I got the coronavirus early on, while filming New Amsterdam in New York in March. I felt a scratch in my throat on the plane back to Hawaii, where I live, so I quarantined when I got home and then got tested at a drive-through center. I spoke about it on Instagram in case people found it informative and because I wanted to call out racist behavior against Asian Americans.
I’ve spent about two and a half months in quarantine in 2020 because I’ve been traveling and quarantining before and after every trip. It’s not how I like to work. While I was recovering from the coronavirus, the opportunity to work in Korea came up, which is something I’d always wanted to do. Seoul recovered much faster than the U.S., so I was filming a hybrid Korean and American show there in April.
My workday spans 24 hours: I take early-morning calls with people in Europe, and I’m on calls late at night about projects in Asia. I’ve actually been busier during this pandemic than I was before, because one of the parts of my industry that has stayed active is development.
[In my acting career], every single role that I was up for, my race was a consideration. When I had the chance to become a producer and a creator, I wanted to give a voice to underrepresented communities. The first show I did was The Good Doctor. The main character was a doctor with autism, but it wasn’t just about having autism. It was originally a Korean show that I got the rights to and brought to the States. We recently announced a comedy starring [model and disability advocate] Nyle DiMarco about a young man who is deaf. We’re also doing a heist movie with a primarily Asian American cast: I’ll be in it with [Fresh Off the Boat star] Randall Park, and it’s written by Young Il Kim. Even in quarantine, you can do a lot with an internet connection.
