For the past couple decades, actor Ken Leung has played scene-stealing characters in films like Rush Hour, Keeping the Faith, and A.I. Or, prestige TV shows like Lost and The Sopranos.

Today, he joins us to discuss his spectacular turn in HBO’s Industry (7:30), how he created his character in baseball-bat-wielding manager Eric Tao (9:55), and his Brooklyn upbringing to a family of Chinese immigrants (17:35). Then, he shares how he found his footing as an actor (23:30), a memory of his late younger brother, Kevin (29:27), and why he views each film and TV set as a ‘spiritual space’ (30:56).

On the back-half, we walk through Leung’s work on The Sopranos (32:30), his present-day collaboration with actor Myha’la (37:45), the arc of this latest season of Industry (44:15), the state of representation in Hollywood (48:06), and why he feels at peace in this moment (53:00).

Clips courtesy of HBO. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at sf@talkeasypod.com.

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