A Journey with the Cast of Lulu Wang's Expats

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,000 In this episode of Pop Culture Weekly, it's all about the Prime Video Limited Series X-Pats and I'm talking with the cast. Ready? Let's go! 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Welcome to Pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon from I Heart Radio. 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:24,000 Your Pop Culture News, Views, Reviews, and Celebrity Interviews on all the movies, TV, music, and Pop Culture you crave. Weekly. Here's Kyle McMahon. 4 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:48,000 Hello and welcome to Pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon. I of course am Kyle McMahon and I am so excited because we have a brand new episode for you and this one is all about X-Pats which is an incredible limited series on Prime Video and it is really, really amazing. 5 00:00:48,000 --> 00:01:00,000 It stars Nicole Kidman and Soraiu Blue, G Young You, Brian T. Jack Houston and it is the creator, director, and writer. 6 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:11,000 It is Lulu Wang who she is absolutely incredible too. If you're unfamiliar with Lulu Wang for some reason, come on. 7 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:30,000 You're a Pop Culture lover, that's why you're hanging out with me on this show. But Lulu is best known for I would say the Farewell, a film that was released in 2019 that is really incredible if you have not seen it. Go watch that as soon as you're done here. 8 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:44,000 One of the top 10 films of 2019 by the American Film Institute received an independent Spirit Award for Best Film. It was actually one Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for Aquafina for it. 9 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:55,000 Critics Choice, I mean it just was really an incredible film that you got to watch. Lulu Wang is an incredible creator, writer, director, and that really shows an X-Pats. 10 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:06,000 So what X-Pats is about, it basically centers on around these X-patriots. It is based on a book called the X-patriots by Janice Waike Lee. 11 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:20,000 It centers around this X-Pat community over in Hong Kong in 2014. And these three women's lives that have, you know, are kind of forced to intersect through this tragedy. 12 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:33,000 It is really, really, really incredible. It's six episodes on Prime Video really, really, really worth your time. Nicole Kidman is amazing. The whole cast is amazing. 13 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:45,000 And today I talk with Lulu Wang herself, as well as G-Young You, who plays Mercy Jack Houston, Sarayu Blue, and Brian T. 14 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:52,000 So I am talking with the cast and we've got lots of good stuff to get into. So let's get right into it. All right. 15 00:02:52,000 --> 00:03:01,000 First up, let's talk with G-Young You and Sarayu Blue, all about X-Pats. Here we go. 16 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,000 Thank you both for speaking with me. I really appreciate it. 17 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:05,000 Thank you. 18 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:26,000 So first of all, X-Pats is incredibly powerful art. It is all I can describe it as. It is so thought-provoking. And, you know, for me watching you as artists is really a treat in so many ways. 19 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:33,000 What was it like for both of you to be a part of such a powerful story? 20 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:47,000 I mean, I think I can safely say it was a dream come true, you know, to get to play characters that are so layered and complicated and complex and being a world of humans who are layered and complicated and complex. 21 00:03:47,000 --> 00:04:01,000 And to just be a part of a show that leaves you with so many questions and few answers is always exciting and kind of I think why so many artists gravitate to storytelling in the first place. 22 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,000 And how do you do that? 23 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:14,000 I would totally agree. I think it's always a privilege and kind of a miracle when you're able to work on something with incredible writing and with an incredible team. 24 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:20,000 So to be able to do this show is just like it's honestly like winning the lottery. 25 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:32,000 And, you know, in one of the other interviews I had kind of likened the story to, you know, as an expat, you're already kind of isolated in many ways in like an island. 26 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:43,000 And then with some of the, you know, things that are going on in the series is even more isolating and like being on an island. 