‘Red Eye’ Star Jing Lusi on the “Perfect Binge-Fest” That Is Season 2 — And Why She’s Still Waiting for the U.K.’s ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Moment | Retrui News | Retrui
‘Red Eye’ Star Jing Lusi on the “Perfect Binge-Fest” That Is Season 2 — And Why She’s Still Waiting for the U.K.’s ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Moment
SOURCE:Hollywood Reporter|BY:Lily Ford
The Brit returns to the role of the formidable Hana Li in the ITV thriller — backdropped by the U.S. Embassy in season two — and is getting candid about becoming a leading lady: "As someone who's played quite a few wives and girlfriends, it's nice to be able to stand on your own."
Jing Lusi waves a notebook in front of the camera on Zoom. It’s chock-full of Korean.
“It’s probably one of the hardest languages in the world,” the Chinese-born Brit admits to The Hollywood Reporter. “[But] I’ve really got into K-dramas recently and I was just in Korea, so I’m going full on into a Korean rabbit hole.”
It’s from within this rabbit hole that Lusi has discovered a whole new world of stories — entirely formed by people who look like her. “It’s actually quite refreshing. We made such a big deal about Crazy Rich Asians,” she muses, “and then there’s whole countries that are creating content that look like I do.”
It just so happens that Lusi was in Jon M. Chu’s smash-hit rom-com from 2018, as Amanda “Mandy” Ling, the fabulously chic ex-girlfriend of Henry Golding’s Nick Young. While it was a landmark cinematic and cultural moment for Asian representation in the U.S. — amassing over $230 million at the global box office, making it the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the 2010s — Lusi’s been left wondering when that same seismic shift will occur in her native Britain.
“[I] hoped it had come, but then I don’t really see that many Asian-led projects,” says the Gangs of London star. “It’s hard to tell why there’s such a discrepancy between the U.K. and the U.S.”
It’s something of an understatement to say Lusi is doing her bit: She’s leading one of ITV‘s most popular thrillers, Red Eye, as the formidable and headstrong Hana Li, a Detective Sergeant in the Metropolitan Police. In season one, which upon its 2024 release boasted eight million viewers and 29.3 million streams on ITVX, she teamed up with Dr. Matthew Nolan (Richard Armitage) as the characters uncovered an international conspiracy intent on framing Nolan, all from within the confines of a Beijing-bound plane.
In season two, airing New Year’s Day in the U.K., it’s another pressure cooker environment. This time, Lusi must work with Clay Brody (Line of Duty‘s Martin Compston), with the pair forced to put their past differences aside after a murder inside London’s U.S. Embassy. While Hana and Clay race against the clock to find the killer and uncover what may be another conspiracy, the body count climbs and tensions bubble over. Also returning in the series from Bad Wolf and Sony Pictures Television (SPT), created by Peter A. Dowling, are Jemma Moore as journalist Jess, Hana’s younger sister, and Lesley Sharp as Madeline Delaney, director-general of MI5.
“Nothing good happens to people in Red Eye,” laughs Lusi to THR about the new installment, bound to land just as well with the millions of Brits who tuned in to season one. “[The Embassy] is Brody’s turf, so even to be let in, [Hana] has to have his permission. It’s a really, really humbling experience for her — not one she takes well.”
Below, Lusi talks season two of Red Eye, enjoying her recent run of spy thriller and action roles, and swapping Armitage for Compston. She also discusses joining the cast of Steven Moffat’s hotly anticipated British political dramedyNumber 10 — as Chancellor of the Exchequer, no less — and getting to play the boss-ass Hana Li: “As someone who’s played quite a few wives and girlfriends, it’s nice to be able to stand on your own.”
Hi, Jing! Can you cast your mind back to when you learned that you were going to be leading an ITV thriller?
Yeah, it was kind of a very uneventful process. People [are] like, “How did you get it?” And I was like, “I just auditioned, and that was it!” And actually, when I got the email with the scripts attached, it was just before Christmas, and I had treated myself to a little holiday in the Cotswolds. So I was like, “No work, no reading, no reading scripts. Nothing.” I chose the really wrong time to take some self-care. [Laughs.] And then I literally ignored [Red Eye]. It came to the New Year, and my agent was like, gently, “Have you read this? Because they’re sort of really wanting to move on.”
I started reading, and I couldn’t put it down. And then I started getting panicked, because I was like, “Oh my God. They’ve probably cast [Hana]. What am I going to do? I know exactly how to play her. This is for me.” Luckily, they waited. I don’t know if they specifically waited for me, but they didn’t find anyone else in the meantime. So I got really lucky.
