Syfy’s new show “Deadly Class” is set in the 1980s, but it doesn’t have over-the-top retro hairstyles that typically accompany nostalgia pieces about the decade. Instead of mullets and perms, it has assassins.
Based on an Image Comics book series of the same name, “Class” is a gritty “X Men”-style drama about a San Francisco-based training school for assassins whose targets include politicians, crime bosses and President Reagan.
“Everything about the show felt fresh and different,” says Benedict Wong, who stars as Master Lin, the school’s ruthless headmaster. His co-stars include Henry Rollins (“Sons of Anarchy”), Benjamin Wadsworth (“Teen Wolf”) and Lana Condor (Netflix’s “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before”).
Wong read “Deadly Class” in its original form to prepare.
“Master Lin’s character is a real expansion of the one created in the comics and it’s been brilliant to have that background to build off of, as well as the scope for the character to grow,” says Wong, 47.
The actor, who played Kublai Khan on “Marco Polo,” worked with some of the same stuntmen for the “Deadly Class” fight scenes. “Having already developed a shorthand with them was great preparation in itself and helped us to hit the ground running.”
With Marvel films such as “Doctor Strange” and the third and fourth “Avengers” movies to his credit, the English-born Wong is no stranger to genre fare. In fact, he got involved in “Deadly Class” because its creators are “Captain America” and “Avengers: Infinity War” directors Anthony and Joseph Russo (who are collectively billed as “the Russo brothers”).
“It was while working with them on ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ that we first started discussing ‘Deadly Class’ and Master Lin,” Wong says. “They’re a real force, and garner so much respect from the cast and crews they work with.”
Nevertheless, Wong hasn’t appeared in so many comic book adaptations because he’s a fan of the material. It’s also because of the reality of what kind of parts he’s been offered.
“I’ve been very lucky with the genre and superhero roles that I’ve had,” he says. “Although it’s being addressed now, earlier on in my career, there was a real lack of roles for British East Asians, especially ones that weren’t following a stereotype.
“I think, perhaps, I found there were more exciting roles for me in projects that aren’t set in our current reality,” he says. “I never thought there would be a part for me in a British period drama until I had a call with [director] Armando Iannucci last year to discuss the role of Mr. Wickfield in [his upcoming film] Charles Dickens’ ‘David Copperfield,’ which I had a brilliant time working on.”
