When we first set out to do Secret Identities, Jeff Yang, Jerry Ma, and I didn’t intend to make Parry Shen our fourth musketeer. In fact, I was just stoked to learn Parry was interested in the project. Like most Asian American moviegoers, I became a huge fan of Parry’s since he burst on the scene as Ben in the groundbreaking film Better Luck Tomorrow. He went on to have memorable roles in films like The New Guy–in which he got to make out with the future Summer Finn, Zooey Deschanel (I know, right?!)–and the cult horror classic Hatchet. Most recently, you might have seen him as Ty on television’s #1 show NCIS: Los Angeles.

But I still think that the coolest role on Parry’s resume is that he’s my homeboy. That’s why he agreed to this exclusive PCS interview in which we talk about auditioning for BLT, posting wedding videos on the internet, being a video game character, his close association with Asian Conan, how we suckered him into the SI crew, and more.

Most people, of course, know you from starring in Better Luck Tomorrow. Can you talk about how you got the part?
It just was a normal audition. I missed the first round of improvisations and then heard about the audition through a fellow actor who had just gone through it. I contacted Justin [Lin, the director] and off the bat was lucky enough to be paired with Karin Anna Cheung who eventually wound up playing Stephanie, the female lead. And we had this great chemistry and I recall thinking to myself, “If this girl isn’t one of Justin’s final choices, he’s nuts.”

Karin and I went in together and knocked it out of the park. We were doing the New Year’s scene where she’s supposed to kiss me, and she just kinda stopped and I whispered, “you’re supposed to kiss me
right now” and she yells, “I’m supposed to WHAT!?” The charm, awkwardness and playfulness that Ben and Stephanie were supposed to have was all there.

Even though Karin and I wound up being his final choices, Justin still kept on casting for three more months to see everyone he could. And it was agonizing hearing all the actors confirmed as the cast. I’ve known all these guys for years, and I’d be like, “Roger Fan as Daric? That’s so perfect!” or “Jason Tobin as Virgil? Of course!” Agh! Why is everybody in this movie except me?!

Three months after the callback, I finally got a call from Justin offering me the lead role of Ben. I was the last actor cast on the film.

That movie marked such a watershed moment in modern Asian American cinema. And it launched the careers of so many talented Asian Americans in Hollywood. How does it feel to be part of something like
that?
Extremely blessed. The cast members and I were pounding the pavement as actors for six years before BLT came along. So we knew how special this project could be if it came together the right way.
We all put our careers and pilot seasons on hold to do this project for deferred payment–which means getting paid $0 until the movie makes money. Which usually means $0. We were willing to do that because we knew even if we did book a TV series, we’d probably be playing the quirky, asexual best friend with an accent. And we had enough of that.

What types of things did you pass up?
I mean one day during shooting, my agents informed me that Woody Allen wanted to fly me out to read for a part in his next film! But there was no way I could leave set–I was pretty much in every scene. My agents wanted me to abandon the BLT. But I had to tell them, “Look, you guys have to trust me, this project is different–it’s special.” Of course, the whole agency was cursing me out under their breaths at the time, but in the end, one of the agents later admitted, “You were right.”

Wait you passed up a chance to audition for Woody Allen?!
Well, my agents were able to logistically make the meeting work. Basically, I left the set on the red eye from California to New York for the meeting and then flew back onto set the next day. I think I was in NYC for about four hours total. It was for the film Hollywood Ending, but I didn’t get the part. Soon-Yi was there to watch me audition for Woody, though!

Even though you didn’t get the part for Woody Allen, I’m assuming you would’ve killed to act for him. Are there any other directors on your wishlist?
Just the usual suspects: Clint Eastwood, Steven Soderberg, JJ Abrams, James Cameron, Zack Synder, David Fincher, Quentin Tarantino, Spike Jonze, Robert Rodriguez, Ang Lee, Jason Reitman, and Christopher Nolan.

