‘I love getting into costume. It makes me feel like an actual superhero’
As Netflix’s Monkey reboot returns, stars Josh Thomson and Chai Hansen talk to Georgia Humphreys
Action-packed family adventure fun; that’s what you can expect from The New Legends Of Monkey. Inspired by Seventies Japanese show Monkey, the international co-production gained a cult following when it launched in 2018. It’s now returning for a second series, with fallen god Monkey (Chai Hansen), and his band of fellow misfits, Tripitaka (Luciane Buchanan), Sandy (Emilie Cocquerel) and Pigsy (Josh Thomson) continuing their search for sacred scrolls. They need seven of them to overcome the chaos of demon rule in their kingdom, but so far have only the scroll of immortality.
In the new episodes, we will see them trying to get their hands on the scroll of knowledge – and there will be plenty of fun along the way.
Here, Australian star Hansen, 31, who was born in Thailand, and 39-year-old Kiwi actor and comedian Thomson, who has Tongan heritage, tell us more.
Where do we find Monkey and Pigsy at the start of series two?
Josh: Running for their lives! We do a lot of running. Chai: They put the camera up on this huge wire, which was like 100m long – a cable cam. It looked like we were running at 100mph. It was amazing. Josh: Chai was at the front; he was setting the pace, so we had to keep up with Chai. And we did take after take… They did the wide shots with Chai at the front and then they did a single of everybody, with me in the background.
So do you feel really fit after filming then?
Chai: Oh yeah! After I finish a season of The New Legends Of Monkey, I have my six-pack back and everything – and two months after, it’s gone. Josh: There’s heaps of action in the second series – there’s a lot more action than in the first series. But, without going into it, Pigsy gets incapacitated, so I didn’t have to do as much running. These guys were fighting around me, trying to carry me up a mountain, drag me around on a stretcher; that was really good. Unfortunately, Chai sort of accidentally dropped the stretcher and sat on my head, which I found quite funny. But not from my angle…
What’s your favourite thing about playing these characters?
Chai: The costumes. I love getting into costume. It just makes me feel like an actual superhero.
Josh: You’ve got a very hero-y vibe – I’m basically wearing a blanket. We filmed in winter, so it was very snuggly.
When I was young, and I would watch TV, there was a lot of fun action stuff that I could watch with my family, and I think being part of something like that is something really rewarding because I’ve got friends that watch it with their kids and they get a kick out of it.
And knowing the messages that are in it – friendship, strong female characters, and it’s got an incredibly diverse cast – it’s a good buzz.
You have to do a lot of martial arts in the show. Have you kept up with that in your spare time?
Chai: I haven’t, no. I’ve been a little bit lazy. Actually, because of the pandemic, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to give my body a rest because being actors, you’re constantly having to be at the top of your game, be in peak physical condition and whatnot. So, I was like, perfect break for me to just not do any workouts, just relax and watch movies.
Josh: I wish I could, but you go into different roles; I’m in another series, playing a funeral director, now. And I’ve got two babies, so it’s just hard trying to do stuff.
Have you been recognised a lot since the first series?
Chai: Yeah, actually; quite a lot in Europe. I was doing a couple of conventions there for some of the other shows I do and a lot of the people that come up to me, they just rave about Monkey. I had a 12-yearold kid come up to me and recite the Sutra [an ancient religious text or scripture]. I still don’t get it right. And I looked it up on Google and I was like, ‘That was word for word – you’re amazing’.
What does it mean to be a role model in a show that’s so diverse?
Chai: I’m half-chinese, halfaustralian, and throughout my entire career, I constantly get just mainly Asian roles.
There’s a lot of people out there who are half, like me, and to see people messaging me saying, ‘You’re an idol because I’m just like you’, it does make you feel so much better to just be able to represent a community like that.
And especially because this is such a historical source material… It’s reimagined in a very multicultural context which, as the West we are now, we’re a huge melting pot, and it’s great to see more diverse casting in shows.
“Being part of something like this is really rewarding”
● Series two of The New Legends Of Monkey launches on Netflix tomorrow