Krista Marie Yu auditioned four times for the role of Molly on "Dr. Ken," and along the way she met other actresses similar to her who wanted to make an impact in representing young, Asian-American women on TV.
Yu plays the teenage daughter of Ken Jeong's title character on the ABC comedy. Her character Molly represents a typical American teenager who obsesses over cute boys, trendy accessories and her social standing at school but also displays a strong sense of maturity, many times to the surprise of her parents.
"I personally relate to Molly a lot," Yu told Headlines & Global News in an exclusive interview. "I have a little brother, and Molly is a third- and fourth-generation Asian-American, and I'm a fourth- and fifth-generation Asian-American, so we have a lot of cross similarities."
She absolutely gushed over her little TV brother, Albert Tsai, whom she called "a little adult" because of his incredible instincts at such a young age. Beaming like his real older sister, Yu is excited to see where Tsai goes with his career and is proud of the work he's already done.
"My little brother has already gone through puberty, so it's kind of my selfish way of having a little brother again," she joked. "Albert is so cute and so smart and just a delight in every way."
Whereas her older co-stars are more likely improvise a scene, Yu tends to trust what the writers give her and sticks to the scripts as much as possible. Her ultimate goal is to support Jeong and his vision for the show and to best represent Molly and everything she stands for as a young woman and Asian-American on TV.
"Dr. Ken" airs on Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.
