If you like “Orange Is The New Black,” and “House of Cards,” you are going to love Netflix’s latest show “Marco Polo.”
In a world replete with greed, betrayal, sexual intrigue and rivalry, “Marco Polo” follows the famed explorer’s adventures in Kublai Khan’s court in 13th Century China. The sweeping drama’s ten episodes were shot in Italy, Kazakhstan and Malaysia. The global cast includes Lorenzo Richelmy, Benedict Wong (Prometheus), Joan Chen (Twin Peaks), Chin Han (Arrow, The Dark Knight), Zhu Zhu (Cloud Atlas), Olivia Cheng (The Flash, Broken Trail), Claudia Kim (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Mahesh Jadu (Neighbours), Tom Wu (Skyfall), Remy Hii (Treading Water), Uli Latukefu (Devil’s Playground) and Rick Yune (Olympus Has Fallen, The Fast and the Furious). John Fusco, who wrote the Academy-Award nominated feature Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, created the series and is executive producer and showrunner along with Dan Minahan, whose previous work includes Homeland and Game of Thrones. Academy-Award nominated directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) directed the first two hours and serve as executive producers.
We covered the show’s premiere at AMC Lincoln Square. Read our exclusive cast interviews below:
Claudia Kim
How does it feel to be in the Netflix family?
Just hearing it is amazing. I’ve been wanting to do a historical piece for the longest time and to do something that was so carefully planned and so detailed and creative is such a good experience for me.
Oon Shu An
Tell us about your character.
I play Jing Fei, and she is kind of there to take care of Mei Lin, and it’s also kind of a dangerous place to be in because Jia is such a dangerous man and it almost feels like she’s all alone, so the question is what does she do.
How does it feel to be in the Netflix family?
I can’t even put that into words because you just don’t expect that to happen and when it does it’s just something so magical you can’t find the words for it.
Remy Hii
Tell us about your character.
My character’s name is Jingim. He is the new prince of the Mongolian, come Chinese empire, so there’s a lot to play with there and whilst Jingim is constantly trying to prove himself not only to the empire, but more importantly his father, suddenly this new guy Marco Polo arrives and kind of throws everything into disarray because he’s stealing everyone’s attention, especially my dad. There the fun begins…
How does it feel to be in the Netflix family?
Honestly, it’s a dream come true. I’ve been following Netflix for such a long time now, they make amazing shows, they’re really shaking up the industry, and to able to join that and make an impact is like, “Hell yeah, I’m there!”.
Olivia Cheng
Tell us about your character.
I play Mei Lin. She is based on a woman she actually existed in history. In our version of Marco Polo, she is a warrior spirit who is just completely driven by wanting to protect her daughter.
How does it feel to be in the Netflix family?
Oh my god. This is such a privilege, I feel like they’ve just hit this cultural tipping point.
Chin Han
Tell us about your character.
I play Jia Sidao who is the last chancellor of the Song dynasty and he is trying to defend his people against the Mongol warriors led by Kublai Khan.
What is your favorite part of this project?
It appeals on so many levels. As a performer, I look on the script and see if it would be something I’d like to see – I think this show has history, it has action, it’s sexy and I get to do a lot of Kungfu.
What has been the hardest part of filming?
The Kungu – learning how to fight, especially with a very Asian style of martial arts, that took a lot of training.
How excited are you to join the Netflix family?
I’m very excited! To see the work they’ve created is, im always interesting in something that is breaking new ground or revolutionizing the media
John Fusco
Tell us about your vision for the show.
I grew up with an unlikely fascination with China. I’m Italian American, and I think that’s why every time I encountered the name Marco Polo, I felt this affinity with a young Italian traveler. One of the things that always amazed me is that the mythology that survived around Marco Polo is just so less interesting than Marco’s actual accounts and the excitement and the adventure and the relevance. And just over the years, you know, I just read more and more of the translations and eventually in 2007, when I was in Mongolia on horseback doing a trek, everything crystallized and hit me and I said it’s time to do a Marco Polo series.
What are your expectations for the show?
With discoveries, it’s just so collaborative. You’re in this multicultural world, and we have 27 nationalities on this crew and we have amazing writers with great ideas so they’re always surprising me but also staying true to Marco Polo’s accounts. You make discoveries when you’re shooting in Kazakhstan and you see something in that culture and incorporate it. The journey can often harder than I ever imagined but the end result is definitely everything I dreamed.
Season 1 premieres only on Netflix on December 12, 2014 at 12:01AM PT.
-Tristen Yang