The writing is terrific. And to have an Asian woman at the forefront of a big show, it’s a great bit of representation for Asian actors on British television.
Yeah — on British television. When I was doing press for it last year, the interviewers kept asking me, “Why do you think it’s taken so long in the U.K.?” And I genuinely don’t have an answer, because you see how there’s so much amazing representation in America, especially off the back of Crazy Rich Asians. But that just didn’t translate here. If I knew, I would have tried to do something about it. But I’ve done my part in writing and developing stories.
You’re right. We haven’t had our Crazy Rich Asians moment. I hope it’s coming.
I mean, I thought, [or I] hoped it had come, but then I don’t really see that many Asian-led projects after Red Eye. So it’s hard to tell why there’s such a discrepancy between the U.K. and the U.S.
But you get to be Hana, who is not only an Asian woman but a woman very much in a man’s world and among a lot of macho characters with some egos on them. That must have been pretty creatively satisfying — and spiritually rewarding?
Yeah, it was a lot of things! It was just inhabiting that world of being a non-white character but also a woman and also in this government conspiracy. So you’re a Brit amongst the Americans and the Chinese … to be the minority in every room is actually quite fun. And, you know, in season one, it was the Americans and the Chinese, and then now it’s like the Americans and the Russians and all of that. It’s a melting pot of a demographic. To be in there, amongst them and ruling the roost, that was definitely really, really fun. So refreshing for me.
When you knew you were co-leading with Richard, was that a daunting prospect? Had you met him?
It’s always a bit daunting, I think, especially because I hadn’t ever led before … I mean, I can’t speak for every actor, but I would assume that every actor gets into acting wanting to lead. Maybe there are some that are like, “Yeah, I’m cool in the background, just hanging out.” I worked with some fantastic leads and learned from them, so then I was like, “Okay, when am I going to get to do this?”
When it came, there’s only so much prep you can do. You don’t know how it’s going to be. So working alongside Richard, and then obviously someone like Martin in season two, you really learn so much about yourself. And then there’s so many things that you don’t really care so much about when you’re not leading — for example, audience reception. I’ve done some stuff that’s been huge. Some things have not done so well. But when it’s not your name or your face on it, you’re a bit like, “Well, I’m not dying on this sword!” When it is you, you suddenly feel all of this extra responsibility that maybe you shouldn’t feel. But I definitely took that on myself for season one and season two.
How do you cope with that sort of pressure?
I think with season one, because I didn’t have any thing to compare it to … you want it to do well, but you set the bar low because you don’t want to upset yourself. Self-protection. You’re just like, “Oh, if some people watch it, then it’s good.” So season one reception was kind of crazy, because my exec was telling me every week the numbers are growing, and they usually start tailing off as the show progresses. So that was crazy, to see the ratings just growing every week. I guess I have such a positive experience from my first time leading and I think with season two, then it becomes, “Oh, now we’ve got something to compare to.”
But on the flip side, you have that reference point now. So when people see Red Eye on New Year’s Day, they know it already.
I hope so. I feel like all of my firsts are quite big. The first time I ever set foot on a TV set was [British soap] Holby [City] and I played a doctor. It was never like I did some cadaver on silent witness, like most of my friends did. And my first studio film was Crazy Rich Asians. And the first time leading was something like Red Eye, and it was such a high bar… Leading a TV show on a graveyard shift that no one sees, but you kind of cut your teeth, I just never had that. It’s just straight in.
Baptism of fire.
Exactly. Thank god they’ve all turned out so well. (Laughs.)
It’s a huge testament to you, your performance, and the writing too. How was it achieving that chemistry with Richard so fast, and recreating it with Martin in this new season?
[Richard] is such a big guy, almost magnetic in force and he just [has] a quiet, simmering, brooding sort of energy. But I think with Richard’s character, Nolan, it was quite easy in some ways, because Richard and I had never met before, and Hana and Nolan had never met before. And so you get to play so much for real. We’re getting to know about each other for the first time, and that relationship does grow over the series. So in some ways, it’s an actor’s gift, because you’re like, “Oh, I don’t need to do any prep. I can just use what’s in front of me.” That was very natural. We did get on really well, but if we didn’t, then it’s also easy to use that because the characters are not meant to get on. Luckily, we did.
