PEN15 star talks racism episode and drops hints about season 2
PEN15 emerged as one of last year's best new TV shows, packed with an engaging mix of hilarious and emotional moments.
One particularly acclaimed episode of the Hulu comedy's first season was the sixth episode 'Posh', which saw 13-year-old Maya (Maya Erskine) experiencing and coming to terms with racism after being treated differently and otherised by her schoolmates.
Maya cries on the stairs at school after her white best friend Anna's attempts to raise awareness of racism go horribly wrong and hurt her further. In one of the more touching moments of the season, Maya's older brother Shuji – played by Dallas Liu – approaches and comforts her.
"The scene when I was comforting Maya on the stairs definitely hit home for me because I was familiar with the pain she was going through," Dallas said in an interview with Digital Spy.
"This scene was very real for us. This is something Maya and I have both experienced in real life, so we understood what that felt like.
"In my mind, I was thinking about my little brother. There was an incident in my life with my brother that mirrored that scene almost perfectly. I understood the emotions that Shuji and Maya were both going through."
The two actors portray a believable and relatable sibling relationship throughout the season – the characters Maya and Shuji often get on each other's nerves, but there's a real family bond there.
Although the age dynamic is a little unusual (Maya Erskine, in her early 30s, plays Shuji's younger sister), Dallas shared that working with his co-star has always been "fun and easy".
"She has the experience of being the younger sibling and I have experience of being an older brother, so I think it worked out perfectly.
"I was just acting based on how I would treat my younger brother in real life. I absolutely drew from those experiences to play Shuji. I think that's why it was so easy for me to connect to the character."
After more than 18 months, the second season is finally here in the US, and Dallas believes that anyone who enjoyed season 1 will find plenty to appreciate in the new episodes.
"I'm extremely excited for everyone to see what we've been working on for season two," he said. "I think all of our viewers will enjoy the new episodes very much.
"Season two will go deeper into the emotional trauma of adolescence and show a realistic portrayal of the tough experiences that occur in middle school... I think people will love it just as much as they did the first season."
And though he couldn't say much about what happens with his character, he did tease that "Shuji and his mom connect a little deeper" this season.
Finally, Dallas revealed he's a fan of superhero films and spent a large part of quarantine watching all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies in chronological order.
So when we asked him if he had a dream acting role, it's no surprise that starring in a movie in that genre would be incredible – but there's another reason why he would be up for it.
"I think my dream role would have to be a superhero role," he said. "I have a background in martial arts, so being able to do my own stunts and be the lead would definitely be at the top for me."
PEN15 season 2 is available to watch today (September 18) on Hulu in the US.
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