And what's the sort of like deeper connection that you have here?

Yeah, for sure.

So, I mean, like probably many of you who are becoming more and more social media savvy, you know, I've become really cynical about this idea of celebrity endorsement or influencer endorsement.

And I feel like we've become very smart as consumers.

We can smell kind of something that feels forced or something that feels transactional from a mile away.

And I'm very, very sensitive to that in the way that I present myself online.

I think authenticity has always been a big kind of north star for me.

Yeah, it's a really deep question.

Just for Laughs Montreal celebrates their own.

It was honestly I think my favorite set of the year.

[upbeat music]

And Simu Liu also chats about Shang-Chi's return and going toe-to-toe with Channing Tatum's Gambit in the upcoming Avengers movie.

He kind of brought the exact energy that you would expect, I think for both of us.

We're coming to this franchise from a very similar place, where we have these characters that we've gotten the opportunity to show maybe briefly.

I think it paid off.

Yeah,

yeah, yeah.

Although I will say...

when it happened for me at San Diego and like my phone went ballistic, just like in 10 minutes, like it literally over, by the time I came off stage, it like overheated to the point where I had to turn off all notifications.

Cause it was just crazy.

You know what I felt from, um, Marvel, and actually I'll even say like Western audiences, everyone who wasn't Asian, overwhelmingly positive.

From within Asia, I think it depended on whether it was Asian American or Asian from Asia, like two very distinctly different mentalities, obviously different backgrounds.

I actually really love this question because

[laughs]

My father came over here in the '30s.

I helped him in the laundry business.

That was the worst business there was.

It's a lot of work.

There's no money.

Very, very low price.

[laughs]

So now that you've done it, is it what you expected or is there anything that surprised you about Broadway?

You know, I think there's a lot that's surprising.

I hadn't done stage in a few years, so I think a lot of that whole process and picking it back up was surprising.

Not being able to yell cut if something wasn't quite going right is surprising.

Instead, we're just out there, and if something goes wrong, you just kind of have to fix it.

Keep going.

And then, you know, I'm always very surprised by the amount of cell phones that go off in the

Have you always been a singer?

[laughing]

But no, I feel like there's, you know, maybe, um, a, like, a misconception that theater is, is more, more intimate than, than film and, and as a general statement, but I've actually found the opposite to be true.

I've found I've- that in film, film is a very intimate space for an actor to play in, because oftentimes you're in a close-up, and so, you know, you play in the micro expressions and the glances.

I mean, especially this show that I'm on, The Copenhagen Test, is so much about where Alexander's looking at any, you know, at any given time.

And, like, in a theater of, say, 3,000 people, that's just not gonna play as well.

And so you have to make sure that you're projecting so that the back row can hear you, and, and, you know, you're making these choices and these decisions that, like, are just- they're bigger and they're broader because you need to make sure that the, that, that you're reaching every single person in the audience.

And so, and so I think just getting into that kind of physicality where you're on a stage, you're not being protected by a camera, you're not being protected by editors, and you're just...

Is there, is there anything that you think is transferring over really well?

I mean, it

did.

I sent out this tweet when you're like unemployed and at home, you just like, you tweet.

That's what you did.

You know, so 2018 was this like big kind of watershed moment.

I feel like for everyone.

For everyone that wasn't white in Hollywood, just for lack of a better way of putting it.

That's awesome.

Is that true? I'm so curious about

that.

I sent out this tweet when you're unemployed and at home you just tweet.

That's what you did.

So 2018 was this big kind of watershed moment, I feel like, for everyone.

For everyone that wasn't white in Hollywood, just for lack of a better way of putting it.

But it was like, you know, Crazy Rich Asians, you know, came out.

yeah, that's awesome.

And is it true that he reached out to you and was like, hey, I want to hang?

Look, that's how I'll remember it for the rest of my life.

No, he was, uh, he was shooting, I believe Karate Kid in Montreal and I, and I happened to be in Toronto and, um, we shared a stunt coordinator between, between that movie that he was doing and, and Shang-Chi.

And so it was the stunt coordinator that actually reached out to me and was like, Hey man, I don't know if you're, I don't know if you're close by, but Jackie kind of mentioned, we brought you up in conversation.

You came up and he, and he kind of had said, Oh yeah, why don't, why doesn't he come over and visit? And so I immediately booked a flight to Montreal and, um, And I met him, and I got to watch him rehearse.

And by the way, he's 70 years old, this man, and still moves so incredibly well.

And then we got to have dinner together, and it was just like the most magical, magical time.

Why did you feel like you needed to speak out?

What do you remember about those early years, living with your parents, who you didn't really know, and trying to l- like, acclimate yourself to this new country?

It, it was a couple of funny things.

I remember not understanding English.

Like, I remember being brought to daycare my f- my very first day and, and just [laughs] crying my eyes out the entire time because nobody was sp- like, I couldn't understand anybody.

Um, and I remember that's what it was for the longest time, and, and I know I was learning English through flashcards, and my parents were trying to teach me.

And then one day, it just kinda clicked.

And I'm sure that's not how it actually happened, right? Like, we remember things very differently as, as children.

Can you quickly describe what their teen years were like? Because it's this contrast to your teen years, obviously.

What do you remember about those early years living with your parents, who you didn't really know, and trying to l- like acclimate yourself to this new country?

It is a couple of funny things.

I remember not understanding English.

Like, I remember being brought to daycare my f- my very first day and, and just [laughs] crying my eyes out the entire time because nobody was speak- like, I couldn't understand anybody.

Um, and I remember that's what it was for the longest time and, and I, I know I was learning English through flashcards and my parents were trying to teach me.

And then one day it just kind of clicked, and I'm sure that's not how it actually happened, right? Like, we remember things very differently as, as children.

But, um, it, it honestly felt to me like one day I woke up and, and, and like my brain had switched between thinking in Mandarin and, and thinking in, in English.

Can you quickly describe what their teen years were like? Because it's this contrast to your teen years, obviously.