With Martin, it was a bit more complicated. As an actor, I was such a fan of his work anyway, because of Line of Duty, so it was coming in a little bit like a fan girl. And then because our characters have a history, you’re trying to make sure that you’re on the same page about that. You’re trying to pitch it right, as opposed to coming in completely cold with someone that you personally don’t know and that your character doesn’t know. We had to do a bit more work prepping for it.
Did you guys decide on a backstory?
Yeah, we were lucky to be involved a little bit in the development process. The producers [said], “This is what we’re thinking. What do you guys think?” And at the beginning it was very broad strokes. It was like, “You guys have history.” And we were like, “Okay, yeah. But, specifically, what? Was it romantic? Was it professional? How deep was it? He didn’t pay for a meal, he owes me five pounds, or he murdered my dog? What are we thinking?” We asked a lot of questions, and we got a bit more specific. And once we had the main bones of the structure, we could fill in the gaps for ourselves.
Season two is another pressure cooker situation — but not on a plane. It’s at the U.S. Embassy in London.
I like to think that, now that we’ve done two seasons, the premise of the show is it’s a locked box, as my producers call it. And bad things happen to certain people in the locked box. So, [in season one] where you’ve got the doctors on the plane, and they keep getting killed off — [in season two], there’s a certain group of people in the embassy and these people … bad things happen to them. Nothing good happens to people in Red Eye. (Laughs.) Once I start piecing it together, then I can figure out why this is happening. So that’s really interesting. Thematically, as a premise, that’s just a vehicle that can keep spinning lots of stories. It’s really fun to be part of that.
It really keeps you hooked, as a viewer.It’s almost like watching a film.
It’s also quite fun to film like that. It’s weird, because we film over three months but the story time is pretty much one day. So the continuity — everyone has to work so hard because if you have one hair out of place, or your parting is different, then it’s like, “Why do you look like you’ve showered?” (Laughs.) No comfort breaks! It’s really intense and it’s fun working like that. Also we can work at speed, because there’s no costume changes. You wear one outfit. So whenever I go shopping with the costume designer, Iain Macaulay, and I’m like, “I like this,” he [says], “Are you sure? Because you’re going to be wearing this for 13 weeks and you’re going to be sick of it by week six. Think carefully.” And I’m like, “Yes, I love it. Let’s do it.” By week six: “Iain, I hate it. Why did you let me do this?” (Laughs.)
I’d never considered how tricky the continuity must be!
It’s so hard. Even if I wash my hair, [to go] from product and a little bit greasy, and the next day, they’re like, “Ah…”
“Wait. Your hair looks too good today!”
Yeah. It’s too fluffy. (Laughs.) And they have to matte it down. So it’s things like that that you can’t get away with because it’s a direct cut. There’s one at the end of episode three, and then going into episode four, we changed directors during that time, but you pick it up the next second. We had a few weeks off in between. So everyone’s just taking so many photos trying to recreate exactly what happened and how it looked. I do love filming like that, because you feel like you really are living it.
Did you feel the difference in style between the two directors?
We did the first season with one director on one block, so we felt we were making a movie. For the second season, I think time-wise, they had to split the two blocks. We had the first director back, Kieron [Hawkes], who I adore, and the second block was Camilla [Strom Henriksen]. And I completely empathize, because you’re sort of a new kid coming into a really, really established class, a school or something, and you’re trying to do your job as well and get to learn everyone’s names. We’ve got such a strong team, we’d already clicked. So it’s definitely hard for her, but when I watched the episodes, I don’t see much difference. I think that’s really testament to her being able to carry the style of the show, as well as put her own imprint on it. She’s such a lovely lady. It was great to work with her. And female directors are so rare, so getting to have another lady in the mix was just [great].
How would you describe yours and Martin’s dynamic? It’s definitely pretty fraught, right?
Yeah, they have a history. They’re not expecting to see each other again, so when they do, it’s a shock. And then, in the first episode, Hana thinks that it was a one-off, it’s never going to happen again. She follows the trail of the murder and she thinks the answer is in the U.S. Embassy, which frustratingly, is Martin Compston’s turf. It’s Brody’s turf. So even to be let in, she has to have his permission. It’s a really, really a humbling experience for her — not one she takes very well. There’s quite a bit of animosity at the start, and then there’s a bit of, “We don’t want to be here, but we sort of need each other.” It develops from that. And it’s such a beautiful thing to play — especially when you have male and female leading characters — I think the obvious thing is that they get together, or there’s some kind of romantic undertone. It’s so refreshing to not play that and actually be like, “Oh, women can have relationships with men that do not exist on that level, and are just seen as a professional entity or a friend.” As someone who’s played quite a few wives and girlfriends, it’s nice to be able to stand on your own.
