Rob Yang on finding nuance and ambition in Hulu’s ‘Furious’

Daniel Anderson: Frank introduces himself with, “I’m Frank Choi, C-H-O-I,” before telling Alice, “This is a big one for a baby agent. You lucked out.” Given the darkness of these cases, what did you imagine about his backstory and how he approaches the work?
Rob Yang: I think he’s pretty ambitious. I look at him as: How did he find himself in this department? There’s this new addition to the team, and this happens to be a big case, and so it’s sort of stepping on my toes a little bit internally. But Nora is the one who sent me off to see it.

The way I saw it really was just this guy introducing himself, and I don’t think there’s any need to be a hard*ss. I spelled out the last name, C-H-O-I. I had a couple ideas with that. First of all, my father used to always spell out his last name. He used to always say, “Yang, Y-A-N-G,” and I think that just showed that constant people misspelling his name.

I like that for this Frank Choi character because it says a lot about maybe the way he came up in the department or dealing with people—that he also has to make sure that he’s seen in the correct light. Like, “Is that Che or Choy or Chow?” It speaks to, I guess, the racial dynamic when you’re dealing with that within the workplace.

DA: There’s a scene where Frank starts echoing Ed, which I read as another sign of his ambition. Did you see it the same way?
RY: Yeah, I viewed him as ambitious. He takes his work seriously. He’s not so self-aware. He’s not even aware of how others may read him as being offensive in some way. I just played it very straight—just play it straight, but don’t filter so much.

Ed George, he’s one of my favorite characters. I love what Danny McCarthy is doing with it. That scene you’re talking about, to me, that’s funny because of Ed George’s look. He’s processing, like, “What is this guy doing?”

The big boss comes in, who’s normally not there, and instead of kissing up to Nora, he’s trying to decide where he can slot in amongst the two bosses in the room.

DA: The show depicts some interesting gender blind spots, particularly when Frank dismisses Alice’s read on the investigation. How did you approach that dynamic?
RY: Yeah, it’s on the page, basically. I just look at it as the case is what’s important. Alice, the fact that you’re a woman, I’m not—it doesn’t matter to me. You’re new here. You don’t have the experience. That’s more important to me.

It’s always surprising to me when I just play things, “What would I do if I were doing the job?” It’s funny because a lot of times the feedback I get is, “Wow, you’re such a dick,” and I’m sitting there like, “Really? I’m just doing my job.”

I kind of am aware how it might come across. But really, it’s pretty much been me just trying to bring Frank to life in some way and just make it real. What’s happening in the room? Just do the job.

DA: The show explores different forms of anger. Do you think Frank has some of that fury underneath? To borrow the Korean idea of han—sorrow, resentment and grief—is that something that fuels him?
RY: I definitely look at it that way, just because in the beginning they didn’t really tell me much about the character. I just read the scripts, and the fact that he’s working in this C-20 department in the basement, dealing with sex crimes and crimes against children—it’s such a dark department to be working in. So I just ask the question, how did Frank end up here? Why is he here?

I do think that there is a personal reason, that he’s got some personal experience with why this work is important to him. Then it’s balanced with him also being ambitious, trying to make a career as well, and maybe not being so seasoned in the field.

I think there are buttons that you can push in Frank that make him be the one that would blindly put himself in harm’s way. I definitely think that most of the characters have this underlying trauma or past that they’re dealing with. You don’t have to show it, but as you read certain scenes, it just naturally comes out. I always try to personalize the work anyway.

DA: Finally, what does it mean to be part of a show resonating with audiences at a time when anger over injustice feels especially urgent?
RY: I think it’s great. I have been a long admirer of Liz. Emmy and Scoot are two actors that I so admire as well. I had so much fun working every day on the show, and I’m talking actually having belly laughs after they would say cut. I just enjoyed it so much.

It’s so nice to have it received in such a way that it’s doing really well. It’s got a very relevant subject matter that’s very current, and I’m just so pleased to be a part of something that people watch. But really, that’s a bonus. I love just working with everybody on it.

For me, I walk away, and that’s the thing that I take with me. The people that I meet and getting to meet people on set and working with them. This was just actually so much fun. This is like my group, because it’s that particular thing of being able to do drama and comedy equally well. It’s like having people with the same taste for the work. It was so nice and easy just to step in there.