James Chen Talks Hollywood’s Rising Asian-American Movement, ‘FBI,’ and ‘Iron Fist’ [Exclusive Interview]

James Chen is one of those actors who you recognize from just about everything. Now, with upcoming roles on FBI and Iron Fist, Chen is ready to take the world by storm.

As an Asian-American actor, Chen has always been vocal about the need for more meaningful Asian-American roles in Hollywood. In fact, when Tell-Tale TV spoke with him, he spoke about this subject passionately and extensively.

“There have been lots of articles in the past few weeks about networks scrambling to get more Asian content in their pitches. It’s been a very Asian August,” Chen explained enthusiastically, also mentioning how “great” Crazy Rich Asians is.

This led our conversation right into his role on Iron Fist. He plays the character Sam Chung, who comic book fans know as Blindspot.

“In the comics, I understand Chung is this incredible vigilante, Blindspot,” Chen said. “He comes from China to the U.S. He seeks out Daredevil for training help.”

Chen was quick to speak about his excitement for this new opportunity.

“It is very exciting to be a part of Marvel. It is just fantastic to get to work with Finn [Jones] and Jessica [Henwick] and getting to meet Simone [Missick],” he continued.

Plenty of research and training went into Chen’s preparation for his role as Sam, and the actor was more than happy to talk about all he did to really get into that headspace.

“I’m lucky to live in New York City, and so Chinatown is literally few subway stops away. In addition to all the time I’ve spent there over the years exploring, eating out, and volunteering, it was great to just immerse myself in the neighborhood more from the POV of Sam Chung and let my imagination explore,” Chen said.

“I’ve been training MMA for the past 8 months or so, so should the Iron Fist powers-that-be decide to expand on Sam Chung’s Blindspot vigilante side, I’m ready!” he continued.

Chen is incredibly excited to be part of the growing Asian-American movement in Hollywood, particularly where it comes to Asian-American actors in superhero properties.

“Asian-Americans are having their moment right now. That’s probably just the beginning of this huge movement,” he said. “I think aside from Benedict Wong playing Wong in Doctor Strange, there are very few (if any) Asian-American superheroes I can think of who have been realized in the Marvel Universe.”

Chen’s early life was largely behind his desire to get into the entertainment industry.

“You didn’t read about me striking it rich with oil in Utah?” Chen joked before continuing with the real story.

“I didn’t grow up in a performing household. But when I was a kid, my dad would drop a buddy and me off at the movie theater,” he recalled. “We’d go see a movie, play some video games, see a second feature, play video games. It was my thing. I just knew it was a hyper-real immersion thing for me.”

“It was really his fault,” Chen jokingly said of his dad. “We would sit up late at night watching the Tonight Show or Late Night with Conan O’Brien.”

“Something about seeing the actors come on every night and talk about their show, talk about their process and stuff. And then show clips from their movie. Something about that process seemed incredibly attractive to me,” he said.

From there, our conversation turned to Chen’s newest role as Iam Lim on the new Dick Wolf project, FBI. It’s clear from how he speaks about the show just how excited he is for people to see it.

“It is a procedural in the sense that we are solving a new crime, presenting a new incident, every episode,” he said. “These are much higher stakes, with much higher-pressure time limits. It’s just that much higher octane to get it done, I think.”

“It’s [Law & Order] SVU on crack!” Chen joked.

The main difference from Law & Order, according to Chen, is that FBI is “grittier” and “has a cinematic air,” with what feels like a higher production value.

Chen’s character, Iam Lim, is part of the computer analysis team of the FBI.

“Any time [the team] come[s] across a crucial piece of technology or they need help using technology to perhaps infiltrate some aspects of the piece they’re pursuing, I come in and basically facilitate them and collaborate with them on how to make that happen given the constraints they’re working with,” Chen said of Iam’s role within the series. “We’re working together as a team to get straight to the heart of the crisis.”

“Iam is extremely smart and he knows it,” he said in describing his character. “He wants you to know it too. So don’t forget. It’s a fine line [between cocky and confident]. Iam would tell you ‘Hey, I just know how good I am.'”

Finally, when asked about his dream collaborators, Chen’s response was a perfect continuation of his passion for working with Asian-American creators: “I’m really loving Sandra Oh as a role model and hero, and it would be an honor to work with her and Cary Fukunaga!”

It’s clear to see that the world is just starting to change for all Asian-American actors, and Chen is all too happy to be a part of that movement.

Be sure to check out the premiere of FBI on Tuesday, September 25th at 9/8c on CBS.

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