Go Away With … Nicole Kang

Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Tribune and other outlets
March 1, 2022

Currently starring as Mary Hamilton/Poison Ivy on The CW’s “Batwoman,” Nicole Kang said she’s come a long way since her school days when she was studying to become an accountant. “I was aware that there wasn’t a lot of Asian representation on TV at the time,” said Kang, who recently moved to Los Angeles. “I’ve loved Sandra Oh from the beginning and I knew about ‘Lost’ and ‘Hawaii Five-0,’ but that was about it. I didn’t have many expectations. I thought that if I could just make a living as an actor, if I could do theater — which is what I had trained for the most — I would be so happy.” Kang stays in touch with her fans on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Q: Did you grow up in an Asian American community?
A: No, I grew up in Virginia — not a ton of Asians. I remember watching Blake Lively on “Gossip Girl” and seeing that impossible societal standard, so I always struggled a bit with being so different. But I’ve had a really rebellious spirit my whole life. When I got into this industry, I didn’t really expect it to be any different than the life I had already experienced. I have friends who are California natives and grew up in predominantly Asian communities. And sometimes, I’m so jealous of their upbringing, because I always wonder what that must have been like and how nice that must have been for their parents, too.

Q: What was it like moving from Virginia to study at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts?
A: I thought Virginia was sort of idyllic. I had a really great upbringing. But when I moved to New York, I sort of had my coming-of-age story there. I was able to look back with a clear lens and say, “Oh, wow, I was tougher than I gave myself credit for.” In New York, everybody comes from everywhere. And it’s actually there where I felt the most at home. It felt like I had come home. And that’s something that I think I’ve carried with me. I’m now living in L.A. and it’s my first time living on the West Coast. I like to remind myself that my community is out there and I have not yet finished meeting all of the people that I will connect with on a really deep spiritual level and who are here for me.

Q: Have your travels inspired any aspect of your acting?
A: I’m an only child, so I have a lot of memories of being very solitary and entertaining myself. I liked doing anything creative to entertain myself. I liked to lose myself in my imagination. I used to love to go on vacation, because my parents used to go off somewhere and I used to be able to do my own thing (at the resort). I would meet kids from all different places and mimic their accents or make up a story about where I was from. I would just create these different personas and then come home to my parents and feel sort of naughty about it. I have memories of that at this all-inclusive in Cancun where I learned a British accent and started a girl gang. We were going around the hotel asking for virgin strawberry daiquiris.

Q: Were you a teen?
A: I’m sure I was about seven or eight.

Q: Have you adapted to living in L.A.?
A: So far, so good. I moved here right before Christmas. I live pretty close to Koreatown and I love it. There’s a cool driving range in an open parking garage. I don’t golf at all, but my whole family golfs, and I have friends who do so, too. The food is great! I really feel kind of guilty about how much I order Korean food. I usually eat my way through a city. One day, I was having an anxiety-filled day and I went to Manhattan Beach because I thought I might as well take advantage of the fact that you can go to the beach in the winter. I love New York, but the weather there from January through March (or longer) is so cold.

Q: You shot your series in Chicago for a bit, didn’t you?
A: Yeah, we shot in Chicago our first season of “Batwoman.” That was one of the coolest parts. Gotham is such a character in our show and Chicago is our Gotham. Chicago’s a big city that’s got a great neighborhood feel. I went on that (riverboat) architecture tour three times. I would go to Portillo’s and get their Cake Shake every day. I’m addicted to those. Oh, I love shooting in Chicago and would love to shoot something else there.

© 2022 JAE-HA KIM
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