Canadian actor Simu Liu made headlines in November when he called out what he saw as a “backslide” in Asian representation in Hollywood.
Posting on social media, he said, “Put some Asians in literally anything right now”, adding that Asian actors such as himself are fighting “a deeply prejudiced system” in the United States.
Yet, the 36-year-old China-born star undercuts his argument somewhat with his new show The Copenhagen Test, a science-fiction spy thriller he headlines and co-produces.
Debuting today on HBO Max, the eight-episode series is a drama Liu describes as a blend of Black Mirror (2011 to present) – an anthology series about technological dystopias – and Inception, Christopher Nolan’s 2010 sci-fi film about a thief stealing secrets by entering dreams.
Liu plays protagonist Alexander Hale, a first- generation Chinese-American intelligence agent who discovers his brain has been hacked.
“Nanomachines” have turned his ears into microphones and his eyes into cameras, giving the perpetrators access to all he hears and sees.
So the covert spy agency he works for decides to build a fake world around him, sending him on a dangerous new mission and assigning him a new “girlfriend”.
Speaking at fan convention New York Comic Con in October, Liu – who played the title role in Marvel superhero blockbuster Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021) – says the problem of representation in entertainment comes second to story and character.
“I think before we talk about the politics of the world or what the decisions are that are beyond our control, what is inside our control is making sure that the character is resonant with as many people as possible.
“And that our story is compelling so that the audience will follow us through the impossible tightrope of this kind of The Truman Show-type espionage,” he says, referring to the 1998 Jim Carrey movie about a man whose life is being secretly filmed and broadcast as a reality show.
Liu loves the similarities to that comedy-drama and all the complexities it brings.
“Once Alexander and the spy agency he works for figure out the game, from that point onwards, everywhere he looks and everything that he says is a part of the performance,” he explains.
The actor, who had a supporting role in the Oscar-winning fantasy comedy Barbie (2023), says that meant having to think about his character’s every movement and glance.
“There was a really fun game in just trying to choreograph, like, ‘Why is Alexander looking at this?’ Down to the blink, down to the eye movement, he is trying to tell his superiors something, he’s trying to tell the enemy something, and he’s also trying to tell the audience something.
“Threading this needle was the most fun I’ve ever had. Developing this character meant coming out of it with a sense of, like: ‘Wow, somebody has to be pretty smart to survive a situation like that,’” says Liu, who is engaged to Asian-American record-label executive Allison Hsu, 29.
He threw himself into his role as one of the show’s executive producers, working alongside American showrunners Thomas Brandon and Jennifer Yale.
“It allowed me to exercise my creative vision,” Liu says, adding that he tried to avoid becoming the stereotype of the vanity producer who is completely hands-off and is putting a stamp on something for ego.
He also brought to bear lessons from his action-packed role as Shang-Chi, which he will reprise in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday.
“One of the most important things I learnt was that action sequences that don’t serve the story are just people fighting on screen.
“There are episodes of our show with no fight scenes – and those are some of my favourites,” he adds. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
The Copenhagen Test is streaming on HBO Max.
