The Season Stars Karena Lam, Jessie Mei Li And Justin Chien Reveal Why Their New Thriller Is More Than Crazy Rich Asians

When 8days.sg catches Karena Lam, Jessie Mei Li and Justin Chien over Zoom from Hong Kong, the cast are in high spirits.

The trio star in The Season, now on Viu, a six-part English-language ensemble drama set against the backdrop of Hong Kong’s ultra-exclusive boating season, where billionaires, socialites and old-money families gather aboard lavish super-yachts. When an outsider infiltrates this world with a hidden agenda, long-buried secrets begin to unravel. Dun-dun-duuuun.

Li, best known for the Netflix fantasy actioner Shadow and Bone, plays Cola Pierce, a rookie financial manager who becomes entangled with dashing lawyer David Ho (played by The Brothers Sun breakout Justin Chien). Taiwanese-Canadian screen icon Karena Lam plays Fiona Hext, the formidable matriarch of one of the most influential families, whose polished exterior hides emotional scars of her own.

From the get-go,The Season has been hyped as Hong Kong’s answer to Crazy Rich Asians. When asked if the actors could do an elevator pitch without once referencing Jon M Chu’s 2018 hit, they came prepared.

“It's a champagne-fuelled revenge thriller,” quipped Li, borrowing the description from series creator Yalun Tu.

Chien offered another take. “It’s a social thriller,” he said. “An outsider attempts to infiltrate Hong Kong’s high society with a secret vendetta.”

Lam laughed that her co-stars had already said everything she wanted to. “I truly think The Season stands on its own,” she added.

Even before the cameras started rolling, they were already looking forward to shooting certain scenes.

For Chien, two sequences instantly jumped out when he first read the script. One was a powerful scene between David and Cola, filmed at sunrise on Hong Kong's iconic Pedder Street after a 3.30am call time.

The other was “a very dirty underground club bathroom,” he laughed, referring to an intense clash with Chris Pang's Andrew Fung.

Li, meanwhile, was especially excited to film the trio’s chaotic night out and see how the series would portray the characters’ intoxication.

“I always find it really interesting in films and TV when they portray people being drunk or high," she said. "I was really excited to see how they made it feel disorientating, and I think they did a really good job.”

Lam, meanwhile, singled out the Ocean Park episode, where what begins as an elaborate game gradually unveils Fiona’s vulnerabilities. “There were just so many storylines waiting to be revealed,” she said.

Given Lam’s status as one of Asian cinema's most acclaimed actresses — three Golden Horse Awards! — did her younger co-stars found acting opposite her intimidating?

“One,” Chien said, effortlessly, on a scale of one to 10.

“She's such a lovely, sweet, warm person. She has a very calming presence. I felt very supported.”

Li concurred. “It was such an honour,” she said. “Everyone was so down-to-earth and generous. No one was phoning it in. Everyone gave 100 per cent in every scene.”

Lam insisted she hadn’t intimidated anyone. Instead, she said the challenging summer shoot — complete with sweltering heat and typhoon season — brought the cast even closer together.

"It's very rare to have an ensemble cast where you actually love everyone on-screen and off-screen," she said.

Li added: "The more difficult a situation is, the closer you come together."

And that brings us to their ‘co-star’, Hong Kong itself. 

Li confessed that before the show, she knew little about Hong Kong's exclusive boating season. “I didn't know anything about that world,” she said. “It’s very interesting to see how the other half live.”

Chien highlighted locations few productions — let alone tourists — ever get access to. “Tourists probably don’t get access to Ocean Park after dark,” he joked.

Even for the Vancouver-born Lam, who rose to prominence in Hong Kong with Ann Hui's July Rhapsody in 2002, there were still surprises waiting while filming The Season.

She said cinematographer Sergio Delgado (The Great) made familiar locations feel brand new. “A lot of the locations I’ve shot before,” she said. “But seeing them through his eyes made me fall in love with Hong Kong again.”

Despite spending months in the gilded clique, neither Chien nor Lam was envious of their characters' privileged lifestyles.

Chien noted that David is actually trying to escape that world. “I think part of him wants to leave that high society — even Hong Kong — because of some of the personal struggles that he's facing,” he said.

Lam was even more blunt. “All this wealth is just a façade,” she said. “What I find interesting is really the relationships and the emotional struggles.”

Before wrapping up, we asked the actors to indulge in a little fan fiction. Given the Crazy Rich Asians comparisons, we were curious: what might happen if Michelle Yeoh's steely Eleanor Young crossed paths with The Season's cocktail-sipping tai-tais?

The trio imagined Eleanor going head-to-head with Fiona, for sure. Chien, however, had something else in mind. 

What if his crime family in The Brothers Sun — led by a badass matron also played by Yeoh — crashes Fiona’s fancy gatherings? “I would love to see the Sun family be invited to a Hext yacht party and try to conduct some of business with Toby [Stephens’ character Christopher Hext, Fiona’s husband].”

"It'd be cool to see who from the Hext family can throw down," he laughed.

Lam was already sold. "The Season Season Two," she teased.

Viu, let’s get cracking on that, shall we?

Watch all episodes of The Season now on Viu.

Hero collage: Viu