Just to name a few? Ha!
Actually, I learned an interesting thing when I was directed by Forrest Whitaker on First Daughter. I was prepared to just absorb all of this guy’s information and obey with whatever he had to say, but when it came time to shoot, I was taken aback when he asked me what I thought about a scene or how my character would deal with a [particular] situation. And it was really nice to be trusted and to give input like that, making it a real collaboration. Sung Kang conveyed a similar notion to me when he was directed by Denzel Washington in Antwone Fisher. So that de-mystification was a really empowering lesson–that although these great directors had a wealth of knowledge that I could learn from, I still couldn’t discount what I, as an actor, could also bring to the table.

Back in 2006, when we first put out a call for story submissions for Secret Identities, you were one of the first people to respond. So how did Jeff, Jerry, and I sucker you into becoming part of the editorial team?
As a comic geek and actor looking to create engaging APA characters, I thought the project was a no-brainer for me. But to this day, I really have no idea how I became part of the editorial team! I basically just approached you guys to submit an idea for a story I had–which wound up being “The Hibakusha” [in the book]. And during one conference call one day, Jeff just tossed me the responsibility of replying to anyone who submitted [stories]. Then that somehow turned into “write all the rejection letters.” Then that became “set up the deadlines for the contributors.” And so it went.

The first time we met in person was in Jeff Yang’s living room in Brooklyn in the fall of 2006 or so. It’s hard to believe that Secret Identities has been a part of our lives for the last three-plus years. What has been the best part of the SI experience for you?
I can’t count the number of best parts, actually. There are so many:
All of us in Jeff’s living room and looking at art samples on Jeff’s big screen TV. Jumping on the daily emails, going back and forth on new stories and artwork even though I was always three hours behind you guys on the east coast. Slowly getting different celebs to contribute and getting awesome pull quotes. Making the animated videos for some of the stories. Selling close to 80 copies at ECAASU, even though we had no actual book out yet. Making friendships with creators and artists that I’ve admired for years. Getting my personal box of books in the mail like George McFly in Back to the Future, while handing a copy to my daughter and telling her, “You can do anything if you put your mind to it!” Biff Tannen walking in to tell me he’s finished with the “second” coat of wax on the car. Wait, that last part didn’t happen.

Were there any not-so-great moments for you?
Really, the only worst part was the last week before we went to press and had to deal with artists and writers dropping out at the last minute and figuring out how to still complete the book. Oh, and that I hardly made any money acting-wise during that period because I was more focused on getting the book done than booking auditions. But just like BLT, if I truly believe in something I will drop everything–much to the dismay of my wife.

Right before the book came out, you wrote an impassioned letter on your blog about the importance of the community to support the book that echoed a similar open letter you wrote before the premiere of BLT. How does your experience putting out Secret Identities compare to the whirlwind surrounding Better Luck Tomorrow back in 2002?
Well with SI, there was a lot less mainstream fanfare. I mean, I got into People Magazine with BLT! But in terms of the importance, I think it’s right up there. It’s something that needed to exist and be available to address images and issues of the APA experience. The response was also very similar–you could literally see folks that have been waiting for something like this for years. And the grassroots marketing rang very familiar. The press, book tour, pull quotes we got were entirely obtained by our doing. As great as The New Press was, they just didn’t have the resources. I’m extremely proud of the work that we all did to pull this book together from scratch and to be actively integral in the sales that led to a third printing and being one of the publisher’s best selling books in 2009.

You were responsible for most of the “motion comics” that we put out ahead of the pub date. A task you pretty much put upon yourself. And I can attest, since I cut the trailer for my story, that it’s a grueling process. You even documented it (and look dogtired while doing it) in a YouTube “making of” video for Gene and Sonny’s story. So, what was the motivation for doing the motion comic trailers? What was the experience like? And would you wanna do that again?
I told someone that SI was my next project, and he said, “Well too bad–a book’s not going to play as easily as BLT did on the college circuit.”

It was a harmless comment and true to some extent but it kinda pissed me off that he was already writing off something I was planning to commit several years of my life automatically as some “failure.” So it made me think about how and why the buzz for BLT got to such a high level on college campuses. I figured a lot of it was due in large part to Evan Leong‘s documentary BLT Genesis, where he followed us while we were making the movie. His 30-minute documentary was mailed to all the campuses before the movie came out and really help create an awareness. And in thinking of how I could create a similar video to do that for Secret Identities, I suddenly realized, “Duh, all these stories are basically storyboards! The work is already done. All I need to do is to add voices.” And at that point in my career, I was beginning to delve into the world of voiceovers and playing around with audio–so all I had to do was to call up my actor friends and invite them to play on my microphone. And the
movies have come in handy to just shoot out via email to schools, play during a book appearance in lieu of a traditional reading, and making the stories quickly digestible in a three-minute trailer.

