The Big Picture

The Brothers Sun is an action-driven family drama with high-octane action sequences and a balance of comedy and extreme violence. Michelle Yeoh and Justin Chien talk about the challenges and enjoyment of working on the series, including the unique choreography and humor. Yeoh also teases her upcoming Star Trek project, Section 31, which she confirms is in pre-production and going full steam ahead.

In Netflix’s The Brothers Sun, a family is thrown into turmoil when elder son Charles (Justin Chien), an expert assassin for the mob his father leads, leaves Taiwan for Los Angeles after learning his enemies could be targeting his mother (Michelle Yeoh) and younger brother Bruce (Sam Song Li). The only problem is, Bruce has no idea his family are involved in the upper echelons of the Taiwanese criminal underworld.

In these one-on-one interviews with Collider’s Arezou Amin, stars Michelle Yeoh and Justin Chien talk about their challenges in bringing the action-driven family drama The Brothers Sun to life. They talk about the most important aspect of the series for them, how they balance the comedy with the extreme violence, and Yeoh teases her upcoming Star Trek project, Section 31. Watch the full interview with Yeoh above, or read the full transcript below. Scroll down to watch the full interview with Chien and read about how he brought a familial connection to the role.

The Brothers Sun Follows Charles Sun, a Taipei gangster who’s settled into his life as a ruthless killer, but must go to L.A. to protect his mother and younger brother after his father was shot by a mysterious assassin. Release Date January 4, 2024 Creator Byron Wu, Brad Falchuk Cast Michelle Yeoh , Justin Chien , Sam Song Li , Highdee Kuan , Joon Lee , Jon Xue Zhang Genres Action , Comedy , Drama Seasons 1

COLLIDER: Jumping right into The Brothers Sun, what is it about the action genre that is so appealing to you? And then this project in turn?

MICHELLE YEOH: Oh, you know, with the action genre you get to do crazy things that you won’t do in life normally, right? Who runs around being chased by seven brutes, and then you get to fight them off, and [knock them] out the window. So I find that very challenging. Physically and mentally very challenging. But of course, like all action sequences, there must be drama behind it. The reason for fighting. It’s like, is it defensive? Is it offensive? Is it just to play and tease the other person? So it’s very important to set the tone. And what appealed to me, in The Brother’s Sun, was this incredible high-octane choreography of action sequences where it is peppered with so much humor.

And some of them you go, “Oh my god, I can’t even believe they thought of that.” It’s like, in the spa scene, some of the action sequences. And they’re so well done, and so well choreographed. I’m so proud of Justin [Chein], our stunt team, our stunt coordinators who put it all together and even Sam! Sam Song, when he runs around to pretend he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He has to know exactly what he’s doing to be able to create that kind of humor, and scenario where the two of them fight with people who are trying to kill them the whole time. So it’s almost like a Buster Keaton, Jackie Chan thing that we love and we’ve seen, but not in this context before, and then kicking it up a few notches where we literally have heads and body parts flying around.

So what, in making this show, would you say was your biggest challenge?

YEOH: Keeping a straight face maybe? [Laughs] No, I had such a good time working with Brad [Falchuk], and Byron [Wu], and Kevin [Tancharoen], and [Viet] Nguyen. They brought together, especially Brad and Byron, an amazing cast from Asia, from Europe, from America, to tell such a crazy-ass story.

It can be very, very dark, and what appealed to me was such a dark kind of story could be told in such a way where, at the end of the day, it’s family, it’s love. It’s about sacrifice, and very importantly about forgiveness and coming back together again. That was the real basis of this series. And that really, really appealed to me. This immigrant family, who had a mother who had to make such horrible choices at the beginning to get to where she is today. So it was based on that and when I read the script, I was like, “this could be a lot of fun.” Because even then you can see all these things popping out at you, and you’re like, “Oh, that would be amazing to see how they can achieve that.” And I think we did. I am so proud of our series The Brothers Sun.

Mama Sun Is Very Different From Michelle Yeoh’s Other Characters
Image via Netflix

I love the way the show kind of strikes the balance between what a mother wouldn’t do for her kids, but also what she wouldn’t do for herself. How she needs to kind of get what she wants.

YEOH: That’s a mother’s job right? It’s sometimes a thankless job, but then they do it not because they want to thank you from you. They do it because they feel “I brought you into this world. I have a great responsibility towards you, your your life, and your future as well.” Being a mother never stops. I mean, even when you’re married and have kids on your own, they’re still your mother. They never stop being that.

I’m curious, just for fun. Which of your other iconic characters do you think would get along best with Mama Sun?

