Netflix’s The Brothers Sun is more than just a drama about triads and Taiwanese gangsters. For actors Justin Chien and Sam Li, the new series, set to release on January 4, tells the story of family and two worlds coming together.
Li plays Bruce Sun, a Taiwanese American college student who dreams of becoming an actor and has no idea of his family ties to the triads. Then, there is Charles Sun (Chien), born and raised in Taiwan and deeply entrenched in the family business, despite his dreams of becoming a chef. They finally come together when Charles must go to Los Angeles to protect his mother (Michelle Yeoh) and Bruce — finally causing their worlds to collide.
“My first reaction was that this was so badass,” Li tells The Nerds of Color. “It was so cool. There were so many fun things happening and I just remember seeing so many things I thought I’d never seen before on a TV show. It was really unique and one of a kind in that way.”
A series like this doesn’t come often, telling the story of Asian gangsters that aren’t told through the lens of a white man. For Chien, who really got to enjoy being this monster with a heart, felt goosebumps reading the story.
“I feel like the writers had an amazing job of crafting an arc and dynamic story for each one of our characters,” says Chien. “So my inspirations for this character were Hugh Jackman from the movie Logan and a lot of Tom Hardy’s performances.”
In the interview below, Chien and Li talk about having Taiwanese triads in the spotlight and how this series is more than just a gangster show:
The Brothers Sun debuts on Netflix on January 4.