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Curb Your Enthusiasm: Hymnson Chan on HBO Series, Comedy vs Action

Hymnson Chan spoke with Bleeding Cool about acting, stunt work, comedy, and making the most of his time on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm.

There are several ways to be successful in Hollywood, and one of them is to be versatile as an actor and stuntman, Hymnson Chan. His path wasn't a conventional one as he didn't initially set out to be an actor, but found his way to the profession when the opportunity presented itself, even when he didn't land the job he wanted. Chan, who's appeared in several shows like ABC's The Rookie and Grey's Anatomy, Nickelodeon's Danger Force, and Showtime's Shameless, spoke to Bleeding Cool about his latest role on the HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm in its 12th and final season, his inspiration for being a dual threat as actor-stuntman, comedy, how an audition still turned to work on NBC's Superstore, and more.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Hymnson Chan on Taking Chance on Sitcom

When doing your onscreen work, which came to you first, your acting or stunt work, and how did one fall into the other?

Chan: Growing up, I always had an affinity for both acting and stunts. Growing up in a Chinese household, we had Jackie Chan movies on repeat all the time, so he was my idol. I was like, "That's what I want to do" and I never thought that was the actual career path that I went through high school. I got a college degree in marketing, but never once did I think I would be an actor or a stunt guy. I've always had that performing background. Once I moved out to L.A. and started pursuing acting, I started doing background work as an extra, learning how a set works and seeing the certain sets I was on where I saw stunts going on. I was like, "That looks super fun. I think I could do that." Playing football, growing up as well, I was used to getting hit all the time and doing it repeatedly. I saw that parallel and stunt work, and from there, one facilitates the other because I feel like stunts and acting are the same thing. You're reacting to unreal circumstances, trying to make it real. So, it's always been both.

You landed 'Curb Your Enthusiasm; I was wondering, when these comedic opportunities popped up, was it something that you gravitate towards? Is it a genre that you leaned toward?

I've always gravitated towards comedy. I feel like laughter is one of the best things you can have in life and what makes life enjoyable. To be able to have that ability to bring people joy and laughter through comedy is such a big passion of mine, and that's why I feel like I gravitate towards comedy. I've grown up to be a big fan of 'Curb,' like I was quoting it in high school and college. It's a show that's spanned pretty much my entire life and so I grew up with all these incredible Larry David-isms and quotes. To have an opportunity to join the cast was an absolute dream. I jumped at the first moment that the audition came in through my reps. They're like, "Hey, we got an audition." At this point, we didn't know it was going to be the final season. I feel like that's an even bigger honor to be part of the final season. The moment that the audition came in, I jumped at it right away, and it was an incredible experience.

Did you also watch 'Seinfeld?'

I did.

How do you compare working on something more serious in the action world compared to when you do comedy?

That's a great question. I find that comedy and action in preparing for it are almost identical. Both rely on cadences, the rhythm of an action scene, and the rhythm of a comedic scene, like trying to land the joke is so important. With stunts when you have a specific rhythm down, especially during a fight scene. A hair off and you end up getting punched in the face, a knee taken out, or something bad could happen. I feel like that's not too different. With comedies, you try to land a joke, and you follow the rhythm cadence of the scene, especially with 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' which is such a heavy improv show that you have to go along with what's going on, try to find the funny in that, but still keeping it as real and grounded as possible.

I love the freedom of improv. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was a kid, so my brain's always going all down these wonderful, fun paths that I had no idea this is where my brain's going. That lends to the comedy skills of like, "Hey, let's live in the moment, see where it takes us, especially stunts when your life is on the line, your health is on the line. You need to make sure everything is perfect to a tee." It's all in the preparation. Whether it's car hits, fire burns, or doing a high fall off a ten-story building, it's such a technical skill that every little thing must go right, and you cannot improvise anything because you improvise a stunt. That could be the difference between life and death, whereas comedy, you improvise, and it just makes it so much better, and it could be so much more fun.

You've doubled for some comedic actors like Randall Park, Ken Jeong, and Jimmy O. Yang. Were you able to poke their brains to discuss the craft?

Working with Jimmy, Randall, and Ken…these guys know that I also act, and it's like a fun coincidence that I also get to be their stunt double at times. Sometimes I end up stunt doubling for roles that I audition for as an actor. Back on the NBC show, 'Superstore,' I auditioned for the role of Mateo, which Nico Santos ended up booking. It was funny because I auditioned when the producers loved it, and then, of course, I didn't hear anything. I was like, "All right, whatever on to the next one" Then I got a call from the stunt coordinator to stunt double on 'Superstore,' I showed up, and I found out I was Mateo's stunt double. I had a good laugh about, "Hey, I still got the role one way or another."

Ken and Randall are legends. I love their comedy and Jimmy's comedy too. We're friends, and we keep in touch because I do run into him at set times when I do have the chance to stunt double him. Something I learned from these guys is to embrace the opportunity. Every opportunity may not be ideal, but it's what you do with it. One of the only slight hesitations I had with 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' was the accent. That's my Kryptonite. Like, I don't know if I can do it or I don't want to do it, but working with guys like Ken, Randall, and Jimmy, they started the career with that.

Ken started with Leslie Chow from 'The Hangover.' Randall with 'The Interview' where he's playing a Kim Jong Un type of character, and Jimmy Yang was amazing on 'Silicon Valley.' Those guys don't have that accent in real life, but they were able. I know it's a triggering thing for Asians to suddenly hear the asking like, "Oh, not again! Are we the butt of the joke?" But learning from these guys, it's that the accent makes the joke work, and the joke isn't necessarily about the accent. When I'm looking at material and scripts come in, and I'm trying to decipher the jokes, that's something I always investigate. Are they mocking Asians for the sake of Asian accents? Or is it just like, "Okay, these are real people, like my dad, he's an immigrant from Hong Kong, and that's his accent that I am emulating and inspired by in 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' so I try to keep it as real and relatable as possible and not like another caricature of Asians.

Have you heard of James Hong?

Absolutely, I worked with James a while back on a movie called 'Better Criminal'. He's a legend.

Since he got a star on the Walk of Fame, and it was like, one of the things that it's often talked about because he had so many roles, like hundreds of roles to his name is like one thing many picked out that was one of his memorable was on 'Seinfeld,' who was the maître d' at a Chinese restaurant. It's largely a straight character, but it's played for comedic effect, so it's one of the ones that stand out because he's a testament to the mindset of "No small parts," right?

Exactly.

Curb Your Enthusiasm, which also stars Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, Cheryl Hines, and J.B. Smoove, airs Sundays on HBO and is available to stream on Max.

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