QUANTUM LEAP Leaps into WonderCon 2023 – Interviews Pt 2 with Alexander Mason Park, Nanrisa Lee
Date: Saturday, March 25, 2023
Location: WonderCon 2023 – Anaheim, CA
At WonderCon 2023, day two, I spoke with the key cast of NBC’s newly updated QUANTUM LEAP. While many may use the term ‘reboot’ for this iteration, it’s a more modern and highly-tech savvy version fit for what’s happening with the world currently.
The cast in attendance includes Raymond Lee (who plays Ben Song), Caitlin Bassett (Addison Augustine), Mason Alexander Park (Dr. Ian Wright), Nanrisa Lee (Jenn Chu), and Ernie Hudson (Herbert ‘Magic’ Williams).
Along with the cast, executive producers Dean Georgaris and Deborah Pratt joined in on the fun. And if you didn’t know, Pratt was also a co-executive producer and writer on the original series of Quantum Leap which starred Scott Bakula.
Check out our interviews with Ernie Hudson and Deborah Pratt on our YouTube channel
The press room preceded the panel, so it was very interesting to hear many of the questions asked during the roundtable interviews being addressed during the panel discussion in front of a live and energetic audience in the arena. Three cast members, Raymond Lee, Caitlin Bassett, and Nanrisa Lee, are first time ‘con’ attendees. Raymond Lee paused in awe of the crowd while moderator Jim Halterman (TV Guide) asked him a question. It was quite endearing to see him become so enamored and appreciative of the audience in attendance.
In this second round of interviews, I spoke with actors Mason Alexander Park and Nanrisa Lee. These two couldn’t be more adorable, and it’s clear the entire cast are great friends. The chemistry between them is genuine and enviable. When Park appears a little shy to answer one of the first questions, N. Lee took the lead, but once things started rolling, Park definitely found his groove with his answers.
A lot of fun facts about these two are revealed, one of which is Park’s father works in computers and works for the government. Park says playing Dr. Ian Wright is “sort of me exploring an alternate universe version of myself…”
Please see the full transcription below.
QUANTUM LEAP at WonderCon 2023 – Interviews Pt 2 with Alexander Mason Park, Nanrisa Lee
Quantum Leap – Mason Alexander Park and Nanrisa Lee Interview – video transcription:
OTHER OUTLET 1: [unintelligible] …could you give us your name and role…
PARK: Yeah. No, no worries. Hi, my name is Mason Alexander Park and I play Dr. Ian Wright on Quantum Leap.
N. LEE: Hi, I’m Nanrisa LeeI play Jenn Chu on Quantum Leap.
YEC/JUDY: So, this season has been kind of like a roller coaster with each episode. Obviously, Addison’s dealing with the fact that she can’t really touch Ben like, you know, she would want to. And then the storylines have been really dynamic and really inclusive.
Can you tell us about how each of your respective characters has and, and for yourself as well, been dealing with some of the different storylines that have come through?
N. LEE: You want me to start? OK, I shall go first, I’ll go first.
I think for my character specifically when, when we first start the show, you know Jenn is a little… she doesn’t have the same background as the rest of her teammates. You know her, her past is perhaps a little more colorful. She’s done a little time. She’s a felon.
And I think because of the way that she came in and the way that she grew up, there’s…it’s… it makes her a little bit different.
And I think over the course of the first season, we do start to see Jenn sort of come into her own in some ways, in terms of sort of how she may be feeling about her place on the team. I think one aspect, because it’s a different background and because she wasn’t like a Princeton grad and like a doctor or you know that I think the way she sees the rest of the people on her team is they’re all innately good, and they’re all, they’re all good guys. And I think if there’s
one episode, in particular, where I feel like Jenn sort of realized, I think, and came into her own, that she does have a place on the team. [overlap] [Ben Song For the Defense]
YEC/JUDY: Yes, the legal episode was great. Yeah, sometimes you don’t have to have a degree to be beneficial to any team. Sometimes, street knowledge is way more… You know what I mean?
PARK: Most times.
N.LEE: Can I tell you that as someone without a college degree, who is from a major city… I’m born and raised in Oakland; I can absolutely attest to that.
[overlap – OUTLET 1: Oakland is a tough city to grow up in]
N. LEE: Great city.
OUTLET 2: You can really see the chemistry of your cast, even at a photo call, and the two of you together right here. Talk about what it’s like to work with this cast?
