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‘Hit-Monkey' star on Asian representation in Marvel's new series

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Yong Chavez | TFC News Hollywood

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zjdEvO2O-Qg?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>The new Marvel animated TV series &#x27;Hit-Monkey&#x27; stars George Takei, Olivia Munn, Ally Maki, and Nobi Nakanishi. It also features the voice of &#x27;Ted Lasso&#x27; star Jason Sudeikis, and Fred Tatasciore in the title role.</p><p>Maki plays Haruka, an honest cop from a Japanese small town who moved to the big city. She says the project, for her, was &quot;a whole new thing.&quot;</p><p>&quot;It was so exciting to be able to really go there. I had scenes where I was tearing up or other scenes where we just had so much fun and we could really take it to those gritty places, so I had such a blast,&quot; Maki shares.</p><p>When she was a young girl, Maki did voiceovers for video games and at 14, moved to Los Angeles to join an all-girl band. She recalls going to auditions at the time when casting directors and filmmakers did not consider Asian talents for major roles.</p><p>&quot;I don&#x27;t think I realized how much it took a toll on me until I was an adult. And then looking back, I just felt really sad for my 14-year-old self who did go through all of this, who tried to fit into all of these little tiny boxes that I felt like society wanted me to be,&quot; Maki admits. </p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Ally Maki on Asian representation in Hollywood" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/tfc/11/23/20211123_ally-maki-4.jpg"/><figcaption>Ally Maki, one of the stars of Marvel&#x27;s new animated series &#x27;Hit-Monkey,&#x27; says she&#x27;s excited about Asian Americans finally playing leads in shows.</figcaption></figure></div><p>&quot;It was very freeing as an adult to be able to say, &#x27;No, I&#x27;m undefinable. I don&#x27;t need to fit into any boxes.&#x27; But it was certainly a struggle. I took a lot from auditions into my own personal life, which I think was hard, of feeling like, &#x27;Oh, well, I don&#x27;t matter. You know, my story doesn&#x27;t matter.&#x27; And that&#x27;s what&#x27;s sad about [the lack of] representation is when you&#x27;re not the central figure of any story, you start to feel like your own personal life doesn&#x27;t matter. So that&#x27;s why I&#x27;m so excited about Asian American people, especially women, playing leads because then it basically shows young girls that you are the hero of your story. You do matter.&quot;</p><p>The first season of Hit-Monkey is now streaming on Hulu.</p>

'Hit-Monkey' star Ally Maki recalls going to auditions at the time when casting directors and filmmakers did not consider Asian talents for major roles.