27 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:57,000 And it's so layered and rich. Where did you pull from? I mean, obviously you're a very talented artist and that's what you do. But how do you get to a place like that? You know, for your character. 28 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:06,000 I mean, I would say emotionally it can be very exhausting and very hard to do a show that is as intense as this show is. 29 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:16,000 But in many ways it's very easy when you have good writing. Great writing makes it very easy to find the emotions and I think the show has phenomenal writing. 30 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:25,000 So a lot of the scenes that honestly do it themselves. I would read them and think about it and cry. My goodness, it's just one of those things. 31 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:33,000 I also think, you know, it's interesting. We've gotten this question a few times and every time I kind of am like grappling like what is it? 32 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:39,000 Part of it is what Gying is saying for me. It is very much at the writing was all there and so we were very lucky to just have this. 33 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:47,000 The life is there and all we got to do is step into it. There's also another element that I'm realizing is most of us feel very alone. 34 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:59,000 And that's just this really deep truth. And there is that experience just of being alive and being a human in the world that we all connect to and part of it is feeling alone. 35 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:05,000 And what's really great is there is this point where you start to realize that's universal and that's why you're not alone. 36 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:15,000 But I think many of us in the world resonate with not feeling seen, not feeling understood and feeling like little baby fishes out of water. 37 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:19,000 And I think that's the universal truth of our show. 38 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:24,000 That's so powerful. I love that. That's like a big aha I think at least for me where. 39 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:40,000 Yes, you know, and so many people find so much uncomfortableness in that fact of being alone that they fill it with maybe things that aren't healthy or whatever it is. 40 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:44,000 And where as you're saying so so beautifully. 41 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:55,000 And it is kind of a human condition to feel alone, you know, and maybe more so at some points than others in the course of our lives. 42 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:03,000 And maybe more so some person may feel more alone generally than another, but it is a human condition. 43 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,000 And we have to live with that and live through that in many ways. 44 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,000 Yes, very much that. 45 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:18,000 And sort of the reason I find what is it that's why this art is so amazing, right? Because it's very specific, but that's also that specific is what makes it universal. 46 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:23,000 Yeah, yeah, thank you both so much. It is an absolute. 47 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:30,000 I can't wait for everybody to see expats. You both are such incredible artists, the cast, Lulu itself. 48 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,000 It's just perfect and I can't wait for everybody to see it. Thank you for speaking with me. 49 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,000 Thank you so much. 50 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:42,000 Are you blue and G young you two incredible actors really great in this. 51 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:46,000 I can't wait for you to see expats and then talk to me about it. It's really good. 52 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:52,000 Next stop we are talking with Lulu Wang herself again. 53 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,000 You know, I talked about Lulu Wang at the top of the show. 54 00:07:55,000 --> 00:08:10,000 So an incredible visionary as a creator, writer, director and she really, really, really has done an incredible job with this, you know, bringing it from the book to a series. 