I you know, it’s great. I feel like I’ve been just so lucky to be able to do shows with people that I really really love and each each cast that I’ve importantly [overlap] been a part of like have something very special.
But this one, there is like, there’s a closeness and, I mean like, as I’m staring at those two dumb-dumbs, I, there’s just like this closeness that is it’s really hard to fake or replicate certain people, but all the creatives did a really great job of pairing together a group of individuals that like actually care about each other, which is so integral to the actual story of what this entire thing is about. So I think if we didn’t actually have like a natural chemistry, it would be a lot harder as actors just like sort of sell this lifelong obsession of trying to you know, save our friend. And especially when you’re dealing with like government issues where like it’s they wouldn’t pour all of this money into a project that was like the people behind it really, really, really cared and really, really wanted to [unitelligible overlap] So it’s yeah, it’s been quite a treat. I’m really, I’m happy to be in the part of the fam… We have a good time.
OUTLET 3: Can you talk about both of your characters over the next- the final two episodes of the season? Like, just kind of tease like what’s going on and how painful is this hiatus gonna be for everybody waiting for season 2?
PARK: Hopefully not too painful but maybe, maybe it will be. I think the series obviously is coming to a head you know, but there are so many storylines and so many things like converging in the last two episodes that make them both chaotic but also like so much fun. I think the final episode is one of my favorite episodes of the of the series so far.
N. LEE: It’s nuts.
it’s truly insane and I’m just amazed that they did it. So, it’s hard to talk about that, and actually be able to talk about like a characterization and you know, but I love what we got to do in the last two episodes of the show.
I think that I, um, all of us have been building to really get to a place where our characters like are fully multi-dimensional human beings that not only have history but also are deeply involved in the present beyond just like trying to troubleshoot Ben’s shit and, for lack of a better word, and it’s really cool because the last two episodes, I mean, even like beginning with Ben Song For the Defense, beginning with your (N. Lee) episode, we start to see the team actually become so deeply invested in the mystery in a way, like in the first few episodes, it’s not quite as clear. [overlap]
OUTLET 3: It’s taking on different roles, right?
PARK: Yeah. And, which is true to life, I feel like when you’re putting under these kind of extenuating circumstances, often people have to rise to different occasions and they’re like, well, I guess, you know, I have to do this this time, and it’s fun to watch each individual actor kind of like step into that role. [overlap]
OUTLET 1: I want to ask a really quick get to know you question. How did you guys get introduced into Quantum Leap? Like, when you first got the role, were you familiar with the show before?
PARK: Both of us were familiar with the show and Nanrisa has a much more interesting story about it. I knew of it; I had seen a few episodes and I really enjoyed it because I love sci-fi and I love time travel, but the opportunity to kind of dive back into it really came from the show being revived and I’m very excited that that happened because it did give me a lot of time with Scott Bakula.
N. LEE: Yeah, I’ve watched the original when it when it first aired with my dad and so I was already very familiar with the show, and the premise, and the characters, and I think, you know, when it went forward, it was just a really great opportunity to be able to sort of continue along a show that I love and with the way that I think we’ve managed to retain a lot of the key things that, I think that, I really loved about the original, but also kind of like make it modern and present day and fun and you know, edgy, and I think the pacing is quicker in our show.
It’s a little kind of my more fly by the seat of your pants a little bit and there’s because we have the team, there’s a, a, a second storyline kind of always going moving through which has been just really really fun to be able to find that rhythm.I think we’ve gotten to a really good place. And for season 2, there’s a lot and they just blow it up again there’s just a lot more stuff.
YEC/JUDY: And I wanted to ask real quick. Your [Park] character is very computer savvy. How much computer savviness do you have?
PARK: My dad works on computers and works for the government. So, I, um, there was a time in my life where I thought that I was going to do the same thing before I became an artist and… So, there’s a lot of, like, it’s sort of me exploring an alternate universe version of myself, I think. Yeah. There was a time where I wanted to work for the [unitelligible]…
YEC/JUDY: Well, you do it very well. So,
PARK: Thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
—- END —
Tune in for the QUANTUM LEAP season one finale on Monday, April 3, 2023 at 10/9c on NBC and next day on Peacock
Follow on Social: @NBC #QuantumLeap and you can follow the Writers at @QuantumWriters
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Photos ©2023 Judy Manning/Your Entertainment Corner. All Rights Reserved.
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