"Chang Can Dunk" Star Bloom Li and Writer/Director Jingyi Shao on Bringing a New Underdog Story to Disney+ (Video)
Underdog stories and sports have crossed over for decades. Rocky, The Little Giants, The Waterboy, Bend It Like Beckham, The Blind Side and even Kung Fu Panda, follow unassuming protagonists who are dismissed by their peers as they go on journeys of self-discovery and come out on top, proving themselves to their doubters. Now tackling this classic genre are writer and director Jingyi Shao, making his feature film directorial debut, and rising star Bloom Li, in the hilarious and heartfelt semi-autobiographical sports comedy film Chang Can Dunk, coming to Disney+ March 10th.
"What I tried to do is inject truths from my own experience and of those around me into this story," Shao explains during this Multicultural TV Talk interview. "I didn't have a big face-off go viral when I was in high school, but in those moments -- how Chang reacts to what is happening to him -- I drew from my own life. I was an Asian American kid who grew up in an East Coast suburb and I loved basketball and was in the marching band and struggled to fit in sometimes. Chang is both very much me and his own character."
"Chang has incredible resilience," Li says. "I think playing this part, I got to explore that aspect of my personality and what I took away from it is that I have much more potential and resilience within me that I can tap into that I thought. I want [viewers] to feel inspired and feel seen. If you feel inspired after watching, I couldn’t ask for anything more from this movie. That spark of inspiration or hope and being seen is so rare, so if the film can do that for a single person, I’d be satisfied."
Chang Can Dunk premieres on Disney+ March 10th.
Watch the full interview above or listen wherever you download your podcasts, including Audacy,iHeartRadio,Spotify,Apple, GooglePodcasts, Pandora, Stitcher and TuneIn.
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Juan Ayala
Juan Ayala is a Brooklyn-based writer, podcaster and columnist at MediaVillage. He covers programming aimed toward diverse, multicultural and LGBTQ+ audiences under his Multicultural TV column. His love for TV and film ranges from workplace comedi…
