(Curtis Lum. Photo credit to Beau Jensen)
Written by Colleen Bement, Editor
Curtis Lum wants to be the change that he wants to see in the world when it comes to Asian representation. His production company ‘Soon Films’ recently produced a short film directed by Tin Pak Lau called ‘The Stranger’ where he has the leading role opposite Yvonne Chapman (star of Kung Fu and Avatar: Last Airbender). The acclaimed film will screen at Film Festivals throughout North America. Lum’s schedule is excitingly busy with roles in the hot new series “The Night Agent” premiering March 23rd, as well as spots in “Creepshow,” “Hudson & Rex,” and “The Good Doctor.” Many also will remember him as ‘Calvin’ from the long-running Freeform series “Siren.” The CW fans have seen him in “Supergirl,” and others watched him in “Prison Break” and “Dim Sum Funeral.”
With his clothing company, Rare Spirit, Lum also wants to know what are you fighting for today? The streetwear/fashion brand works with a number of good causes. He tells us that it has always been a part of his DNA to stand up and fight, and especially for people who can’t necessarily fight for themselves. Out of Vancouver, BC., catch up with this incredible talent and find out why “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” was one of his favorite movies growing up!
Colleen Bement: Let’s dive into your new TV series “The Night Agent.” You play Cisco Jenkins. That name rocks, by the way.
Curtis Lum: Doesn’t it?! The funny joke about that is that around the same time we had last spoken, it was a big part of my MO, and the type of projects that I wanted to pursue. I wanted to not only play exciting characters, but I wanted to represent North American Asians in a way that hasn’t been done before. Just by chance, looking back at my resume now, you look at the last five or six roles that I’ve played. they’re very much a new frontier in that regard. Such as a name like Cisco Jenkins, it’s very untraditional. It’s kind of broad–ish. You don’t necessarily picture a face like mine with a name like that, and I love it. It is a cool name.
CB: I do too! So, it premieres March 23rd, and what can you tell us about it?
CL: I can tell you that it’s an action-packed show, most definitely. As you can see on any of their marketing right now, it’s for fans of “24” and “Homeland” or any of these political thrillers. It’s 10 episodes and we jump right into the action, right away in the pilot. It’s constant twists and turns. It’s been a bit of an emotional joyride if you will. The character I play, Cisco Jenkins, is the main character, Peter Sutherland’s oldest and most trusted friend. The show is about a low-level FBI agent who due to certain circumstances has been placed in the deep crevices of the White House, deep into the basement, and tasked with a very mundane job which is to man this phone that never rings. One day, low and behold, the line rings and he takes the call, and he leaps into action. He takes matters into his own hands and tries to do his best to use his abilities to their full potential. He’ll try to not only help save this girl’s life, but later on, you’ll see that it leads to a whole bunch of this crazy web of lies and deception. So in my case, he calls me up for assistance and helps along the way. I come into action as well. Midway through the season he and I are in action together for the first time in our friendship. I get to really have his back, he has mine, and we really get to see their friendship unfold and come to life which is really fun.
CB: Right up my alley! I’m a fan of “24” and I know I’ll like this show.
CL: It’s that perfect sort of balance of new and old, even though it has a lot of the elements of the others shows that I mentioned. As well as its own 2023 flavor to it. I’m very happy with this and excited to be a part of it.
CB: Love it. So, about your character, I’m curious, do you feel like you have any traits in common with Cisco?
CL: That’s a great question. I think that there is absolutely a lot in that character. I think some of those traits are the fact that I’m a very loyal person. I would do anything for my family and my friends. Anyone would tell you that. Fun fact, I got to do a little bit of SWAT training for this role, so I got to learn how to move and sort of calculate my actions from the perspective of an FBI recruit. He and I went to Quantico together. We were roommates and were both graduates of that program. In Cisco’s case, he was a trained FBI agent, and for me, that is something that I’ve always dreamt of. It’s been a dream of mine to be able to even talk to anyone in that field. His name was Odie Gallop. Odie was our SWAT consultant, and he’s also the head SWAT consultant on the show “SWAT.” Working with him was literally a dream come true for me. This is a world that I, personally, am very fascinated by. I love watching all of those FBI-type shows. In reality or fictional. I am a friend that you can lean on, you can call, and I’m always down to help. I’m always about that action. If it’s about taking down bad guys and doing what’s right, that’s something I pride myself in terms of my principles and what I stand for.
CB: Congrats on your production company, Soon Films’ exciting new project “The Stranger.” Two questions: What are you allowed to share about the project? What inspired you to create your own production company?
