Nicole Kang Of The CW's Batwoman

[00:00:00] Kenric: [00:00:00] All

[00:00:00] right. All right guys. Welcome back. And today it’s super special because if you’re a big fan. Of Batwoman like I am, then you’re going to know her as Mary Hamilton, Nicole King. Thank you so much for coming on.

[00:00:17] Yeah, it’s so funny when, when I do these interviews because you and I just had like a five minute conversation. And then we start and it’s like, Oh yeah,

[00:00:33] he’s seen you since Hector was a pup.

[00:00:39] It’s doing so well, so much to move so much to organize. I love it. Batman season Batwoman and we said, Batman, it’s so hard not to say that Batwoman season two. How’s it going up there? You’re, you’re, you’re stuck in quarantine with Canada, but you guys are furiously shooting the show right now, right? Yeah.

[00:01:03] Nicole Kang: [00:01:03] Like I said, as I said before, I feel like we’re all at band camp. Cause we really just have each other and we get these scripts and we’re in our little bubble and we are just turning them out sort of praying that there aren’t any shutdowns everybody’s being good. And. And trying to stay focused, you know, and still try and turn out sort of, uh, an 18 episode series, which is wild in a time like this, especially because we started so late and, um, and.

[00:01:41] You know, like nobody knew how network television was going to sort of continue. So I’m just really proud of the whole team. Uh, for the most part, I. Just love our producer up here, Jay and Caroline, down in LA with the writer, the whole writer’s room, they’ve just really rallied together and actually written some incredibly compelling scripts.

[00:02:08] We have incredible guest stars and incredible characters from the comics that I’m like, we got this. Oh my gosh. And just amazing people, like, even Shavani, just amazing, like coming from South Africa, we’re still, I just really admire the team for not, you know, not in any sense, making an actor’s geography.

[00:02:38] Yeah. Uh, keep them from, from being invited into like our world, creating a show and potentially being a part of it. So in that sense, like I’m so excited, the vibe is just totally different. It’s just feels different. Yeah.

[00:02:58] Kenric: [00:02:58] Or the new, the new actress playing or a new actor playing Batwoman she looked in the stills that I’ve seen her in.

[00:03:04] She looks amazing.

[00:03:06] Nicole Kang: [00:03:06] Did you see an amazing, and she is about us and she’s doing such a great job

[00:03:13] Kenric: [00:03:13] and she,

[00:03:15] Nicole Kang: [00:03:15] yeah, she is in the, you know, purposefully. She is totally different. And I think what we explore in this season is what it truly means. That anyone can put on this suit can put on the Batwoman suit and take up that mantle.

[00:03:38] But then also the legacy that comes with it, the responsibility that comes with it and, uh, and a person and the person who’s inside of it, wrestling with all of those things, that’s real. And we deal with it and we. So all of our characters, as much as our audience is like, Oh my gosh, are they going to deal with it?

[00:03:56] Are they not? Are they this? How do they feel? How does everyone feel? I’m so many feelings, but around the character of Kate Kane and what’s really dope is that episode one kicks off and it’s so dramatic and there’s a mystery. And it’s the question is sort of like, What happened to Kate Kane and

[00:04:24] Kenric: [00:04:24] it that’s a parallel of what she was going through in the first couple of episodes.

[00:04:30] Exactly

[00:04:31] Nicole Kang: [00:04:31] wild. Can you believe that we’re doing? And so it catapult us into the second season without any fear of a second season slump or any getting bogged down in exposition or trying to introduce a new character, pretending everything. It was normal. That amazing thing thing about our show and the series that we’re on and the ingenuity of.

[00:04:59] The writer’s room is that we’ve taken it and we’ve activated all of these characters. And so for Mary Hamilton, especially, she really is the only one with a connection to every single character. And she’s. In the Kane family unit, you know, dad had of crows, she just lost her mother. Her now, you know, her sister is missing or what happens to her, you know, and her other sister is the villain of this show is Oh, wild kickoff.

[00:05:34] And I I’m really excited to see people’s takes. To see people’s questions and to just reengage with everyone. Honestly, I just miss everyone. I miss week to week having an episode come out and. And talking about it. I think it’ll bring me a lot of joy in the new year. January 17th truly could not come.

[00:06:01] Yeah, dude,

[00:06:02] Kenric: [00:06:02] I can’t wait for this whole thing, this whole quarantine thing to be done. And then we can really get back to normal and hopefully you can come down and see that go to the Emerald city Comicon and check it out with everything because I think, yeah,

[00:06:14] Nicole Kang: [00:06:14] dreams, you know, I’ve never done a comic con.

[00:06:17] Kenric: [00:06:17] You see? Well, now you’re, you’re, you’re you’re in the comic like television lore. So now it’s kind of have to, it’s gonna, it’s gonna happen.

