Local rising star making his debut appearance on Netflix series
Posted May 6, 2021 04:44:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Halifax-raised actor Chase Tang will be making his debut on the new series Jupiter’s Legacy when the sci-fi series premieres May 7 on Netflix.
Cast as a villainous character named Baryon in the highly-anticipated superhero drama, Tang admits it may be a minor role but he is just happy the part will finally see the light of day.
“I almost have to trace back how long ago it was (we filmed) but it was quite a while ago for sure,” says the Bedford-bred star about shooting Jupiter’s Legacy in Toronto long before the pandemic.
He recalls auditioning in 2019 for the first season of the series that follows offspring of superheroes struggling to live up to their parents’ extraordinary feats. Based on a popular comic-book series by Mark Millar (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Tang’s character was invented exclusively for the Netflix adaptation.
“I’m not even really sure of the reasoning in terms of why that particular character was created,” admits Tang. “(But) I have no doubt it’s going to be very, very successful.”
Tang is also hoping the launch of the series will set in motion what has been a rather slow year for artists like himself amid restrictions caused by the pandemic. He admits that after 2019 saw the corporate executive-turned-actor gaining a decent amount of work, opportunities quickly dried up in 2020.
“There was a string of time where it wasn’t so busy. When I look back at this past year, a lot of it has definitely been a bit of a blur,” says Tang, who was living and working out of Los Angeles for three months at the start of the pandemic.
He says acting jobs were quickly halted and after returning to his homebase in Hamilton, he discovered auditions were still few and far between.
“I still consider myself pretty new to acting and the fact that I have been at it only about 5 years now, you start to question when things will begin to pick up,” says Tang. “There were definitely moments where you start to question and sort of doubt where things might go.”
Where Tang did go was to Taiwan for two months in that downtime. There, he kept busy as a global spokesperson for a popular bubble tea brand until the pandemic had cooled in late summer.
Upon his return, he quickly landed a role in a thriller called The Devil’s Void, written and directed by Thet Win.
“The acting thing is actually quite small so you kind of just meet people through a lot of different circles so he just asked me if I wanted to be a part of this and sent along the script,” admits Tang of how the role came about. “I thought it was very, very interesting.”
While the film focuses on a group of people that underestimate the “severity of the evil that dwells within” a cottage they encounter, Tang says the story is much more complex and fascinating.
“Every character has its own back story and everyone, even if they appear a certain way, they still might have a little sin if you want put it like that,” says Tang of the movie, still in production. “At a high level, that’s what the premise is — never take anyone at face value.”
It is still undetermined what platform The Devil’s Void will come out on but producers are targeting its release for early 2022. In the meantime, Tang is keeping busy with other projects including the Halifax Public Libraries’ Asian Heritage Month online festivities where he will be participating in a panel discussion on May 27.
Ultimately however, Tang is looking forward to a time when restrictions loosen and more opportunities arise in the acting world, especially for Asian artists.
“There is definitely an effort there,” insists Tang, noting that he has seen more script breakdowns requiring roles for Asian actors recently. “Maybe it’s because a lot of associations like (Screen Actors Guild) or ACTRA are sort of telling these producers we need to start doing this (but) I definitely notice there’s more for sure. But it’s still not as common as Caucasian roles.”
