Kara Wang has always had an affinity for performance. “I was always in show choir—always in dance,” she said in an interview with Character Media. “I know at some point in that phase my parents were like, ‘She’s going to grow out of it, it’s fine,’ but I never grew out of it.”
Hailing from Los Angeles, Wang has been working professionally as an actress for over 10 years, working on projects such as Freeform’s “Good Trouble,” Amazon Studios’ “Goliath” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” Recently, Wang has starred in late director Joshua Wong’s first feature, “The Calm Beyond,” which follows a young woman named Asha (Wang) after a massive typhoon hits Hong Kong and floods everything in its wake. Wang explained that she sees timely parallels to present international crises within the film. “I shot this film in 2019 before the COVID pandemic, and now that it’s coming out it takes on a whole different meaning,” she said. “Although trauma and isolation and grief were all universal themes, now the entire world has experienced this [pandemic] together. I think [themes of isolation and trauma] hit differently than they did before.”
Wang also discussed her role on “Good Trouble” as Sumi Liu, a free-wheeling, intelligent medical student whose primary love interest is Alice Kwan (Sherry Cola). “It has been one of the greatest joys of my life to play [Sumi],” Wang said. “A huge part of that being that me and Sherry Cola have become sisters in real life. We’re best friends, we talk everyday.” She also noted the trailblazing work that “Good Trouble” has done for queer, Asian femme people. “Me and Sherry always say, name one other show that shows love between two Asian women,” she said. “It’s an honor to play this character.”
To hear more about Wang’s roles, and learn a little bit about her venture into becoming a certified sommelier, check out the video above!
