollywood, of this country, of this entertainment industry that we all work in, there has never been a better time to do it. I encourage them to jump in because we can use their talents to uplift and create new, fresh, interesting stories for the world to enjoy.

PC: Take time to reflect on your own contributions. There’s something so powerful for audiences and industry leaders to see a show like The Brothers Sun remain in the Top 10 on a streaming platform like Netflix. That’s a testament to the entire cast and the people behind the scenes of this show. This is also the longest that you’ve lived with a character. Has anything surprised you about this overall experience? What’s been the biggest takeaway thus far?
Sam: There’s a lot. It’s a lot for me to process. I just went to the 626 Night Market. We hosted this huge event where it felt like the entire 626 community showed up. We had a sold-out venue. 20,000 people were there to support our show. The reception online has also been incredible. It’s a highly rated show. I could talk about this for an entire interview but I’ll keep it short and sweet that it’s been really fun.

To keep up with Sam, follow him on Instagram. The Brothers Sun is out now on Netflix.

Photo Credit: Ziyang Wang