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| Raymond Lee plays Dr. Ben Song in 'Quantum Leap.' |
Fans of the original Quantum Leap adventure series won't recognize the 2023 reboot. The time-traveling accelerator is still the launching pad for stories, but instead of Scott Bacula, it will star Raymond Lee as the brilliant quantum physicist Dr. Ben Song.
Lee's starring role is a quantum leap for Asian American male actor. The handful of shows currently airing on television featuring Asian American leads are led by women. Lee's Quantum Leap is the only one with an Asian American male topping the call sheet this season.
At first, Lee, who is Korean American, couldn't believe he landed the Ben Song role. "I couldn't understand," he says, "because it seemed like they were interested in having me as the lead for their show. I thought, 'This has to be a typo.'
"It was one of those moments as an actor where you read the script and you go, 'I can do this!'" he says. "This is something I've worked for. I've had some great number ones [on the call sheet] who I've looked up to. I've watched and learned and absorbed. Now it's time to put it all to use."
"It was one of those moments as an actor where you read the script and you go, 'I can do this!'" he says. "This is something I've worked for. I've had some great number ones [on the call sheet] who I've looked up to. I've watched and learned and absorbed. Now it's time to put it all to use."
FYI: Quantum Leap premieres September 19, 10 p.m. on NBC
The original Quantum leap, which ran for four seasons, went off the air in 1993. The new storyline picks up 30 years later after Bakula's Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now, a new team, led by physicist Ben Song, has been assembled to restart the project in hope of understanding the mysteries behind the time machine and the man who created it.
Everything changes, however, when Ben makes an unauthorized leap into the past, leaving the team behind to solve the mystery of why he did it. Included on his team is computer whiz Jenn Chou, as portrayed by Nanrisa Lee.
Historically, Hollywood has relegated Asian men to secondary roles at best, or roles that play up the stereotypes at worst. Casting an Asian male into the lead role is stepping into a rare realm as far as leading men go. The immense popularity (and probably more important - box office success) of 2018's Crazy Rich Asians has helped shift that paradigm but old biases are hard to break down.
Only Young Rock, which features three Pacific Islander actors playing Hollywood's most profitable actor Dwayne "Rock" Johnson in various stages of his career, has dared to break the mold based on old Hollywood biases that an AANHPI male cannot carry a show or be attractive to the opposite sex.
Lee is not a newbie. He's paid his dues. He can also be seen on the AMC series “Kevin Can F*** Himself,” which began its second season August 22. Previously, he was a series regular on Alan Ball’s HBO series “Here and Now.” Additional recurring roles include the HBO Max series “Made for Love,” Fox’s “Prodigal Son,” Amazon’s “Mozart in the Jungle” and ABC’s “Scandal.”
Ironically, one of the roles he had early in his career was the 2013 "The Leading Man," starring Jack Yang. It was about a Chinese American actor who got fired from a show he was starring in.
"I love going beyond people's expectations of what someone who looks like me can do, and this is no different," he states. "It's just another challenge that I'll gladly go into headfirst.
"The more of us who are out there, the easier it is for kids growing up to see themselves in these parts," he adds. "I've considered my background, my appearance and my race to be a superpower my whole life."
"The more of us who are out there, the easier it is for kids growing up to see themselves in these parts," he adds. "I've considered my background, my appearance and my race to be a superpower my whole life."
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.
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