YEOH: Oh, God. I think none of the other E’s would get along with her. [Laughs] They live in such such different worlds. And I think that is one thing I do take such care in doing, is I want to portray, even though it’s a mother, but how am I different in every single one? I would like to be able to portray characters possibly that I’ve not done before, or not in a style or genre where it’s been seen before. And so that’s why The Brothers Sun was very exciting for me, to be a mama crime boss, and then to come out here and pretend to be an ordinary mom with the brains and skill of being able to wipe out, if she wanted to, whole gangs. So it gives you a sense of challenge. I think that’s what I look forward to. Because when you’re passionate about something, you don’t just sit back and do the norm. You need to be challenged, you need to find something, the nuances or something new. And with this I was challenged every day by my sons, by the young people like TK [Joon Lee] and Alice [Hewkin], Jenny [Yang], all of them brought such nuances to their characters, and to the way they worked. I’m so proud of them and so proud to be part of their family as well.

Attention ‘Star Trek’ Fans: ‘Section 31’ Is Full Steam Ahead
Image via Paramount+

I have to ask a very selfish question. A lot of us at Collider are Star Trek fans.

YEOH: Woohoo!

So I wanted to ask if you had updates on Section 31? When you’re gonna start filming, do you know anything like that?

YEOH: I just came back from Toronto and what does that tell you? We are definitely prepping. We are definitely going full steam ahead. And thank you. Section 31 is very special to me, and I’m so happy we’re doing it.

I can’t wait. I love that whole side of the plot, so I’m very, very excited for it.

As I wrap up, I want to know what is it about The Brothers Sun that you are most excited for people to experience when the series drops?

I think this really is a journey about an immigrant mother who had to make terrible, hard choices. But at the end of the day they got to Los Angeles, and now the world literally erupts in chaos, and violence, and body parts, it’s also coming to terms with “we have to deal with it as a family, we have to learn to love each other, sacrifice for each other, but most importantly forgive each other.” Then you can move forwards. And what I’ve really found really exciting to work with, is given the opportunity to do such a crazy as series. It’s really fun.

Justin Chien Brings a Family Dynamic to ‘The Brothers Sun’

For Justin Chien, who plays the elder Sun brother, Charles, what makes The Brothers Sun so special is that family aspect. As he told Collider, the idea of family being so central to the story, as well as the setting being split between Taiwan and Los Angeles both really resonated with him, as both aspects reflect his own life and upbringing. Chein says he drew on his own memories and experiences when crafting Charles Sun, as he explained:

“The big part of my process was, I guess, remembering the moments that I’ve shared with my father, or my mother, or my brothers, and how all those moments have, have shaped me into the person I am today. The happy moments, the sad moments, all of my memories I tried to incorporate as jumping off points, because those things then helped inspire the character’s imaginary background and the things that I would have felt as Charles.”

Close as Chien is with his own, real-life family, what about when it came time to forge those familial bonds with his onscreen relatives? When it came to Sam Song, who plays Charles’ little brother Bruce, Chien says “I definitely see him as my little brother.” He told Collider that the two bonded on set, developing a true brotherly dynamic by playing pranks on each other while filming. As for Michelle Yeoh, Chien admits it was “definitely intimidating at first, but I overcame that very quickly only because she is the coolest gal.” He went on to add:

“I learned a lot from her. I learned that you can be this force of character, and this force of acting — it was like watching a master class every day — but that you could also be just a down to earth chill, warm person. Some of my fondest memories are when we’d hang out her place and crack open a bottle of wine and snack and just shoot the shit. Like she is “Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh,” but she’s also just my friend Michelle.”

For Chien, by far the most exciting part of the whole experience, however, was the chance for him to share a scene with his onscreen mom and his real-life mom. He told Collider all about he helped his mother prepare her audition to play one of the “mahjong aunties” in Episode 3, saying:

“[M]y mom, when she was younger, she also had dreams of being an actor, and I helped her tape this audition. I coached her through it. I got to be the one that made the call to be like, “hey, you got the part.” I remember we drove to set in the morning […] I showed her trailer which had her name on it, and she, she got to go into hair and makeup and get pampered, and then on set, she had her own chair, someone was super sweet, they wrote “Justin’s Mom” on it.
I remember watching her as she’s bonding with the other mahjong aunties, they’re giggling and being like, “oh my God, this is so cool.” I remember I could just see her like smiling ear to ear the whole time, and the fact that I got to play a part in bringing my mom that joy still makes me emotional now. I’m so grateful that I got to share that with her.”

The Brothers Sun premieres on Netflix on January 4.

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