Trivia / Kung Fu (2021)

• Actor Allusion: Not the first time Kim Rhodes has played a "Carey". Shannon Dang and Olivia Liang even recreated The Suite Life of Zack and Cody theme with Rhodes on Instagram soon after her casting.
• Actor-Shared Background:
  • Shannon Dang, like Althea Shen, was a cheerleader in high school.
  • Jin's political storylines have been inspired in part by actor Tzi Ma's real-life activism, according to the show runners.
  • Gavin Stenhouse (Evan Hartley) was born and raised in British Hong Kong and is in the main cast of a majority-Chinese show.
• California Doubling: The show is filmed throughout British Columbia, standing for San Francisco. But the production team used aerial shots of the actual San Francisco as well.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Olivia Liang took intense training with the show's stunt team to make the fight scenes look real since she doesn't have a martial arts background. Although in interviews with the production team, she does it seriously even on the weekend that she's been told to take it easy.
• Fake American:
  • Keng Hua Tan (Mei-Li Shen) is Singaporean Chinese.
  • Jon Prasida (Ryan Shen) is Australian (of Asian origin).
  • Gavin Stenhouse (Evan Hartley) is British.
• Production Posse:
  • Executive producer Robert Berens has had several Supernatural alumni follow him over to the show - in addition to directing several episodes, Richard Speight Jr. is guest starred in season two, along with Briana Buckmaster. Kim Rhodes recurs in season three.
  • Olivia Liang suggested her former Legacies scene partner Ben Levin for a potential love interest for Nicky in Season 3. He still had to audition, but was eventually given the role of Bo.
• Promoted Fanboy: Olivia Liang and Shannon Dang on getting to work with Kim Rhodes, since they were childhood fans of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
• Those Two Actors: Olivia Liang and Ben Levin last worked together on Legacies.
• What Could Have Been: Gwendoline Yeo was originally cast as Zhilan in March 2020, but she was replaced without explanation.
  • Olivia Liang almost didn't accept the role as Nicky for fear of being stereotyped by critics/the audience. When she found out more about the show, she accepted the role.
  • The first idea for a reboot of Kung Fu was about Lucy Chang, a Buddhist monk and kung fu master who traveled through America in the 1950s in search of the man who stole her child years before. The second was about a young Chinese-American woman who inherits her father's kung fu studio, only to find out it's a secret center dedicated to helping members of the Chinatown community who have nowhere else to turn.