HN Entertainment was lucky enough to speak with Power Rangers and Aquaman actor Ludi Lin for an interview conducted by our very own Nicholas Whitcomb. Some of the topics we covered with Ludi included Marvel Studios’ big-budget comic book project Shang-Chi, The Eternals, and also that he may have attempted to land the Spike Spiegel role in Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop.
Along with his thoughts on superheroes, manga/anime, comic books, and diversity.
HN: I know we touched briefly on this last time, but Marvel is making Shang-Chi. That’s going to be the first Asian-led superhero film it’s a pretty big deal. It’s going to be a high-budget comic book movie. Do you have any thoughts on that?
LIN: “It’s a huge deal. Kudos to them for finally making that happen and the courage and daring to take the first step, making something like that. “
“Such a positive force of representation too. “
“It’s quite a while down the road, so I know they’re gearing up for it. But nothing certain, I’m just excited. Whoever gets the role, I already know that I already won because it’ll be a huge step for representation and I’ll know they’ll do a good job on it, whoever gets cast. “
HN: But we want you to get cast though.
LIN: “Of course, I want to be cast, but you never know. So I’m already happy they’re making something like this. And then, if the opportunity comes, what is meant to be is what is meant to be.”
HN: Are you a fan of comic books? Are there any superheroes besides Shang-Chi you’d be interested in playing? Maybe someone like Namor?
LIN: “I’m a huge fan of comic books. Mangas and comic books.”
“I just want them to start getting anime remakes right. And then, a lot of different anime characters that I’d love to play.”
“One of my favorite series was Cowboy Bebop and I tried to do my best to get into Spike’s character. But I’m so happy that John Cho got the role, I think he’s going to do a brilliant job. I can’t wait to see the series. I think it’s one of those series that they could possibly get right because the source material is so rich and imaginative.”
“I think comic books really for me as a minority and for me having grown up as an outsider most of the time. Comic books and superheroes represented something very important to me because they represented someone standing up for the outsider and standing up for the voices that are afraid to speak up.”
“That’s why nerds or outsiders really gravitate towards them cause whether you’re an introvert or whether you like to do your own thing, why should be persecuted because of that? It’s just who you are. So someone needs to stand-up for that.”
“I used to get into fights all the time growing up. That’s how I got into fights because I thought something was unjust or unfair. I get dragged into the principle’s office almost every single lunch hour.”
“One day my mum had to come in and my homeroom teacher actually sat her down and I thought it was going to be quite serious, but my homeroom teacher goes ‘You know, Ludi gets into fights every single day, but he always fights for what he thinks is right and that is important’. “
“That was the only time that someone had said something like that brought tears to my eyes because it affected me so deeply. So that’s what comic book characters represent to me.”
“That’s the core of all the superheroes and what additional powers they have to me is just icing on the cake. Whether it’s Iron Man, cause I don’t see why couldn’t have an Asian Iron Man because of all the technological development in Asia, why not, right? Whether it’s Namor from another underwater realm or whoever you can imagine. Whether it’s one of The Eternals that’s a perfect opportunity to cast diversely.”
“If they give us the chance we’ll do a good job because it means way more to us because it’s an opportunity we can’t waste. So that’s why you seeing so many diverse celebrities doing such a great job and giving great performances because these opportunities are so rare.”
“So to the fans out there trust us to bring justice to these roles.”
Ludi also mentioned an interest in working with The Eternals director Chole Zhao calling her movie The Rider one of his favorite films and if he landed a role he’d study “the crap” out of the source material after admittedly not being terribly familiar with the obscure Marvel characters.
A huge thanks to Ludi Lin for speaking with us and we will have much more from our interview with him in the very near future. Please make sure to watch his new Black Mirror episode Striking Vipers, which is currently available on Netflix.
