“Interior Chinatown Adaptation Blends Realities in Hulu Series”
Four years ago, Charles Yu sat down with WPR’s “BETA” to chat about his novel, “Interior Chinatown,” a thought-provoking story that delves into the Asian American experience through the lens of its protagonist, Willis Wu.
“Interior Chinatown” scored the National Book Award for Fiction in 2020, and now, in an exciting turn of events, Yu has taken his award-winning novel to the small screen with a popular Hulu series by the same name.
Recently, Yu caught up with “BETA” host Doug Gordon to discuss the casting of Jimmy O. Yang as the lead character, the challenges of transforming his novel into a streaming show, and more.
During the conversation, Yu shared his perspective on the adaptation process, admitting to feeling a mix of excitement and nerves. Tackling such a complex narrative and bringing it to life in a new medium was no small feat, but Yu welcomed the challenge, relishing the opportunity to explore uncharted territory.
Gordon raised an interesting point about the novel being formatted as a screenplay with courier font throughout. He asked Yu whether this unique writing style made it easier or more difficult to adapt the story for a streaming series. Yu noted that starting with a screenplay-like structure did provide a foundation for imagining how certain elements could translate to the screen, but the transformation process still posed its own set of challenges that needed to be navigated creatively.