[00:06:26] Nicole Kang: [00:06:26] I know. I just absolutely. Can’t wait. I know I’m going to just burst into tears. I mean,

[00:06:30] Kenric: [00:06:30] with so many calls plays and walks up to you,

[00:06:34] Nicole Kang: [00:06:34] I’m going to be so honestly, Probably more enthusiastic than I’m going to be an absolutely exhilarating experience for me.

[00:06:46] And I don’t know if it’ll be scary or endearing. We’ll see.

[00:06:54] Kenric: [00:06:54] I got to ask you how much of a shock when, uh, Ruby Rose left.

[00:07:00] Nicole Kang: [00:07:00] It was shocking, you know? Yeah. It was as shocking as it was to everybody else, you know, so funny that. Everyone assumes that we know everything or what have you.

[00:07:12] Kenric: [00:07:12] You can’t know everything. It is

[00:07:14] Nicole Kang: [00:07:14] real life. And our characters what’s really nice is our characters.

[00:07:20] Like through our characters, we get to experience that loss. We get to experience the moving on. We get to experience the complicated feelings that our audience has, and we take care of the audience. You know, there’s no stone left unturned and. It’s just like hook after hook, after hook. It’s wild. And I, I, but, but that being said, you know, I wish her well.

[00:07:49] Um, I, I know it’s a, it’s always, you know, like this, this business is like this, you know, that’s something that we forget. And I think that. Yeah, I think that I’m just really excited for everybody to meet Javi, SIA and Ryan Wilder.

[00:08:10] Kenric: [00:08:10] And I’m excited when I saw her pictures and what she, and how they had her set up.

[00:08:15] I was like, she’s going to kill it. I mean, this, she looks great. There’s no reason not to give her a chance to be everything you need her to be.

[00:08:22] Nicole Kang: [00:08:22] Exactly exactly. And, and another perspective and another person on the whole new character that everybody gets to learn about, I think is so cool. While also having characters that you love and already have real relationships with.

[00:08:37] I it’s just sort of,

[00:08:40] Kenric: [00:08:40] do you know what, uh, I don’t know if you’re going announce or if, if you know what the start date of season two is.

[00:08:49] Nicole Kang: [00:08:49] Yes seasons do. Oh my gosh.

[00:08:52] Kenric: [00:08:52] You seasoned stew, man. Yeah. This sounds like a podcast season

[00:08:57] Nicole Kang: [00:08:57] with Nicole liberal for my podcast episode, to just send that over. I’m just going to be like, Oh boy.

[00:09:05] Uh, but we premiered January 17th, Sunday. January 17th

[00:09:12] Kenric: [00:09:12] first, check it out. I’m excited to see, see how it goes. I really hope that there is no season to slump in that the ratings just keep going up and, and, uh, you guys just keep going for season three and season four, far as you can go, because she’s the one.

[00:09:28] And I had a lot of fun. I thought when they did the whole, um, crisis of infinite earths, I thought Ruby Rose did a fantastic job. I was surprised. That she left since that was such a huge hit. And they set her up as kind of this, like this really big character moving forward. So it was a surprise coming out.

[00:09:49] But I think, I, I don’t know. I, I think you guys are going to pull through and I think it’s gonna be awesome. Right?

[00:09:54] Nicole Kang: [00:09:54] Yeah. And, and, you know, like I noticed some of the, some of those crossovers are hard to do now, but we, we really, uh, dress that. And it’s wild. It feels like you picked up right where you left off and just the ball keeps.

[00:10:12] Yeah.

[00:10:12] Kenric: [00:10:12] So you’re directing a short called Jack and Jane. We able to finish filming yet, or is it still going or what’s going on with that?

[00:10:21] Nicole Kang: [00:10:21] It sounds edited it. And I have it and I, my best friend, Alice Cremo Berg is sort of co-created it with me. And he’s actually in. The trial of the Chicago seven new Sorkin movie on Netflix, which I highly encourage everyone she’s stunning in it, but it’s also just an incredible film.

[00:10:47] Yeah, definitely. I’m really, really pertinent, but she and I have known each other for a very, very long time. And these were just two characters that we have written played with. I mean for years. Yeah. So short it’s so funny. This short, I haven’t, I’ve just never released it, which maybe I should, because some people were like, will you submit it?

[00:11:12] Will you do this? Yeah,

[00:11:13] Kenric: [00:11:13] you got it. Let’s do it. Let’s see it. I want to see it sounds interesting. I mean, you’re. Codependent relationship going in and out of shelters in New York, I read up on it, you know, and yeah, it sounds really interesting. So I’d love to see it. So hopefully you put it out

[00:11:28] Nicole Kang: [00:11:28] somewhere. I will definitely figure out how to release it and what, and in what form that’s actually really great because, you know, I think w one thing that this is all taught me is like, don’t hold onto things.