55 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:18,000 It's just beautifully told and you got to watch it. So anyway, here is my interview with Lulu Wang. 56 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,000 Thank you so much, Lulu, for speaking with me. 57 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:32,000 I really appreciate it. expats is an incredible work of art that I am deeply moved by and I can't wait for everybody to see it. 58 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:33,000 Thank you. 59 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:40,000 Of course, I feel like we've trauma bounded even though I've never met you with especially the farewell all of your work. 60 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:50,000 I found so much, you know, such a connection through your storytelling and the farewell and I've noticed in your work that there seems to be some recurring themes. 61 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:58,000 Relating to trauma and family and connection. Is that purposeful for you? 62 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:10,000 Yeah, absolutely. I think that I obviously come from a family with a lot of trauma as many of us do. 63 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:20,000 And also a lot of humor, so there's always that intersection of, like, you know, kind of laughing through the pain. It's the only way. 64 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:31,000 And in connection, I think my biggest fear in life, I've come to realize, is being misunderstood because in a way I've always been misunderstood. 65 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:51,000 And no matter which circle I'm in, I'm the outsider. And so I have the reason that I create art in a way is to be heard and to hopefully, you know, kind of process some of my own thoughts and traumas and just be seen. 66 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:59,000 And so I think like I definitely explore characters who probably deal with some of those same fears of being misunderstood. 67 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:21,000 That's powerful. And that's to me, that's what great art does. Both for artists and for, you know, viewers watching expats, you know, in one of the other interviews I mentioned that I feel like, and I'm not, but I feel like if I was an expat, I kind of feel in many ways, at least to a point, kind of on like an island, if you will. 68 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:32,000 And then the, you know, some of the situations that the characters are dealing with kind of puts them even on an island on their island. You know what I mean? 69 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:33,000 Yeah. 70 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:45,000 And all of the range of human emotions in the human condition that all come with that too. Is that part of what drew you to telling the story? 71 00:10:45,000 --> 00:11:04,000 Yeah, that's such a perceptive comment because, you know, I think I always thought about expats as a bubble. And why do we create bubbles, right? We create bubbles because it's familiar because it's safe because we're afraid. 72 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:16,000 And so when we're in foreign places, it's very easy to kind of retreat back to what you know, even though there's this great opportunity right outside your door to experience a whole new world. 73 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:33,000 We often don't. And in many ways, we are all living in a bubble, right? Because we are marketed to, there's algorithms that tell you how to think, what to read, what to listen to, what to watch, what to eat. 74 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:54,000 And so I wanted to break out of that bubble. It was really important that, you know, we were looking at the bubble from the outside as well to show these different perspectives and to show what can happen when we really expand our perspective. 75 00:11:54,000 --> 00:12:14,000 Yeah, so, you know, what you're saying is so profound to me and comes through beautifully through the series, it's scary outside of that bubble, you know. And I feel as you're saying this, I feel like I'm realizing that it can also be scary inside of your bubble, you know. 76 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:22,460 expats kind of puts us, interestingly enough, in the world of somebody who is in a kind 77 00:12:22,460 --> 00:12:27,180 of their own bubble being an expat, but then their own bubble of isolation or pain or 78 00:12:27,180 --> 00:12:33,220 trauma and how our bubbles sometimes-- whether we want them to or not-- have to intersect. 79 00:12:33,220 --> 00:12:34,140 Absolutely. 80 00:12:34,140 --> 00:12:35,140 Yeah. 81 00:12:35,140 --> 00:12:36,140 Yeah. 82 00:12:36,140 --> 00:12:41,140 I mean, the other scary thing about being in a bubble, which you don't recognize, is that 83 00:12:41,140 --> 00:12:44,100 you can also get kicked out of that bubble, right? 84 00:12:44,100 --> 00:12:49,520 If you become-- we stay in our bubble because we feel like it's safe, but the minute that 85 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:53,940 you deviate, then you become the threat, you get kicked out of that bubble. 