While the recent release of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part 2 was divisive, to say the least, the same can definitely not be said about all of the actors tasked with bringing the role to life. Each person that can be seen or played as in the game show just how much they gave in making sure they gave the most authentic experience they could for the fans.
Since the chapter of The Last of Us has seemed to close, there is still the wonder of what some of these actors have been up to since the game was released. One of the standout characters in the game was the character of Jesse, played by Stephen Chang, and since he was so universally liked by fans, there are more than likely some people that don't know where to see Stephen.
Recently, he has been wrapping on a Twitch series called Artificial, which, much like a game, is decided by the viewer and their choices, effectively making it a sort of video game/ television hybrid. We were able to chat with him and ask him about his time on that series and also his time on The Last of Us Part 2.
An excerpt of the interview can be found below and if interested in the full audio exclusive interview with Stephen Chang, click the podcast player below. We would love to hear your thoughts n the show, game, or Stephen himself in the comments below!
4m 5s Literary Joe: You worked with Bernie on Emma Approved first?
4m 12s Stephen Chang: Yeah, that was Bernie's second Emmy award-winning show. (laughs) He's collecting all the Emmys. He's been sweeping them up.
4m 49s Literary Joe: Do you feel like the character Churchill that you played in Emma Approved influenced Sebastian at all?
5m 47s Stephen Chang: I feel like they're cut from the same cloth. I think when Bernie saw that I could do Churchill, what I did for that show. I like it because most things I go out for are police officers or a military guy. He allows me to be crazy. He allows me to go big with it. He allows me to be wild and flamboyant. And I'm honored because he's the only director that's ever cast me that way. And he's like yeah, Stephen can do that.
5m 53s Literary Joe: How do you feel about this rivalry you have with Dante Basco's Zander?
6m 33s Stephen Chang: I'm more honored that I get to act with Rufio. The writers are telling me that this Dante is making me look really bad in this show. He's exposing my secrets. They said, don't worry, Stephen, you have to fall before you can get back up. OK. I like where this is going. So I'm not the total a*****e in this show. They're going to bring me back in all of my glory, hopefully.
6m 40s Literary Joe: If there's a season four, what kind of future do you see happening for Sebastian?
6m 44s Stephen Chang: I'm trying to get through season three right now. I don't know where it's going now. I don't know where they are going to end the season. I'm finding out like everyone else, but I'm very excited about it. I think it'd be interesting to get it out into the world again after remote location filming. In my ego, Sebastian is the hero. He has to save the day somehow. But everyone else says he's a villain.
12m 36s Darth Lexii: Where do you film in your house for Artificial? It looks like a soundproof room.
12m 36s Stephen Chang: Well, it was a big brouhaha because I'm supposed to be a multimillionaire, and they said, what do you have in your house? I show them, and they say it doesn't look like a multimillionaire house. And I was like, I ain't a multimillionaire. So, they played with the idea of he's in the soundproof room, that's mysterious. You don't know where he is, but it's been convenient because I've been able to film at different locations using that same background. I'm not limited to my one room, but no, sorry to spoil it for you, but I don't have a soundproof room. It's just a couple of panels too.
14m 53s Literary Joe: What do you think of Life Score?
17m 6s Stephen Chang: When I'm on the live-stream, I guess its probably a good thing, but I don't hear the score behind it. I don't know how they're doing half the stuff they're doing. It's so creative and out of the box thinking. Things that I would never even imagine. Talking to Bernie, I fell like this is where entertainment might be heading—giving audiences a lot more control over the story and even the sound. I prefer to watch a movie, and I can fall asleep during the movie if I need to. But this, you have to be paying attention. We are doing this s**t life. Okay. And that's why I have a lot of gray hairs. This is what the audience wants you to do, and you have to go with it.
20m 49s Literary Joe: Is there anything you need to plug or mention before we let you go?
20m 59s Stephen Chang: I write children's books. Speaking of basketball, it's a basketball children's book that I even have a website. It's called the Bballbook.com; it's about things I learned playing basketball told from the perspective of a basketball. I'm very proud of it. And I've been working on some other children's books. You know when I'm not getting killed by infected or being an evil villain, I like to write children's books.
*This interview has been edited for clarity. Audio is co-hosted by fellow writer Comic Brooks and cosplay actress Darth Lexii.*
The AI has escaped! Where is she? Who took her? What will she do now that she’s free...?
Artificial Season 3 recently came to a close, and you can catch up on the interactive sci-fi series here.