'Wu Assassins' star Celia Au says Ying Ying's 'young soul and quick wit' make her relatable, gushes about co-star Iko Uwais
‘Wu Assassins’ is one of the most-anticipated Netflix series of August, and for good reason. With martial arts, supernatural heroes, and a primarily Asian cast, this show promises to be unique and intriguing.
As the show’s star Celia Au, who plays the quirky, mysterious Ying Ying, the friend, philosopher, and guide to our hero Kai (Iko Uwais), tells MEA WorldWide, getting hooked on the show is like going on a fun and exciting journey. “There’s martial arts, drama, and fantasy that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Even though this is one of the biggest Asian American casts, our show is extremely diverse with characters one would encounter in big cities like San Francisco", she says.
Even Au’s Ying Ying, for example, is unique despite already falling into a minuscule category of spiritual guides. She actually comes from a dark past, as you will find out more as you watch the series, teases Au, adding how she “isn’t your typical spiritual force; she has a young soul and a quick wit that makes her relatable, especially to an audience in this generation.”
In the series, we see her character leading Kai through his new life, training him in the martial arts, teaching him how to manipulate his new powers to benefit him, showing him that some evil may be necessary for the greater good. Even as Kai wonders why she chose him to be the savior, Au says that was really no other choice for her character.
Ying Ying, as we learn in the series, is not a part of Kai’s life in the real world, but she lives in a timeless realm, where she regularly pulls Kai in and trains him. Au says that while she had a good skeleton of who Ying Ying was, “the details unfolded slowly as the later scripts were written,’ adding how if it were up to her, she’d love to know “more about Ying Ying before she crossed paths (pun intended) with Kai."
We see Ying Ying through Kai’s experiences and interactions with her, but Au is not complaining. She gushes about how her awesome on-screen partner Uwais, who helped her a lot during her monologues. “We goofed around off-camera with everyone because the energy he exudes is uplifting,” she says.
In fact, the whole set was like one big family – Wu Fam, she reveals. “Many dinner parties took place where the cast and crew were both present", she says, voicing the same plus point her co-star Li Jun Li, who portrays Jenny on the show, did: “One of the greatest things about this group that stands out from any other projects that I’ve been on, is that everyone always takes their shoes off without being asked in each other’s homes.”
You can chill with the Wu Fam via Netflix, when 'Wu Assassins' premieres on the streaming platform on August 8.