The cast of Canada’s number-one comedy beyond the show
By Jerrison Oracion, Senior Columnist
Everyone’s favourite Appa is back with the new season of Kim’s Convenience, which premiered earlier this month. So far, this season is great, with lot of things happening that I cannot give away.
The actors in the show are great people and they are very approachable—in fact, I talk to them regularly on Twitter. Before and during their time on Kim’s Convenience, the actors have been involved in other shows and projects, so you might have seen them elsewhere. Here is some background on the cast of Canada’s number-one comedy.
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Mr. Kim)
Sun-Hyung Lee is a fan of a lot of works including movies like Star Wars, Star Trek, The Avengers, Ghostbusters, and especially martial arts films. He even built his own proton pack and brings it to conventions. He also likes Kendrick Lamar.
Born in South Korea before his family moved to Canada, Lee was first seen in the cult classic Global soap opera Train 48. Also, he was seen in the documentary program Mayday in the episode about Korean Air Flight 801, in which he played the captain of the flight. This is where he began developing Mr. Kim’s accent for Kim’s Convenience, though it is one of those episodes of Mayday that is sad. Recently, Lee hosted Canada’s Smartest Person Junior, which was entirely different from the regular version of the show.
Jean Yoon (Mrs. Kim)
Yoon has been in the entertainment industry for a very long time. She is one of those people who has been in a lot of shows that you probably watch. One notable show that she was in is Orphan Black as chief coroner Janis Beckwith. She is also currently in another show called The Expanse as Captain Yao. Yoon is a fan of Yoko Ono and she wrote and performed a play paying homage to the Japanese artist. Yoon is outspoken on Twitter, often tweeting about politics, especially on Doug Ford and Donald Trump.
Andrea Bang (Janet Kim)
Burnaby’s own Bang not only acts, but she creates media as well. She is the sister of Diana Bang, who you might know from The Interview. Bang does a web series on her YouTube channel called Inanimate Funnies where she uses stop-motion animation to make things come to life, and she invites other people from Kim’s Convenience to be involved in the show. Also, she wrote a few short films including Playdate, Lucy Dies, and recently with her sister Diana, Karaoke Mamas, which was funded by a grant from Storyhive.
Simu Liu (Jung Kim)
You could describe Liu as the person in the show who is smokin’ hot. He can even do backflips, which he demonstrates in his videos on Twitter. Outside of the show, he is currently in a web series on YouTube called Yappie. He and Tina Jung (Jeanie Park on Kim’s Convenience) both wrote and starred in the short film Meeting Mommy. Liu even posts videos of himself singing with his guitar. He once sang the national anthem during a Toronto Raptors game. He speaks out about Asian representation in the entertainment industry on his Twitter account. Maybe in the future, we’ll see him in a superhero film.
Kim’s Convenience airs Tuesdays at 8 pm on CBC as part of CBC Comedy Tuesday.
