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DEADLINE: Congrats on your first major project coming to screen.
Ive come to understand that you have a degree in physics, right?
So, you didnt go through the traditional route of film school or any of that until later.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 04: (L-R) Byron Wu, Justin Chien, Michelle Yeoh, Sam Song Li, Brad Falchuk, and Mikkel Bondesen attend Netflix’s The Brothers Sun Los Angeles Premiere at Netflix Tudum Theater on January 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix)
Can you talk a bit about your origin story and what got you into film and TV?
BYRON WU:I always loved comedy.
I did sketch comedy in high school.
The Brothers Sun. (L to R) Joon Lee as TK, Sam Song Li as Bruce Sun, Michelle Yeoh as Mama Sun, Justin Chien as Charles SunCourtesy of Netflix
I did improv comedy in college.
And my parents didnt really understand what that was or what I could do with it.
I didnt really know what I could do with it either at the time.
So, I was pursuing computer science and physics.
And I had my notes pulled up; it was just a blank sheet of paper.
The first two hours had just completely gone in one ear and out the other.
And I dont know why, but I just typed EXT.
OFFICE DAY, and I just started to write what I thought would be a screenplay.
That was my first foray into it.
Then, I just kept writing and trying to film short films in college.
And I ended up doing a storytelling and animation class, which was part of the computer science program.
And that introduced me to how Pixar tells stories.
And thats how I see story as well.
DEADLINE: Then you went to AFI Conservatory to get your MFA?
What happened there that led you to makeThe Brothers Sun?
WU:The experience was amazing.
And then at AFI, they were like, OK, forget all that.
If you could write whatever you wanted, this is your two-and-a-half years.
Youre basically paying for this amount of time, so write whatever the hell you want.
Its something that got me interested in film in the first place.
DEADLINE: How long were you workshoppingThe Brothers Sunand then finding it in the hands of Brad Falchuk?
WU:I originally conceived it between my first and second year at AFI.
Then I sent it to Mikkel Bondesen, who was at Brads company, at the end of 2019.
Can you send us your latest pilot and a series bible?
And I was like, I dont have a Series Bible.
Give me three days.
It was crazy, a crazy ride.
DEADLINE: This is a primarily all-Asian cast and crew behind the scenes, correct?
Were there any jokes or representations you had to particularly fight for?
How did you navigate this experience?
WU:Our writers room was all Asian, except for Brad.
Both of our directors [Kevin Tancharoen and Viet Nguyen] were Asian.
We had a number of department heads that were also Asian American.
There werent any [references] that we really had to fight for.
Were like, Yeah, we know what that feels like.
How did you go about that?
WU:We wanted to pull from a lot of things that we loved.
And the show just felt like it had space for it.
From the pilot, I really wanted to do a dark-action comedy.
And it was just a matter of feel.
So much of the time, it was like, does this joke work?
DEADLINE: Lets get into building the two brothers, Bruce and Charles.
When did you figure out who was who?
Was there a thought that maybe this story originally should focus on one child?
DEADLINE: Which of the brothers are you most like?
WU:I see myself in both characters.
What does that research look like?
So that became Bruce and TK, the original inspirations.
They ended up pushing him off the roof of his building.
Thats a good line to draw, right?
How did you go about breaking that?
WU:One of our big themes of the show was duty to self-versus duty to family.
Its about her accepting her power and her place.
What qualities did they possess to make them fit the roles they played?
WU:A lot of credit goes to our casting director, Jenny Jue.
She worked her tail off for us, I mean really, and she found some really amazing people.
She found really talented people to come in and do those things.
We dont even need you guys to read the lines.
Just hang out for a second.
Theyre so much fun together.
They really do just embody the shows, the relationship between those two.
Of course, Michelles amazing.
We, of course, always thought Michelle would be amazing for Mama Sun.
Wed never think shed be available or want to do it.
And then, someone was like, I mean, we should try, right?
We just hung out for three hours, and it went by so fast.
DEADLINE: Whats season two potentially looking like?
WU:Listen, wed love to do season two.
Lets hope we get those Netflix numbers going.
And for me, Im just hoping we get season two.
This is my first, well I dont know, show.
I think my only other credit on IMDB is like an AFI short film.
DEADLINE: Whats the importance of bringing a show of cultural significance like this to life for you?
But I didnt want to miss a single moment of it.
It was so great.
Its so much fun in the writing process, the production process, post-production.
Its the best time, so I just want to get back to it.
