Posted in: CW, Preview, TV | Tagged: American Crime, black mirror, cable, cw, Gavin Stenhouse, Gwendoline Yeo, king fu, Legacies, nicky, Olivia Liang, pilot, streaming, television, tv

"Kung Fu": CW Pilot Sets Gavin Stenhouse, Gwendoline Yeo as Series Regulars

Christina M. Kim and Martin Gero's (Blindspot) reimagining of '70s cult actioner Kung Fu has added two more to its cast – one that's looking to help Nicky (Olivia Liang, Legacies), and one that's clearly not. Gavin Stenhouse (Black Mirror) and Gwendoline Yeo (American Crime) are set to join the pilot's cast as series regulars – joining Liang, Jon Prasida (Hiding), Shannon Dang (The L Word), Eddie Liu (Silicon Valley), Tzi Ma (The Man In the High Castle), and Kheng Hua Tan (Crazy Rich Asians). Kim is writing the script for this new take on the '70s David Carradine-starrer, stemming from Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Warner Bros. TV.

Inspired Ed Spielman's original series, the new Kung Fu finds a quarter-life crisis causing a young Chinese-American woman, Nicky Chen (Liang), to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China.

But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice – all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her.

Here's an updated look at the cast for The CW's Kung Fu pilot:

● Prasida's Ryan Chen is a quick-witted medical student who has to deal with the sudden return of his estranged older sister, Nicky.

● Dang's Althea Chen is Nicky's larger-than-life older sister who's newly engaged and on her way to planning her dream Chinese wedding.

● Liu's Henry Chu is a martial arts instructor and Chinese art history buff who has instant chemistry with Nicky.

● Ma and Kheng play Nicky's parents: father, Jin Chen, and mother Mei-Li — a husband-and-wife restaurateurs whose secrets threaten to destroy their lives just as they deal with the return of their estranged daughter.

● Stenhouse will play Evan Hartley, a highly successful Assistant District Attorney who still has a soft spot for his first love, Nicky, when she returns home.

● Yeo will portray Zhilan, a cryptic woman with deep criminal ties and a mysterious connection to the Shaolin monastery where Nicky trained in Kung Fu. Her quest for power led her to murder Nicky's mentor, proving that she will be a determined and dangerous foe.

Kim and Gero are set to executive produce via Quinn's House Production Company, which produces in association with Berlanti Prods. and Warner Bros. TV. Berlanti and Schechter executive produce for Berlanti Prods. Hanelle Culpepper (Star Trek: Picard, Mayans MC) is set to direct and co-executive produce the pilot.

Deadline Hollywood (exclusive)

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