[00:11:45] Until you’ve believed that they are perfect. Yeah, no, I think that was a little bit, a little bit of fear holding onto stuff and certain things I’m like, that is such a Mark of who I was at that year, at that time, doing that, you know, in process and sort of. Life and as an actor and as a director, uh, et cetera.

[00:12:13] And I, and it’s so special and, and, and yeah, so I’m, I’m definitely working on that as a

[00:12:23] Kenric: [00:12:23] general rule. Yeah. Holding things until you find perfection is, Oh my God. I have, my tendency is holding people on a pedestal. You know, and I don’t even realize I do it until I’m doing it.

[00:12:40] It’s the same to me. It’s the same thing. Cause it’s like no nothing and no one can ever be perfect. You know? So you gotta really, you gotta find that time when you’re like, okay, this is, I don’t want to say good enough because you know, this is, am I happy with what I have? And I think once you’re, once you realize, Oh, I’m happy with this, then you can do what you need to do.

[00:13:01] Nicole Kang: [00:13:01] Absolutely. Absolutely. And I, I just think, you know, it’s a very now or never, and kind of like people are here, like just to like, you don’t catch you and, and, and people recognize what’s in process and that, you know, What we’re all sort of on the way to, you know, just like. Blossoming learning, moving, falling, getting back up and just figuring it

[00:13:37] Kenric: [00:13:37] out.

[00:13:38] Yeah, exactly. I love it. How you, you’re busy. You’ve been busy this last few months last year because you have 10 minutes to midnight coming out

[00:13:48] Nicole Kang: [00:13:48] soon. I do. I do. That was such a fun film. I hope you guys check it out. 10 minutes to midnight. Is it film? Uh, created by Eric. Bloomquist actually the bloom crisp brothers and they are really dope, but my sort of draw to this awesome and fun ride of a horror flick is working with Caroline Williams, who I adore and grew up watching.

[00:14:22] Like I just Texas chainsaw massacre. Is a classic, like if you

[00:14:31] Kenric: [00:14:31] saw it

[00:14:33] Nicole Kang: [00:14:33] and it means so much. Just so many people it’s so nostalgic for so many people, they know where they were, they know who they were at the time and you know who they were with when they saw it. And so to be back with her in a radio station for this film and like pay Omars to her journey as a woman and an actress was so cool.

[00:15:01] It ended up just being this commentary on. Women aging in this business, our fear of women aging, our fear of aging, our selves, our fear of becoming irrelevant and all of those very real fears in the midst of, you know, a bat bites her on her way to. Work, and it just sort of devolves and sort of this humorous, and this third act is just sort of almost ridiculous theater.

[00:15:39] Right? And, and so within that fun, there are really poignant things that we talk about and she acts beautifully. So I’m really excited for that to come out

[00:15:53] Kenric: [00:15:53] there that comes out soon. Right.

[00:15:56] Nicole Kang: [00:15:56] Yes. Yes. It’ll be out VOD soon.

[00:16:00] Kenric: [00:16:00] It’s like, um, I want to look it up cause I want to see exactly. Cause it looks really fun.

[00:16:06] Oh yeah. I mean, if you haven’t for the people out there, you guys got to check out the trailer, just go to just go to YouTube and type in 10 minutes to midnight, it looks like so much fun. Oh, it came out on, Oh, it’s saying it came out September 17th, but I think that was in the theaters. Right?

[00:16:23] Nicole Kang: [00:16:23] Yeah, it’s going to come out January 19, 20, 21, you know, and VOD.

[00:16:30] Kenric: [00:16:30] Yeah, it looks awesome. I can’t wait to watch it.

[00:16:33] Nicole Kang: [00:16:33] Thank you. Thank you.

[00:16:35] Kenric: [00:16:35] So Nicole being an actor is not an easy job to crack. And when you went to your parents, what was their reactions? When you said I’m going to be a professional actor?

[00:16:51] Nicole Kang: [00:16:51] Well at the time I was actually studying accounting in Ohio. I was in college, right?

[00:17:01] Oh yeah. I was in good Korean kid. My parents are MIT grads, doctorate degrees. I mean, they’re incredibly brilliant. And. In their own sort of

[00:17:16] Kenric: [00:17:16] way, kind of a foreign thing to them.

[00:17:24] Nicole Kang: [00:17:24] And it’s really funny because the only way that my dad could sort of like understand it or stomach it, or just accept that what was happening in his life, he was like, okay, well, I went to grad school for five years, so I guess you can try this out for five years. And then after that, you’re going to go get your MBA at the time.

