When Sam Song Li got here throughout the position of Bruce on “The Brothers Solar,” he felt just like the character was written uniquely for him. In Netflix’s new action-packed drama collection, Bruce’s life is upended when his older brother, Charles (Justin Chien), who seems to be a Taiwanese gangster, involves LA to guard their mother, Eileen (Michelle Yeoh). When Li first learn the script, he shortly realized he shared a variety of “shockingly shut” similarities together with his onscreen counterpart. Like Bruce, the 27-year-old actor and content material creator was raised by a single mother within the San Gabriel Valley, CA, a predominantly Asian American group the place the collection partially takes place. Equally, he additionally dreamed of being an actor and improv comic, regardless of his mother’s hopes that he’d turn out to be a physician. “I really feel like that particularly is simply actually relatable for lots of Asian People,” he tells POPSUGAR.

That is why Bruce’s story was private to Li, who was born in Guangzhou, China. He drew from his personal experiences to authentically painting Bruce — and the character’s relationship with Mama Solar specifically. “I used to be raised by a single mother, and my mother in actual life is my hero,” he says. “She raised me and my sister all by herself. To see a single mum or dad have all the load of the tasks of elevating a child, you are taking it as a right when it is taking place. I introduced that power and perspective into Bruce in his love for his mother.”

In opposition to his mother’s finest needs, Li in the end determined to pursue performing. Amid creating comedic content material and racking up a following on TikTok and Instagram, he booked smaller roles on exhibits like “By no means Have I Ever” and “Higher Name Saul.” When he landed “The Brothers Solar,” it was a welcome shock; he did not think about a job like this one to return about so early on in his profession.

As if securing his first main position – and one he associated to so deeply — wasn’t thrilling sufficient, “The Brothers Solar” was additionally the primary time Li labored alongside an all Asian writers’ room and a majority Asian American forged. “Our manufacturing was uniquely Asian American in so many aspects, however I believe one factor that actually stood out to me was that we actually apply what we preach on the present,” he says. “Within the present, the household, and the way you deal with individuals as a household, is the point of interest of the story. We as a group actually had that connection. We felt actually obsessed with what we have been doing, what was taking place in entrance of us, no matter if the present was a hit or not. I believe the one factor we have been all holding onto was that this was a really particular second.”

The forged’s robust connection was additionally sustained by meals — a trademark of many Asian cultures. There have been Asian snacks and meals out there on set on a regular basis, together with boba at the very least as soon as every week. In accordance with Li, Yeoh would order meals from a unique native Chinese language spot each week. “She would at all times shock us with one thing,” he says.

Rising up, it will’ve been tough for Li to think about an expertise just like the “Brothers Solar” set. Asian and Asian American illustration on display screen was few and much between. “I’ve at all times felt I used to be not Westernized sufficient for Hollywood, and never Asian sufficient to work in Asia,” Li says, describing a wrestle all too widespread for Asian People, each out and in of the leisure trade.

However with the inflow of APIA initiatives in theaters and on streaming platforms prior to now three years, Li’s perspective on his future in performing has modified drastically. “I’ve realized the course that Hollywood and the world is transferring is connecting the globe in so some ways,” he explains. “Content material is now not only for a Western or American viewers proper now. Content material is for a world viewers.”