86 00:12:53,940 --> 00:12:58,640 And so, like, in my life as somebody who's always in between worlds, I never fully belong 87 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:03,060 in any one bubble because I have so many different bubbles and pockets of people. 88 00:13:03,060 --> 00:13:06,780 And so there's a part of me that just like is like, no, you're all more alike than you 89 00:13:06,780 --> 00:13:14,540 think, just collide, just have a communion of some sort. 90 00:13:14,540 --> 00:13:15,540 I love that. 91 00:13:15,540 --> 00:13:20,620 Lulu, thank you so much for speaking with me today and thank-- I cannot wait for everybody 92 00:13:20,620 --> 00:13:22,100 to see this series. 93 00:13:22,100 --> 00:13:26,980 It is so powerful and you have just, as always, creating elevated art. 94 00:13:26,980 --> 00:13:27,980 Thank you. 95 00:13:27,980 --> 00:13:28,980 Thank you very much. 96 00:13:28,980 --> 00:13:29,980 I really appreciate it. 97 00:13:29,980 --> 00:13:31,980 Lulu Wang! 98 00:13:31,980 --> 00:13:32,980 Incredible. 99 00:13:32,980 --> 00:13:37,660 I really love her. I'm so happy for her that she is getting her flowers. 100 00:13:37,660 --> 00:13:40,420 And I think she'll be doing that with expats as well. 101 00:13:40,420 --> 00:13:41,420 All right. 102 00:13:41,420 --> 00:13:46,780 Next up, Jack Houston and Brian T. Brian, I've talked to before for-- I believe it was one 103 00:13:46,780 --> 00:13:53,020 of the fast-- no, it was for PBS, a capital fourth or National Memorial Day concert. 104 00:13:53,020 --> 00:13:54,020 That's what it was. 105 00:13:54,020 --> 00:13:55,580 National Memorial Day concert. 106 00:13:55,580 --> 00:13:57,700 This time, obviously, I'm talking to him about expats. 107 00:13:57,700 --> 00:14:04,780 And he's here with Jack Houston, who you may know as Ben Hurr from the 2016 series, is 108 00:14:04,780 --> 00:14:07,780 also in Fargo on FX. 109 00:14:07,780 --> 00:14:10,300 I believe it was the fourth season. 110 00:14:10,300 --> 00:14:16,380 And again, two incredible actors that I'm really excited to talk to. 111 00:14:16,380 --> 00:14:23,380 Brian, of course, has been playing Dr. Ethan Choi on all the Chicago series, Chicago med, 112 00:14:23,380 --> 00:14:24,540 and all the spin-offs. 113 00:14:24,540 --> 00:14:29,860 He was in Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift, the Wolverine Jurassic World Teenage Mutant Ninja 114 00:14:29,860 --> 00:14:33,140 Turtles out of the shadows, and he's a great guy. 115 00:14:33,140 --> 00:14:36,540 So there you go. 116 00:14:36,540 --> 00:14:43,300 So let's get into my conversation with Jack Houston and Brian T. 117 00:14:43,300 --> 00:14:46,860 First of all, thank you, Brian and Jack, for speaking with me. 118 00:14:46,860 --> 00:14:53,900 This series is incredibly taught and thrilling. 119 00:14:53,900 --> 00:14:56,660 It's incredible. 120 00:14:56,660 --> 00:15:04,740 What was it like to be a part of a project like this that is so many things? 121 00:15:04,740 --> 00:15:10,980 I think it's one of those projects as an actor, as an artist, that you dream about being 122 00:15:10,980 --> 00:15:12,740 a part of, to be completely honest. 123 00:15:12,740 --> 00:15:21,620 I think the elevation of story and character, and especially the very strong, talented, brilliant 124 00:15:21,620 --> 00:15:29,620 women that we were able to write the co-tales on in that sense, was something for me that 125 00:15:29,620 --> 00:15:32,740 I've never been a part of, and just a dream of mine. 126 00:15:32,740 --> 00:15:37,820 So it's just one of those things as far as an artist is concerned as far as an actor. 127 00:15:37,820 --> 00:15:42,620 Because of the quality of work, because of the quality of people that you really strive 128 00:15:42,620 --> 00:15:48,900 for, and I'm very blessed to be sitting here with Jack and to be a part of this whole journey. 129 00:15:48,900 --> 00:15:51,180 Yeah, completely agree. 130 00:15:51,180 --> 00:15:54,020 So you feel the same, Jack? 131 00:15:54,020 --> 00:15:55,020 I do. 132 00:15:55,020 --> 00:15:59,780 It's just so nice when you go to work and you sort of love every second of it. 133 00:15:59,780 --> 00:16:01,780 It's a real treat. 134 00:16:01,780 --> 00:16:03,180 That is the privilege for us. 135 00:16:03,180 --> 00:16:09,260 It's like when you're working on material that you truly care about, written and directed 136 00:16:09,260 --> 00:16:18,580 and produced and just put together by these incredible women who, you know, with such complexities 137 00:16:18,580 --> 00:16:24,660 and such tragedy and so funny and all of the layers that you're looking for when you go 138 00:16:24,660 --> 00:16:27,540 to work and you really get to explore it. 139 00:16:27,540 --> 00:16:32,780 And that's the great thing about TV these days is you really get to go further and really 140 00:16:32,780 --> 00:16:35,820 sort of like flesh out these characters. 141 00:16:35,820 --> 00:16:41,460 You have six hours, you know, six and a half hours in this case, to really go on a journey 142 00:16:41,460 --> 00:16:43,460 and I think it's... 143 00:16:43,460 --> 00:16:45,980 I even watching it from the other side. 144 00:16:45,980 --> 00:16:51,460 I always like reading things that I say, oh, I watch this and it far exceeded what I... 145 00:16:51,460 --> 00:16:54,300 When I saw it, I was like, this is wonderful. 