Vanessa Yao has been an excellent addition to the Kung Fu family.

Debuting on Kung Fu Season 2 Episode 1 as Mia, Nicky’s cousin, the character has quickly become one of the most popular on the show.

Vanessa opened up about what attracted her to the series, revealing that she got to watch all of Kung Fu Season 1 before landing the role.

“I binge-watched the whole thing, so I didn’t have to wait like every week to see it. I loved the characters. It’s so great to see the Asian representation,” the star shared.

“That’s something that’s very rare, so it was definitely something like very eye-opening just to see different pieces of things that were like relatable.”

“Another part would probably be the action sequences involved with it. They are amazing.”

“When I did get the audition for Mia, I could feel that there was a lot to her. She was not one-dimensional. There was just so much involved with her.”

“I just felt like there was a calling to me, and the way that she could be strong and vulnerable was something that I can play very well that’s very true to myself.”

“That was something that really intrigued me. I just felt like I had to do this; I had to just give it my all and see if perhaps they would cast me.”

Vanessa also touched upon why she thinks Mia has connected with fans in such a short amount of time.

“I’m very raw, which is the way that I play her. If I feel something, then I will act it out in front of the cameras.”

The star added she’s unable to do things she doesn’t feel, so she gets very invested in her characters to make sure she feels what they’re feeling.

“If I don’t feel something, I won’t do it. I’m very real with my emotions. Perhaps when people are watching, they feel something for her, and they feel like they’re there with Mia.”

Vanessa said she wanted to take viewers on this journey with Mia.

Vanessa added that there is a lot on tap for Mia throughout the rest of the season.

In fact, from Kung Fu Season 2 Episode 5, Vanessa will appear in every episode as Mia.

“It’s going to be very interesting,” Vanessa adds, teasing that Mia will become more immersed in plots with the other characters.

“It’s a very interesting dynamic because she’s pretty anti-social too, and she’s been very guarded.”

“So the way she reacts to normal things is not what people would expect because she’s very unpredictable and unstable.”

If you watch Kung Fu online, you know the series has a lot of breathtaking fight scenes.

Vanessa revealed a lot goes into making them look that way.

“Usually we would have our stunts director and stunts choreographer on set with us, but before we even get on set, they usually have two hours with us.”

“They package the fight scenes, and we would get to see a preview of what they would expect from us. and usually, it’s crazy.”

Vanessa said that the vibe on set is great, and there would be doubles shooting these scenes in case the actors need them.

“If there’s anything hard or if we’re like tough on time, they’re always there to make sure we feel good about what we’re doing.”

“So it’s just such a lovely environment to be in, where you feel safe, and you feel like, ‘Okay, like I can do this.'”

Vanessa thanked the incredible teams behind the show for making the show look so good.

Vanessa has mostly starred in movies throughout her acting career and said that the pace of shooting a TV show is much faster than in movies.

The star also said that usually, with movies, she knows where her character will go, but shooting TV means that she learns things when the next script is released to the cast.

Kung Fu airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.

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