Actor Simu Liu expressed his disappointment over the abrupt cancelation of family comedy series Kim’s Convenience in a lengthy Facebook post on Wednesday, June 2, also addressing certain speculations about the cast and production of the show.
Liu, who was “feeling a host of emotions,” said that the show was on its last season, “thanks to a decision by our producers not to continue the show after the departure of two showrunners,” Ins Choi and Kevin White. He said that the series could not be “saved,” and that it was “not canceled in a traditional manner,” like how networks would due to poor ratings.
Instead, producers are currently developing a spin-off that will focus on Nicole Power’s character, Shannon Ross, a manager at the place where Jung (played by Simu Liu) works and who is also his girlfriend.
“It’s been difficult for me. Love and am proud of Nicole, and I want the show to succeed for her…but I remain resentful of all the circumstances that led to the one non-Asian character getting her own show,” Liu said, adding that he would “adamantly refuse” to reprise his role if ever he was asked to.
Liu also addressed the rumors about him not wanting to go back for the sixth season.
“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 is starring in the upcoming Marvel film Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings.
“I saw firsthand how profoundly it impacted families and brought people together. It’s truly SO RARE for a show today to have such an impact on people, and I wanted very badly to make the schedules work,” he added, saying that he did want to be a part of the sixth season.
Liu said that he was proud of the show’s impact throughout the years, but he said that he was “growing increasingly frustrated” with the way his character was being portrayed and how he was being treated.
“Everyone is going to have different ideas on where each character ought to go, what stories ought to be told. But it was always my understanding that the lead actors were the stewards of character, and would grow to have more creative insight as the show went on. This was not the case on our show, which was doubly confusing because 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,” he said.
The lack of East Asian and female representation in the writer’s department also was an issue mentioned by Liu. He said that aside from Ins, who was a producer on the show, there were no other Korean voices in that room, and even then, he added that Ins did not do enough to be a “champion” for those voices, even more so when Ins left the show without proper notice.
Liu tried to step up to the role, but he and the other cast were not given the opportunity. “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,” he said.
The actor also stated that there would always be love and respect between the crew, even though they “didn’t always get along with each other” because of differences. One issue mentioned was that the actors were paid at an “absolute horsepoop rate” considering the success of the show, and that “the whole process really opened [his] eyes to the relationship between those with power and those without.”
In the end, he stated that he was saddened by how everything went down but he “still believes in what the show once stood for: a shining example of what can happen when the gates come down and minorities are given a chance to shine.”
Kim’s Convenience is a sitcom about a Korean-Canadian family who owns a convenience store in Toronto, Canada. It follows the couple and their two kids, Janet and Jung, as they navigate their own problems together. – with reports from Angelica Burlaza/Rappler.com
Angelica Burlaza is a Rappler intern.