6 Things To Know About Australian Actor Jon Prasida, Who Plays Tan Kheng Hua’s Gay Son On Kung Fu

When Jon Prasida was told to audition for an American TV series called Kung Fu, he had some reservations. Why shouldn’t he? The show is called Kung Fu, for crying out loud. The title alone would set off alarms.

Outwardly, Kung Fu is an adaptation of the cult 1970s TV show of the same name, about an Amerasian Shaolin monk (played by Caucasian actor David Carradine — whitewashing alert!) and his martial arts-packed adventures in the Wild West.

The reboot, however, is set in present-day San Francisco and told from the perspective from Nicky Shen, a twentysomething Chinese-American woman who, after spending three years at a remote monastery, uses her newly-acquired self-defense skills to protect her friends and family.

The fact that Kung Fu dealt with, er, kung fu concerned Prasida, 31, and the other actors who went for the reading. “We wanna see diversity on screen but we also don’t want see Asian people [to be always associated with kung fu],” recalls the Australian-born Prasida, who is of Chinese-Indonesian descent. “The problem we initially thought, would we just be contributing to a stereotype?”

But their fears were allayed after reading the script. “Little did we know it was much more [than just the original concept],” recalls Prasida. “This is very thought-provoking.”

The resulting show, with Olivia Liang as Nicky, premiered on the youth-skewing American network CW — the home of Arrow and Riverdale — in April 2021 to rave reviews (86 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes). There’s more to Kung Fu than just mystical fisticuffs: the series is an Asian-centric drama about the trials and travails of an immigrant family, led by Tzi Ma and Tan Kheng Hua.

Prasida plays Ryan, Nicky’s quick-witted medical student and gay younger brother; the character’s coming out was one of the most talked-about episodes of Season 1. On his alter-ego's evolution in Season 2, he says, “Ryan is now part of Nicky’s adventures, so filming those scenes were very exciting,”.

He’s also pleased with how Ryan’s romantic life is shaping up. “At the end of Season 1, he had a relationship and got heartbroken and in Season 2 he has another love interest, played by J B Tadena. He’s an amazing scene partner and you’ll get to their relationship flourish. It’s not always sunshine and rainbow. The courtship process is, as with anyone, not always the smoothest.”

Speaking to 8days.sg on Zoom from Vancouver where Kung Fu was filmed just a few days before wrapping Season 2 (and its Season 3 renewal), Prasida tells us more about himself as well as a few behind-the-scenes stories from the Kung Fu set.

Three years after he landed his first TV gig on an Aussie drama series called Hiding, Prasida made his US debut on the 2018 Hallmark telefeature, A Summer to Remember. “That is probably the best job I ever had,” he says excitedly of the Catherine Bell-starring romcom which was shot in Fiji. Of the two-week shoot, he only had to work for five days; he spent his days-off either playing basketball or chilling by the beach. “They put us up at this resort,” he says. “This is paradise — I’m definitely going back to Fiji.” Prasida followed that with another American production, Reckoning, a serial-killer limited series set in California but filmed in Sydney.

Bitten by the acting bug after appearing in a church play in high school, Prasida decided to pursue showbiz at 18, the same age his elder sister became a DJ. “At that time, I didn’t even know what I wanted to do, but to be able to see her play music — she’s done massive gigs with Lupe Fiasco and T-Pain — is really inspirational and it opened the gateway for me, wait, hang on, maybe I can do [acting for a living].” In a way, Prasida’s parents — who migrated from Jakarta to Sydney in the 1970s — were psychologically prepared when he broke the news of his future career to them. He still remembers his mother’s reaction: “That look on her face says, I couldn’t stop your sister, so I can’t stop you. Go ahead, do what you need to do.”

3/ He’s not gay but he plays one on TV.

A year on, Prasida is still reeling from the positive feedback from the LGBTQ+ community on Ryan’s coming-out in Season 1’s ‘Choice’ episode. “That scene is therapeutic for [my friends who were in similar situations as Ryan’s],” says Prasida, who’s straight and is engaged to his girlfriend, law lecturer Perri Reynolds, of three years. “It’s a scene they can relate to, whether they are Asian or not: to be gay and not be able to say what you need to say to your parents is important for them, Wow, somebody out there knows what this feeling is like, thinking you’re not accepted by your parents. For [Jin, Ryan’s father, played by Tzi Ma] to say, ‘I love you, no matter what’ is something that I guess [they wish would happen in their real life].”

“She’s a mum away from mum,” says Prasida of the Singaporean actress. “Everyone, including the crew, calls her Mama Kheng.” “Being a mother is in her DNA,” he continues. “She always wants to take care of us.” Tan would frequently invite her colleagues over to her place for coffee or a meal. “I remember her curry being so delicious. It had so many flavours and spices that when you eat it, you just feel that you are being loved, being taken of.” He would also turn to Tan for some career guidance. “I can easily call her up whenever if I have something on my mind. She would lay down some advice that really resonates. She’s a mum and a mentor at the same time. She’s a phenomenal human being.”

Dropping his Aussie accent for an American one on Kung Fu isn’t tough. Says Prasida: “[It isn’t difficult to master] because I grew up watching American TV, from The Simpsons to Seinfeld to Malcolm in the Middle.” He notices that only Australians would spot it when he drops the ball. “They are judgmental and critique-y,” he jokes. More challenging, though, is learning to speak Mandarin. “It’s so hard,” he laments. Good thing he has co-stars Olivia Liang and Tony Chung, both Taiwanese-Americans, as his tutors. He also picked up some Singlish from his TV mum. What’s his go-to phrase? “Like dat,” he says. “I haven’t used it for a while… Oh, like dat!”

Gong Xi Fa Cai: Jon Prasida (extreme left) in a scene — with Tony Chung and Shannon Dang — from the 'Kung Fu' Season 2 premiere, 'Year of the Tiger Part 1'.

6/ He had auditioned for Crazy Rich Asians.

Prasida once read for Nick Young, the coveted role that went to Henry Golding and launched him to global stardom. “Straight off, this doesn’t feel right,” he recalls. He met the casting director three times before he got the dreaded call while working at a bouldering gym. “They said, hey we really like you did but you just look really young in comparison to the rest of the cast.” He admits that he felt the sting for a while but ultimately got over the rejection. “To know that I was this close to the part was cool to know — It was validating. I was on the right track and I am doing stuff people like. [My youthful looks] is something completely out of my control. I love that movie and what everyone brought to the table. Don’t think I have ever spoke to this to anyone, really, about my experience. But there you go.”

Kung Fu Season 2 airs Thur, WarnerTV (Singtel TV Ch 306, StarHub Ch 515), 9.50pm.

Photos: TPG News/Click Photos