August 6, 2025 • 22 mins
ICYMI: Hour Two of ‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ Presents – An in-depth conversation with queer actress, business owner, activist and member of the #1 ranked, world champion, ‘She-Unit Flag Football Team,’ Jona Xiao (Raya And The Last Dragon, Gifted, Keeping Up With The Jones, Hightown, The Flash, Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness), who joins the program to share her adventure starring as ‘Iron Fist’ in the Marvel/Disney+ anthology television miniseries “Eyes of Wakanda” - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app & YouTube @MrMoKelly
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
It's Later with Mo Kelly.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
We're live everywhere on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and the iHeartRadio app.
My Next Guest Born in China, raised in both New
York City and Saint Louis, she eventually made her way
to USC for her collegiate career, even minoring in theater.
Since that time, you've seen her My Next Guest starring
in shows such as Halt and Catch Fire, Love That
Show on AMC, Being Mary Jane on BT and Netflix,
(00:29):
The Flash on the CW, Rizzoli and Isles on T
and T, and even Two Broke Girls on CBS, though
not in that order. You've heard her and Ryan the
Last Dragon, and you can even hear her right now
as the Immortal Iron Fist is part of the Disney
Plus four episode mini series Iesa Wakanda. It's my pleasure
to welcome Jonah Shao to Later with Mo Kelly.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Good evening, Jonah, It's great to see you. Thank you
for coming in tonight.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
I'm excited to chat with you. You're a legend in radio.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
So see I've been trying to tell you, Steph, and
I told you I'm a legend.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Like your tongue, I'm a legend. This is some hilarious comedy.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
Keeps it coming, as quoted by Iron Fifth, So I
think it's immortalized.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
There we go.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Jodah, your story fascinates me because it's it's not you're You're.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
A person of the world. Let me put it that way.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Your world traveled and you have seen different quations of
the United States. Tell me more about the trip from
China to hear growing up in New York and Saint Louis,
because New York is nothing like Saint Louis and Saint
Louis is nothing like China.
Speaker 5 (01:41):
Very true, so it's very much an immigrant story. I
was made in China, and when my dad came here,
we moved to up St. New York when I was
one and a half and he was five five five
and ninety five pounds as a man, so very malnourished.
And yeah, he really his goal was to give his
(02:02):
family a better life than he had. And I'm really
proud of him for all the the sacrifices he made.
And so going from China to then up St. New
York and Saint Louis. I remember what convinced me. They
wanted us to move to Saint Louis, and I was like,
in second grade, He's like, there's this there's a thing
called six Flags.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
It's a fil word coach.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I was like, okay, and you were in soul, yes, and.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
So that's what it took to convince me and moved
to Saint Louis was six Flags.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Did you have any inclination, any idea that your life
is going to take you to Los Angeles, be at
USC or Hollywood?
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Not at that time at all.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
No.
Speaker 5 (02:41):
I had zero connection to the entertainment industry in New York.
We were in a trailer park and I loved film
and TV, but I never imagine myself like being on
the TV.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
So that was it's really insane looking back.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Now, But you find find your way to Los Angeles
going to USC, you're minoring in theater. Something must have
changed in your mind or have been in the back
of your mind.
Speaker 5 (03:09):
It's like, maybe, yeah, I fell in love with acting
when I moved to Saint Louis. So when I was
twelve years old, I had to do rap in Stiltskin,
which was the rapping version of rumpel Stiltskin and me
attempting to rap. It's like a funny, funny thing you.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Think you're gonna get by and not try to just
give us a little sample.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Ooh, I'm probably the worst freestyle rapper ever.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
No one will judge you, except to Waala, who's a
former rapper.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Even I can't like the most.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Is there anything which rhymes of rumble Stiltskin?
Speaker 4 (03:43):
No, not that I'm aware of.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Not an English get ready to beat box there?
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Oh, this is the most.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I can do. I can't.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
I'm just making fart noises. I can fart that I can.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
But he's got to have a talent, you know.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Some of us are blessed with special skills.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
But from there you had some sort of desire to
pursue it.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
Absolutely, I think for me because film and TV really
helped me understand more of the world myself. People human
are an interaction empathy. I realized, like doing rumples, up
rap and still skin, I loved making people laugh and
feel and so that I was like, oh my gosh,
this is what I want to do. And so yeah,
(04:34):
I got bit by the acting bug when I was twelve.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
What was the first time you put yourself out. There?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Was it for auditioning for a theater performance? Was a commercial?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
What was it?
