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“Kim’s Convenience” has come to an end and Simu Liu is getting candid about the experience.
In a new post on Facebook, the Canadian actor wrote about the show’s final season coming to Netflix, and addressed the “host of emotions” he’s harbouring about how the CBC sitcom ended.
The decision to end “Kim’s Convenience” after five seasons came as the original showrunners left the show, and its producers chose not to carry forward without them. A spinoff, however, is in the works starring Nicole Power as her character Shannon.
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“There’s been a lot of talk and speculation about what happened, and I want to do my best to give accurate information,” Liu began his post.
He explained that the show was not actually cancelled by the network and that fans cannot “save” it.
“Our producers (who also own the ‘Kim’s Convenience’ IP) are the ones who chose not to continue. Neither CBC nor Netflix own the rights to ‘Kim’s Convenience’, they merely license it. However, the producers of the show are indeed spinning off a new show from the Shannon character,” he wrote. “It’s been difficult for me. I love and am proud of Nicole, and I want the show to succeed for her… but I remain resentful of all of the circumstances that led to the one non-Asian character getting her own show. And not that they would ever ask, but I will adamantly refuse to reprise my role in any capacity.”
Liu also reiterated that, had the show continued, he wanted to be part of season 6 despite rumours that his Hollywood commitments after filming the Marvel movie “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” meant he didn’t have time for Canadian TV.
“This could not be further from the truth. I love this show and everything it stood for. I saw firsthand how profoundly it impacted families and brought people together,” he said. “It’s truly SO RARE for a show today to have such an impact on people, and I wanted very badly to make the schedules work.”
The actor did, however, express his frustrations with developments on the show, particularly regarding his own character Jung.
“I WAS, however, growing increasingly frustrated with the way my character was being portrayed and, somewhat related, was also increasingly frustrated with the way I was being treated. I think this is a natural part of a collaborative undertaking like making a TV show; everyone is going to have different ideas on where each character ought to go, what stories ought to be told,” he wrote. “But it was always my understanding that the lead actors were the stewards of character, and would grow to have more creative insight as the show went on. This was not the case on our show, which was doubly confusing because our producers were overwhelmingly white and we were a cast of Asian Canadians who had a plethora of lived experiences to draw from and offer to writers.”
Liu continued, “But we were often told of the next seasons’ plans mere days before we were set to start shooting… there was deliberately not a lot of leeway given to us. Imagine my disappointment year after year knowing that Jung was just stuck at Handy and in absolutely no hurry to improve himself in any way. More importantly, the characters never seemed to grow. I can appreciate that the show is still a hit and is enjoyed by many people… but I remain fixated on the missed opportunities to show Asian characters with real depth and the ability to grow and evolve.”
RELATED: Simu Liu Calls Says It’s ‘Heartbreaking’ To Not Give ‘Kim’s Convenience’ A Proper Sendoff
He also revealed, “We didn’t always get along with each other. This part really breaks me because I think we all individually were SO committed to the success of the show and SO aware of how fortunate we all were. We just all had different ideas on how to get there. Speaking for myself personally, I often felt like the odd man out or a problem child.”
Acknowledging the complicated realities of the industry, Liu nonetheless complained, “I had no mentor during this whole process and nobody from the producing team of the show ever even remotely reached out.”
Liu also took umbrage with the actors’ pay on the show, particularly in relation to how successful the show became internationally.
“For how successful the show actually became, we were paid an absolute horsepoop rate. The whole process has really opened my eyes to the relationship between those with power and those without. In the beginning, we were no-name actors who had ZERO leverage. So of course we were going to take anything we could. After one season, after the show debuted to sky-high ratings, we received a little bump-up that also extended the duration of our contracts by two years,” he wrote.
“Compared to shows like ‘Schitt’s Creek’, who had ‘brand-name talent’ with American agents, but whose ratings were not as high as ours, we were making NOTHING. Basically we were locked in for the foreseeable future at a super-low rate… an absolute DREAM if you are a producer,” he continued. “But we also never banded together and demanded more – probably because we were told to be grateful to even be there, and because we were so scared to rock the boat. Maybe also because we were too busy infighting to understand that we were deliberately being pitted against each other. Meanwhile, we had to become the de facto mouthpieces for the show (our showrunners were EPICALLY reclusive), working tirelessly to promote it while never truly feeling like we had a seat at its table.”
RELATED: Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Shares His ‘Absolute Heartbreak’ Over Shock Cancellation Of ‘Kim’s Convenience’
On top of all that, Liu also called out issues of representation behind the scenes on the show.
“Our writer’s room lacked both East Asian and female representation, and also lacked a pipeline to introduce diverse talents. Aside from [creator Ins Choi], there were no other Korean voices in the room. And personally I do not think he did enough to be a champion for those voices (including ours),” Liu explained.
“When he left (without so much as a goodbye note to the cast), he left no protege, no padawan learner, no Korean talent that could have replaced him. I tried so hard to be that person; I sent him spec scripts I was working on, early cuts of short films I had produced… I voiced my interest in shadowing a director or writer’s room… my prior experience had taught me that if I just put myself out there enough, people would be naturally inclined to help,” he went on. “And boy was I wrong here. I wasn’t the only one who tried. Many of us in the cast were trained screenwriters with thoughts and ideas that only grew more seasoned with time. But those doors were never opened to us in any meaningful way.”
Finally, despite it all, Liu told fans, “I’m so incredibly saddened that we will never get to watch these characters grow. That we will never see Jung and Appa reuniting. That we will never watch the Kim’s deal with Umma’s MS, or Janet’s journey of her own self-discovery. But I am still touched by the volume and the voracity of our fans (Kimbits…still hands-down the best fandom name EVER), and I still believe in what the show once stood for; a shining example of what can happen when the gates come down and minorities are given a chance to shine.”
In the comments on the post, Liu received kind words and support from fans.
“I am sorry all of that was happening for you. It is difficult to maintain positive energy when you don’t feel encouraged or supported,” wrote one user.
Another added, “It’s so heartbreaking how they mishandled this show. It was such a gem. Nicole is amazing but how the heck are they going to do a show about Shannon without everyone else. It just won’t be the same. We’ll miss Kim’s so much.”
Liu will be working with CBC again soon as co-creator of a new CBC Gem series called “Hello (Again)”, alongside writer/producer Nathalie Younglai.
“‘Kim’s Convenience’ had a great run on CBC and we’re excited about Simu’s new project,” said CBC’s head of public affairs, Chuck Thompson.
Thompson would not further comment, “It’s not our place to speak for the producers or Simu Liu.”
The young adult romantic comedy will launch winter 2022.
ET Canada has reached out to the CBC for comment.