5 things to know about Olivia Liang, star of CW’s new Kung Fu reboot
Olivia Liang to star in a reboot of the seventies series (featuring David Carradine) as Asian-American actors gain recognition following Parasite’s Oscar-winning success
Olivia Liang’s credits include a role in CW’s Legacies and a brief stint as a teaching assistant in Grey’s Anatomy. She has also directed a web series. Now, she’s ready to take the spotlight in the lead role in the CW reboot of Kung Fu.
Parasite’s recent success at the Academy Awards had a domino effect in the entertainment industry: Asian-American actors are now turning heads and gaining recognition for their acting, opening the doors for representation and visibility on screen.
Case in point: The CW reboot of Kung Fu has cast Liang as its female lead – a deviation from the seventies series which had David Carradine as its original front runner, Deadline reports.
She will play a young Chinese-American woman, Nicky Chen, a college dropout who goes on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. Upon returning to her hometown, rife with crime and corruption, she becomes a superhero in her own right, using her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to fight injustice. As the story unfolds, she will search for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is targeting her.
According to Deadline, Tzi Ma and Kheng Hua Tan will play Liang’s parents. Jon Prasida, Shannon Dang and Eddie Liu will also join the series. Here are five things you should know about the rising Asian-American star:
Liang likes to read