It was probably where I felt the most comfortable in the process of what I could personally contribute to the project. Because the world of publishing was and is still new to me. I had a lot of catching up to do: learning about verso and recto pages, creating a book map, using Illustrator and Photoshop. Besides my organizational skills and storytelling/dialogue sensibilities–I was pretty much useless with anything that had to do with the publishing aspect, which is why I think our editorial team’s skills complemented each other so well. But when the idea of creating a video [component] to help with the marketing of the book came about–that was within my comfort zone and skill set, and I immediately knew what needed to be done for that.

In fact, it’s a lot easier than shooting a video because I don’t have to worry about shooting the footage, getting the right angles, or the right lightning. The image is the image. All I need to do is work on pacing it to fit the tone of the story, adding the voices and the foley sounds, which I think was the most fun part of the process.

Now that SI is out of the way, you’ve been keeping pretty busy doing non-comic book stuff. For instance, you recently appeared on an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles. What was that experience like? Is there any chance the role could be recurring?
Yes, since I realized that I couldn’t pay the mortgage solely with signed copies of Secret Identities, I decided it was best that I start acting again. With NCIS:LA, the director and I were trying to find a unique and memorable voice and trait to stick out from the existing cast members. We came upon a snarky personality to give him. I hope to get a few more chances in the future to work Ty out.

By the way, this means you have starred alongside both LL Cool J in NCIS and Kool Moe Dee in The New Guy–who famously beefed back in the 80s, which in my mind, makes you the coolest guy I know.
Well, what I think is even cooler is that I got my ass kicked by Vanilla Ice in The New Guy and then I got to know MC Hammer since he was an investor on BLT. In fact, Hammer was even going to be the pastor that married my wife and me. Those two guys used to go head to head back in the day. But just so you know, most guys think I’m cool because I got to make out with Zooey Deschanel at the end of The New Guy.

Ah yes, kissing Zooey. Color me jealous. Speaking of which, she makes a cameo in the BLT “deleted scene” in which you propose to your future wife. Have you seen the YouTube vid of “Jeff and Erin’s wedding announcement?”
I have, and it is very cool. Although it is technically superior in terms of production value… Jeff and Erin weren’t really in any of those films. By editing my proposal video into a movie I was actually in, I think I trump Jeff and Erin. Heck, my wife thought it was really a part of the movie and thought my character was proposing to Stephanie!

Speaking of BLT deleted scenes when are we gonna get a BLT Blu-ray?! And if it ever happens what special features would you like to see on it?
There was so much behind-the-scenes footage that we have. From Roger Ebert defending our film at Sundance to a real time split-screen showing how Justin made 20 extras look like 100 partygoers by simply
reusing them and changing their clothes all in one shot. Maybe even the marriage proposal video. Who knows? We’re only three years away from the 10th anniversary. That might be a good time to put out a Blu-ray. Loads of fun, yes?

You also recently wrapped Hatchet 2–wait, what? Didn’t your character kind of, you know, die last time around? What gives?
Well in [the first] Hatchet, my character mentioned he had a brother, so voila, enter “Justin”–incidentally named after Justin Lin, Shawn’s more competent twin brother who heads into the swamp in search of his brother.

Hatchet 2 is another in a long string of horror movies on your resume. I mean, you’ve been in so many horror flicks, the fansite Pretty/Scary named you “Mr December 2008,” a fact that Jerry and I will never tire of, by the way. Are you a big fan of the genre?
I’m just a fan of movies, be it any genre. As long as there is a story to be told and provides some escapism, I’m game. Being in one genre film tends to get you noticed and appreciated by more creators, producers and writers of the same genre. That’s why I seem to have done more films in that particular area than any other. But I do enjoy genre films because the fantastical circumstances really help give you great aspects to jump off of. Like, I think my character in Hatchet is some of the strongest character stuff I’ve ever done. Doing just a pared down character in a straight drama is at times more difficult because it’s just you. But the greatest challenge, particularly in a genre film, is that a slew of other elements need to come together as well.