Jing Lusi as Hana Li and Martin Compston as Clay Brody in Red Eye season two. Courtesy of ITV
I’m so pleased. There’s quite a bit of physicality required for Hana, and I’ve also noticed that you’ve been pulled to a lot of spy thrillers and action projects recently. Does this genre, this kind of work, appeal to you?
It seems to have gone down that way, hasn’t it? (Laughs.) I’ve also noticed that, and that was one of the reasons why I didn’t want to read Red Eye so much. I was like, “Oh, I’ve done so much of this, I don’t think I really want to do this again.” And then, obviously, when I read it, I was like, “I really want to do it.” But yeah, it’s so fun. I wouldn’t call myself physical at all. I’m actually quite sedentary. (Laughs.) I don’t know why I found myself in this realm where there’s a lot of action involved and it’s quite physically demanding, but I’m quite good at short bursts. That works well for something like Red Eye, because it’s just action, bam, go, and a minute later, cut. You can rest up for half an hour and go again. So my constitution lends itself quite well to something like this … I love choreography, I love dance — I feel it’s like that, but just a bit more violent and with a lot more injuries!
How did you snap back into playing Hana, or is it pretty effortless?
It’s quite easy, and it’s interesting as well. Because when I did ADR — additional dialog recording, [where] you go in and record over stuff that isn’t recorded so well — I noticed that my Hana voice is quite low, because I’d record it and then the director would be like, “Why do you sound three octaves higher?”
I think I’m quite loud, whereas she’s a lot more contained. So even dropping into a low register, which I don’t realize I’m doing, but obviously I do … She’s a lot more introverted and not so expressive as me, so even something like a voice change kind of pulls you [into the character].
I understand. She’s a bit more intense — as is the nature of her job, to be fair.
She needs to conserve her energy. She’s got mad shit to be dealing with, so much on her plate. If she was yapping all the time, she wouldn’t get very far. (Laughs.)
How would you describe season two in three words?
Perfect New Year’s Day binge-fest. Sorry, that’s like, five!
And a quick note on Number 10, which maybe you can’t talk about…
I’m so excited to not only be working with that level of that cast and Steven Moffat — oh my God, what a genius — but just to be doing something that’s a bit comedic. I grew up on comedies and rom-coms, and it’s always something that I’ve wanted to do. We’ve already shot some stuff, so I was in last week and sort of feeling, “Ah, I feel like the new kid in this genre,” even though I’ve been in comedies. But I wasn’t particularly playing a funny role, you know? If you look at Crazy Rich Asians, they had so many stand up comedians that were just ad libbing, and I was like, “Oh, I’m the mean bitch. I’m not that funny.” So, yeah, I’m so excited and it’s so fun. Apparently, they have recreated exactly the interior of Number 10… We’re going to be filming in the studio, and I guess I’ll get to see what it looks like behind those doors.
What really struck me about this was we did the read through the day, and hearing everyone act it out… It’s so well written, there’s so much comedy, there’s so much poignancy, but it’s actually a very serious subject matter. That’s what I love about Steven Moffat’s work, and also watching Douglas Is Cancelled — it starts off quite light, and you’re like, “Oh, I know what this is going to be.” And then it just twists, it flips. You’re like, “Whoa, I did not see that coming.” That’s kind of what I experienced when I read the Number 10 script.
What is your favorite TV show airing right now, or that you’re watching right now?
I’ve really got into K-dramas recently and I was just in Korea, so I’m going full on into a Korean rabbit hole. I got into it via Squid Game, and what I realized when I was watching Squid Game was that, “Oh, my God, everyone looks like me.” It’s actually quite refreshing. We made such a big deal about Crazy Rich Asians, and then there’s whole countries that are creating content that look like I do. Obviously, I’m not Korean, but I look more like a Korean than I do an English person. So that was amazing. And then what I’m watching now is a show called Signal, a detective series. I’ve only just started, but I was in Korea and someone said that was such a good show, so I’ve started watching it … It’s interesting as well, learning about other people’s cultures.
I do feel it’s hard to tell original stories now, and you see so many things being remade, and you’re like, “Have we run out of stories?” but then you find a different culture, and you go, “Woah, they’ve got all of these stories that are nothing like ours, and that’s amazing.”
Red Eye season two is available to watch in the U.K. on ITV1 and ITVX.