[00:17:46] Oh yeah. Oh my God. Thank you. Like never thought you’d say yes. And this year is actually my technically my fifth year, uh, trying this thing out, which is, which is really funny. And it’s, um, And it’s hilarious because my dad is always like, you can always get it online, you know, but I know that he and my mom are now just like, get it.

[00:18:12] And, and it’s really great because he and my mom watch every Sunday and they’re really invested in it. So, and that’s, I mean, just what more could you ask,

[00:18:25] Kenric: [00:18:25] have they really had, they expressed how proud they are of you.

[00:18:29] Nicole Kang: [00:18:29] Yeah, I think now today it slips out whether they want, want it to or not, you know? Um, which is the best part.

[00:18:38] Like sometimes they won’t tell me to my face, but then I hear like the whole family is getting texts and getting sent trailers of certain picture. And, and that just is hilarious. Like my cousins. Call me like cracking up, like making fun of, you know, their aunt, my mom, and, uh, ticks. And I love it. Yeah. And we just get to bond about that.

[00:19:04] About how crazy of a journey it’s been. Do you have siblings? I don’t. I am an only child.

[00:19:11] Kenric: [00:19:11] So that’s it. So it’s even more for them cause they’re like,

[00:19:15] Nicole Kang: [00:19:15] it’s pressure for sure. And then my family, you know, my dad is the Elvis son and I am the eldest kid of the eldest son, which sorta means like in traditional sort of Korean culture, at least in my family that I really hold the torch or.

[00:19:37] Taking care of the whole family. And, uh,

[00:19:42] Kenric: [00:19:42] I better make some movies. You better make some successful movies.

[00:19:47] Nicole Kang: [00:19:47] Oh, like I even, you know, I barely can like set my alarm and like, do my, I just figured it out laundry. I’m like, I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re talking about about. Or King family legacy, but let me just, Oh my gosh, let me just grow up first.

[00:20:08] But you know, apart from that, I think it’s been a very intense, not so easy way that my parents and I have really gotten to know each other. Yeah.

[00:20:22] Kenric: [00:20:22] Yeah. That’s uh, that sounds like a good movie right there. Yeah, you got a lot going on. I love it. Well, Nicole, I think this is a, I know that you’re a busy girl and you got a lot going on.

[00:20:38] I just appreciate you taking your time today. Cause this is a lot of fun and maybe you’ll come back on and, and, uh, bullshit some more with me.

[00:20:46] Nicole Kang: [00:20:46] Absolutely. We have to, especially when, when season two is, and I can actually talk more. Vaguely and generally to mystery and the injury

[00:21:04] Kenric: [00:21:04] Jack and Jane updates.

[00:21:06] Nicole Kang: [00:21:06] Yes.

[00:21:07] I, I hope I have some the next time we saw,

[00:21:10] Kenric: [00:21:10] because I love to, I’d love to see it. I love to see, I love seeing people being successful. That’s one of my favorite things I never understand. You always have friends that always, um, I don’t know if they realize that they’re doing it, but they’re always talking down about another friend that’s doing really well.

[00:21:26] Right. All that out when I see it, because it’s like, I, I w Y Y Y you know, what is that jealousy gets to you in that way, and it’s better. Yeah, exactly. And

[00:21:43] Nicole Kang: [00:21:43] what I have been truly blessed with is the fans of this show are fans of Mary Hamilton. The fans of that woman, that man fans in general are so cool and, and so supportive and so excited for more Gotham is the ultimate playground in my sort of.

[00:22:09] Definitely biased opinion,

[00:22:12] Kenric: [00:22:12] but definitely the rogue

[00:22:13] Nicole Kang: [00:22:13] Valley. Yeah. Batman has always been my favorite and it’s because he is human and flawed and we, I just think we love seeing real people and Mary. Hamilton is, is, is just that she’s totally flawed. Totally human, nothing super about her in the middle of it all.

[00:22:38] And, and you still root for her. You’re just rooting for her. And so I definitely feel the love and that’s, what’s been probably the best part of this

[00:22:49] Kenric: [00:22:49] gig. That’s awesome. That’s awesome. All right. Well, Nicole. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I sincerely do. Uh, I hope season two just goes off like gangbusters.

[00:23:05] I’m excited to sit down and watch it. And, uh, 10 minutes to midnight, everybody. January 19th. You really gotta check it out. Go see the trailer. It’s gonna make you want to watch that movie. It’s so good.

[00:23:16] Nicole Kang: [00:23:16] Yeah, it’s a punk rock dream. It’s awesome.

[00:23:19] Kenric: [00:23:19] It’s I love it. So it’s going to be, I think it’s going to be great.

[00:23:21]