146 00:16:54,300 --> 00:16:55,300 This is brilliant. 147 00:16:55,300 --> 00:16:57,100 I don't even want to call it television. 148 00:16:57,100 --> 00:16:58,100 It's so elevated. 149 00:16:58,100 --> 00:16:59,100 No, you're right. 150 00:16:59,100 --> 00:17:00,100 You're absolutely right. 151 00:17:00,100 --> 00:17:01,500 I think it's a cinematic experience. 152 00:17:01,500 --> 00:17:02,500 Yeah, it is. 153 00:17:02,500 --> 00:17:05,700 What we've created is a six and a half hour movie. 154 00:17:05,700 --> 00:17:06,700 And that sense. 155 00:17:06,700 --> 00:17:11,180 And, you know, to be able, like Jack was saying, to be able to delve deeper into those particular 156 00:17:11,180 --> 00:17:17,100 characters for an extended period of time is such a gift, such a gift. 157 00:17:17,100 --> 00:17:20,340 And it's a gift for the viewer as well. 158 00:17:20,340 --> 00:17:21,340 For me, this... 159 00:17:21,340 --> 00:17:25,540 You know, there's many things that I'm trying to be as spoiler free as possible. 160 00:17:25,540 --> 00:17:32,740 But one of the big things for me is is that you're away from home and that's isolating in 161 00:17:32,740 --> 00:17:33,740 itself. 162 00:17:33,740 --> 00:17:39,140 And you have so many of these characters that are also, I feel, on their own kind of 163 00:17:39,140 --> 00:17:41,940 island in their own isolation. 164 00:17:41,940 --> 00:17:45,220 What is the series for you, for both of you? 165 00:17:45,220 --> 00:17:47,380 It's very cute, isn't it? 166 00:17:47,380 --> 00:17:49,180 Because it is very much... 167 00:17:49,180 --> 00:17:55,580 It's a very lonely show because everybody's going through their own trauma and they're 168 00:17:55,580 --> 00:17:59,460 dealing with it in their way, the only way they know how. 169 00:17:59,460 --> 00:18:01,460 So it is. 170 00:18:01,460 --> 00:18:06,060 It's almost like they are trying to break out of their own island. 171 00:18:06,060 --> 00:18:08,100 They're sort of like subdued for you, whatever it is. 172 00:18:08,100 --> 00:18:11,780 It's very astute to pick it out like that. 173 00:18:11,780 --> 00:18:12,780 Yeah. 174 00:18:12,780 --> 00:18:19,420 I think when dealing with tragedy and hardship and pain, it's a very lonely place to be. 175 00:18:19,420 --> 00:18:22,340 And I think anyone can really relate to that. 176 00:18:22,340 --> 00:18:24,260 I think that's the brilliance of this show. 177 00:18:24,260 --> 00:18:27,380 Each one of their characters are going through their different aspects, right? 178 00:18:27,380 --> 00:18:30,620 And almost like you were saying in an island type of way. 179 00:18:30,620 --> 00:18:34,660 But yet audiences can really gravitate towards and relate to these particular characters 180 00:18:34,660 --> 00:18:36,620 with the experiences that they're going through. 181 00:18:36,620 --> 00:18:40,300 So I think audiences are going to enjoy this as much as we do. 182 00:18:40,300 --> 00:18:43,740 I mean, I think it's such an elevated piece of art, right? 183 00:18:43,740 --> 00:18:50,380 That far exceeded our expectations and both of us are sit back here gleaming with them 184 00:18:50,380 --> 00:18:53,940 and wanting to talk about this and share this to the world. 185 00:18:53,940 --> 00:19:00,140 Thank you both so much, Luloo Zajinis and how you have brought her vision and the book's 186 00:19:00,140 --> 00:19:04,900 vision is an absolute must see in my opinion for everybody. 187 00:19:04,900 --> 00:19:06,780 I can't wait for everybody to see it. 188 00:19:06,780 --> 00:19:07,780 Thank you both so much. 189 00:19:07,780 --> 00:19:08,780 Thank you, God. 190 00:19:08,780 --> 00:19:09,780 And that's awesome. 191 00:19:09,780 --> 00:19:10,780 Thank you for saying that, man. 192 00:19:10,780 --> 00:19:11,780 That's awesome. 193 00:19:11,780 --> 00:19:12,780 Of course. 194 00:19:12,780 --> 00:19:14,140 It's my pleasure, truly. 195 00:19:14,140 --> 00:19:15,140 Thank you. 196 00:19:15,140 --> 00:19:16,140 Yeah. 197 00:19:16,140 --> 00:19:17,140 Thank you, bud. 198 00:19:17,140 --> 00:19:19,860 Jack Houston, Brian C. All right. 199 00:19:19,860 --> 00:19:21,780 That's our episode for today. 200 00:19:21,780 --> 00:19:23,100 Go and watch X-pads. 201 00:19:23,100 --> 00:19:29,620 I believe the first two episodes are on Prime Video right now and you will really, really, 202 00:19:29,620 --> 00:19:33,380 really, really enjoy this series. 203 00:19:33,380 --> 00:19:39,420 So see it, hit me up on socials or through the talk back button on the IHR radio app or 204 00:19:39,420 --> 00:19:43,620 however you want to hit me up and let's talk X-pads. 205 00:19:43,620 --> 00:19:44,620 All right. 206 00:19:44,620 --> 00:19:45,620 I love you. 207 00:19:45,620 --> 00:19:46,620 I'll see you next week. 208 00:19:46,620 --> 00:19:47,620 Yeah. 209 00:19:47,620 --> 00:19:49,620 Thank you for listening to Pop Culture Weekly. 210 00:19:49,620 --> 00:19:53,420 You're all the latest at popcultureweekly.com. 211 00:19:53,420 --> 00:19:58,900 [MUSIC] 212 00:19:58,900 --> 00:20:22,700 [MUSIC]