What was it like on the set of Hatchet 2? How is the set of a horror flick different, if at all, from other sets you’ve been on?
What sets a horror set apart from a traditional one are the days a character is set to be killed. All of a sudden, the special effects crew eagerly emerges with gusto from their secret lab on set with fake blood, hot glue sprayers to create spiderwebs, rubber prosthetic wounds to attach to faces, severed appendages for the camera to cut to. It’s really the one special time this crew gets to finally see their creations come to fruition in the grand scheme of the storytelling. And everybody cheers when a head explodes the right way. It’s kind of surreal but you definitely get into it when you’re in that environment.

Your stunt double on Hatchet is Steven Ho, who most people nowadays know as “the guy who kicks Conan O’Brien’s ass once in a while”. So I gotta ask, you were Team CoCo all the way, right?
I have been a fan of Conan since he first debuted 16 years ago. His bizarre and absurd humor just made sense to me. But I have to admit, as more people discovered Conan, I kinda watched it less and less. It’s like that indie band that all of a sudden everybody loves after you’ve been following them for years. But I am and always will be on Team CoCo.

You also did some mo-cap work on a top secret video game project recently. What can you reveal about the game and your part in it?
It’ll be Activision’s largest game to date. It’s a reboot of the “True Crime” series simply called, TRUE CRIME. It’s about an undercover cop delving into the underworld of Hong Kong. I play Winston, the boss he befriends. There are a lot of big names in this: Chow Yun-Fat, Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Kelly Hu, Will Yun Lee, Tom Wilkinson.

What’s it like to act in a skintight bodysuit with little plastic balls sticking out everywhere? (Personally, I think it sounds kinda kinky.) Is it a different kind of acting than what you were used to?

I felt like I was in the Spider-Man costume. Honestly, if I could only do that kind of acting, I would. I mean, I can do the most menacing voice and the animators can come up with an appropriate body for that character. It’s really like what James Cameron said about Avatar–technology opens up new possibilities for actors. I didn’t have to worry about makeup, projecting, opening up to the cameras or staying in my light because a tiny camera and mic was always fixed in front of my face. All there is left to do is act. And if a stunt is required, a guy like Steven Ho would just slip into my suit and the audience would be none the wiser. The downside is there are no residuals with video games. So I can’t really make a living on solely that.

Are there any other projects on the horizon?
I’ll be directing and co-producing an animated web series called “The Kid’s Table,” based on Keiko Agena’s original Mango Pop characters. It’s about a group of four 12-year old girls who have different personalities and are forced to eat at the kids table every week when their parents get together to play poker.

Sounds fun. I’m going to be talking to Keiko about that soon, actually. What other projects are you working on?
I’ve also been writing a comedy script for the past two years that I’m looking to get made. Our friend [and fellow SI partner-in-crime] Jerry is helping me with storyboards right now, and we’re tossing around the possibly of making it into a graphic novel adaptation first. I think that might very well be my next baby that I drop everything for… that is unless we get rolling on SI Volume II.

Recently, you finally decided to join the rest of the world and launched your own Twitter account. What prompted that decision? I seem to recall you being reluctant to join before.
Honestly, it was purely for the sake of convenience during a website update. I only update every six months or so, and I was simply planning ahead. I wanted my webmaster to put up icon links for my Facebook and MySpace pages–and then I figured, “What the hell, might as well get this Twitter thing up there and get it out of the way.”

I am still leery if the 14 followers I have really care what I am doing on a day-to-day basis. But it is pretty cool that there is a character count limit that forces you to pare it down to the essentials. Because, as you can see from my answers, I can go on for awhile. This entire interview would probably be about 85 Twitter posts.
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Actually, I did the math, and this interview would probably take up 25 tweets. Anyway, True Crime drops in September 2010, and Hatchet 2 starts slaying moviegoers the next month in October, just in time for Halloween.


Keith is the Editor-at-Large of the groundbreaking graphic novel anthology SECRET IDENTITIES and Outreach Director for SIUniverse Media. Visit the official Secret Identities blog to keep up with Keith and the rest of the SI team