Actor Rich Ting has several career goals — two of which include being on a Dick Wolf-produced series and staying in Los Angeles County, where he was born and raised — to film. With Prime Video’s On Call, Ting gets to do precisely that.
“I’ve been manifesting this whole situation for a long time, honestly,” Ting tells The Nerds of Color. “And I manifested Dick Wolf. I manifested [playing a] police officer and, more importantly, the West Coast.”
Set in Long Beach, California, On Call follows veteran training officer Traci Harmon (Troian Bellisario) and her rookie partner Alex Diaz (Brandon Larracuente) as they respond to emergency calls. Ting plays Sergeant Koyama, Traci’s former training officer and now the head of the drug division. Koyama and Harmon share a special relationship despite the rest of the department having suspicions about her.
“One thing [co-creator] Tim Walsh has always referred me to was the Obi-Wan to Traci Harmon,” Ting says. “[When the show starts, Bellisario’s] character has been a 12-year veteran in law enforcement. I have a history with her as her senior, mentor, and advocate. We have a special and personal relationship, and I want to take care of her and look out for her best interest. It’s beautiful how Walsh and [other co-creator] Elliot [Wolf] sprinkled this Sergeant Koyama spice throughout the entire season to show my maturity and the level I play in the Long Beach Police Department. Being cast as a mentor to our lead’s character was fantastic.”
Playing a Southern California-based Asian American law enforcement officer wasn’t a far stretch for Ting. Like Ting, the Japanese-Chinese American character was a former college football star from the South Bay. The only difference between the two was their ultimate path. Instead of law enforcement, Ting studied law as an attorney before finding his love of acting.
“Shout out to Elliot Wolf and Tim Walsh for allowing me the freedom to make this character me,” says Ting. “One thing Tim stressed at the beginning of our conversations, prior to filming, was that he wanted me to feel comfortable in this character representing an Asian American male police officer. He allowed me to bring my personal history.”
The character’s last name itself is an homage to Ting’s Japanese American mother. He says proudly, “I’m able to represent him with my mother’s maiden name right off the bat. That was very personal to me.”
With the South Bay in Southern California home to the largest population of Japanese American and Japanese immigrants and right next to Long Beach, Ting says the On Call writers showed a lot of cultural sensitivity to his character and the community in which the show takes place.
“Long Beach has always been in my backyard,” Ting shares. “Right there, there’s a personal connection, just geographically, with the community. Tim allowed me to bring my own ethnicity and my personal story to Sgt. Koyama has been the biggest win in my career in this industry because of all these invisible ceilings we’re always fighting against.”
Ting also says Long Beach is finally getting its due onscreen. Snoop Dogg and several artists have shined a light on the beach city, but there have never been shows dedicated to its background.
“[Los Angeles] has been on the map for generations in Hollywood,” says Ting. “The LBC has not gotten to be in the limelight. Because of my childhood and growing up here, there are so many [cultures and demographics]. It’s a huge community with all different elements. We get to put Long Beach on the map to show its diversity, culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and everything. It’s a huge win for this show and what makes us different. I couldn’t be more proud to be on a show that showcases Long Beach for the first time.”
Check out the full conversation below:
On Call premieres on January 9 on Prime Video.