CL: We just finished shooting this film at the tail-end of last year. This was a passion project that was brought to me by a mutual friend. I met with the director and the writer for the film and this is a concept that he had been sitting on for maybe a good five years, just before the pandemic. This was his love letter to Hong Kong, actually. This love letter to him professes his love for Hong Kong and the sobering fact that he no longer recognizes the world that he’s grown up used to and loving. All that is sort of told through the metaphor of a dying relationship. The film opens up with our lead actress who was played by Yvonne Chapman from “Kung Fu” and “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” She wakes up and there’s a completely new stranger in her bed. It’s actually her boyfriend, but he’s woken up to being in a completely new body. The story takes up from here and it sort of investigates what couples kind of go through when these big changes happen. This film asks the question to the audience, what would you do and how would you react to these big changes–or any changes, no matter the size–because change is the only inevitability in life. Do you cower and kind of back up, or do you meet it head-on and try to face those changes? I think it’s really cool because it’s a metaphor and it symbolizes the very thing that I think every relationship deals with. It symbolizes everything that we as human beings and individuals deal with. The whole point of this was to create conversation in an artistic way.
And in the second part of that question, I started that with my partner, Paolo Valdes right before the pandemic started. It’s always been a passion to produce and create compelling stories. I had another production company before, but with Soon Films we’ve done about four short films together now, and we’re working on our first feature at the moment. I think from a very young age, I’ve always had the DNA of a storyteller and an entertainer given to me through my parents and a lot of other influences when I was a kid. This is also a way for me to take control of the narrative in terms of being on the forefront of being a part of the change that I want to see when it came to Asian representation. It’s kind of cliche but I never really grew up with too many people that looked like me that represented the world as I knew it. Therefore, I thought that if it’s not out there, then you need to create it. You’ve got to be the change that you want to see. So, by creating my own content, my partner Paolo Valdes, who’s an incredible writer, and I together have come up with some really fantastic ideas that I’m really excited about. I cannot wait to share with the world. Also, creating opportunities as well who are underrepresented. In a lot of our projects, we’ve cast the characters in a way, for all intents and purposes, quite unconventional. I also have a strong passion for casting, and I’m very proud of all my projects that I’ve done to date. I really feel that I have found the most wonderful actors, mostly from Vancouver, that are kind of like hidden gems and best-kept secrets of our city.
CB: I think that’s going to your projects more unique and stand out.
CL: Yeah, exactly. I think I love the creativity, but also very much of a team sport. It’s a community thing, and the stronger your community is the stronger your team is, the more we are all thriving. I just want the challenge of being at the forefront of that.
CB: Touching on your influences growing up, was there a particular Asian actor that was a big influence on you?
CL: Oh, that’s a really good question. As far as the type of stories that I saw myself being a part of or telling, they were often superstars from Hong Kong cinema. Your Chow Yun-fat, your Leslie Cheung’s, and your Andy Lau’s, who were bonified superstars in Asian cinema. But as far as growing up in North America, not really. And that’s the sad part. The guys that I always looked up to were usually white or black. I think there’s something to be said about how closely linked the art Asian community is with the African American community in the states. There are a lot of commonalities there between identifying with struggle and comeuppance, and perseverance. Funny enough, recently I met one of my childhood heroes. His name is Ernie Reyes, Jr. and one of my favorite movies growing up was “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” specifically the second one. When I saw him light up the screen with his martial arts skills. There have been tons of martial arts films from overseas from Asia, right? But it was the first time that I had seen that level of excitement with a sort-of Americanized Asian in a Hollywood film. That had always left a strong imprint. I recently, just this past year, got to tell him that he played a very crucial part in planting those seeds for me in terms of inspiring me to get into this business.
CB: The fact that you didn’t grow up with just the Asian influences, more so North American, doesn’t that make you more well-founded?
CL: That’s a great way to put it, and I think that’s a strength of mine–perspective. It’s my gift and my curse. I can always see every side to every story. I had many friends from different backgrounds and different walks of life, and I don’t take that for granted at all. Maybe that is something that made me more well-founded.
CB: My best friend works with a lot of non-profits and that’s near and dear to my heart.
CL: Rare Spirit is a clothing company that I started with another partner of mine, Richard Doromal. There are very talented artists here in Vancouver, British Columbia. We launched the company in 2020 in the thick of the pandemic and in the thick of all the anti-Asian hate rhetoric that was being spewed around. As I mentioned before, it’s always been a part of my DNA to stand up and fight, especially for people who can’t necessarily fight for themselves. I’ve always been inspired by the Robin Hood type of story. It doesn’t necessarily apply to this–stealing from the rich and giving it to the poor. In our case, we wanted to make really cool clothing and build up hype and get everyone excited about our designs, and powerful messages, but at the same time, taking the funds from making people feel cool and giving it back to things that are meaningful to use. Our tagline to the company is What Are You Fighting For Today? That is a message that we hope to invoke in everyone that’s wearing our projects. It’s printed boldly on the inside of our garments. Not too dissimilar from my intentions with my film company. It’s really just about inspiring people to want to be better while looking good while doing it. With every collection that we do, with every drop that we do, we attach a different cause that speaks to us at that particular time. It’s two-fold. One, we want to put great designs out there, but two, whenever we see something that, is a cause to us, and we feel that we can jump in and help. We will assemble a campaign around that and do our best to raise awareness and funds for that particular cause.
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