Marvel's Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu has criticised the writers' room's lack of diversity on his former sitcom Kim's Convenience.
Sharing an impassioned Facebook post this week, the Jung star identified a lack of "East Asian and female representation" within the creative team, which would have offered extra authenticity to the storylines.
Related: Marvel's Simu Liu would refuse to appear in Kim's Convenience spin-off
"Aside from [creator Ins Choi], there were no other Korean voices in the room. And personally I do not think he did enough to be a champion for those voices (including ours). When he left (without so much as a goodbye note to the cast), he left no protege, no padawan learner, no Korean talent that could have replaced him," Liu wrote to his fans.
"I tried so hard to be that person; I sent him spec scripts I was working on, early cuts of short films I had produced... I voiced my interest in shadowing a director or writers' room... my prior experience had taught me that if I just put myself out there enough, people would be naturally inclined to help. And boy was I wrong here. I wasn't the only one who tried.
"Many of us in the cast were trained screenwriters with thoughts and ideas that only grew more seasoned with time. But those doors were never opened to us in any meaningful way."
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Related: Shang-Chi star says Kim's Convenience cancellation "feels like a betrayal"
Elsewhere in his statement, the Chinese Canadian star expressed how "increasingly frustrated" he became with the way his character was being portrayed on screen.
"I think this is a natural part of a collaborative undertaking like making a TV show; everyone is going to have different ideas on where each character ought to go, what stories ought to be told," he explained.
"But it was always my understanding that the lead actors were the stewards of character, and would grow to have more creative insight as the show went on.
"This was not the case on our show, which was doubly confusing because our producers were overwhelmingly white and we were a cast of Asian Canadians who had a plethora of lived experiences to draw from and offer to writers."
Kim's Convenience is available to watch on Netflix in the UK and US.
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Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