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (04:46):
It was a musical when I was in high school
and my mom is a great singer, and so I
was like, Mom, and I decided to sing Memory from Cats.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
You know, I know, I know why. And I was like, Mom,
I need to go to my audition. You're an amazing singer.
Can you help me. She's like, I'm busy.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
I'm like mom, She's like, Jonah, you're singing is more
painful to listen to than you're crying.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Oh gosh.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
And then I went to the audition. It didn't go well.
It didn't go well. I didn't get it.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
No, but there's something in that because you still remember
that to this day. I do you still hold on
to it to this day? Right, you're petty like me,
and you probably remember who turned you down, and you
probably send them you're real and you probably send them
notice that you're in isyesa Wakanda, tell me I'm wrong.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
You know.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
I have been very inspired by people saying I can't
do something.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Yeah, it's like that chip on my shoulder.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
Yes, when someone says I can't do something, I'm like, oh,
I'll show you, And so that's motivated me a few
different times in my life.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
You have an extensive amount of credits on TV.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
You've done soap operas, You've done episodic procedurals, You've done
a comedies, situation comedy.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
But they're not all the same as far as approach
is an actor, is it?
Speaker 4 (06:06):
I would say, yeah, each one of them is a
little different.
Speaker 5 (06:08):
I think for me, over the last few years, I
really leaned into what I consider my brand of being
like hard candy, which is more as sweet on the
outside and then tougher, hardened underneath. And so I find
a way to thread that through different types of roles
and it comes out in different forms, but it gives
me something that feels like very much authentically me, and
(06:29):
that way I can bring what's authentically me to different roles,
even though they seem very very different.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Are you chasing after a certain type of role as
you craft yourself and your career or is it just
I'm just trying to get a job.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
So I my dream role, Oh, one of my dream
roles would be mulan, So that would be incredible. But
I do love the variety as you mentioned like from
like drama to like multiicam comedy, so I really love
it all.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
When did you know that you were auditioning for something
that was Marvel related? So or did they give you
just some blind sides and they said read this and
you didn't know what it was for.
Speaker 5 (07:14):
I had no idea that I was reading for Iron
Face at all, so I was aware that this was
like I knew that they were using some code word
because they tend to for these types of projects, and
even in the callback, still didn't know. I just casting
mentioned they were looking for someone to play this role
for quite some time, and so I actually got this
(07:35):
from my TV film agent, and normally this is like
with voiceover, you get it from your voiceover agent. So
I think they were looking kind of far and wide,
and the callback seemed to go well, And it wasn't
until I got the script and the script said I
am Iron Fist with a bunch of exclamation points that
I figured it out.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
At that point.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Oh, that's a good point to pause, because there's so
much I want to follow up on. Because you're, as
I said before, your story fascinates me, your journey fascinates me.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
And if you're just tuning in right now.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
I'm joined in studio by Jonah Shao, who is the
Immortal Iron Fist as part of the four part episode
mini series on Disney Plus.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Eyes of Wakanda.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Will have more with Jonah Shao and just a moment,
kay if I am six forty it's Later with mo Kelly.
We're live on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
You're listening to Later with Mo Kelly on demand from KFI.
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yes, Later with mo Kelly.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
We're live on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and the iHeartRadio app.
I'm right in the middle of a conversation with actress
Jonah Shaw. She is co starring in Eyes of Wakanda
as the Immortal Iron Fist, specifically in episode three of
the four part Disney Plus mini series.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And Johnna, let me come back to you.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
We were just talking about you reading for the character,
not knowing what it was, or the magnitude of the
universe literally that you were entering. Talking about Marvel and
even though this is a TV show, it often intersects
with the cinematic universe, we do know that because everything
(09:09):
that Marvel does is intentional in that regard. Have you
thought about how this character could exist beyond just this series.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Yeah, so I just learned that Shanchi too will go
back in time, and so maybe this character.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Could be involved. I just learned that, which would be
really exciting. I would love to see a live action version.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Okay, if there's a live action version, and let's say hypothetically,
you will find yourself part of it.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
You know, how are your kicks and punches?
Speaker 5 (09:41):
I studied taekwondo, escrima and martial arts tricking, so I'm
in Well, now you're speaking my language.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Well you may not know this, but I've studied hopketo
for the past forty years.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Wow, Okay, I'm old, but I've.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Been studying a long time, so I can appreciate you're skilled.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Well, I'll put it this way.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
I could appreciate someone who takes martial arts seriously and
understands what needs to happen to bring that to the screen.
Because there are a lot of people we were talking
about some off air. You know, they're actors, but they
can't fool anybody as a martial artist, and we have
discriminating eyes.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
So it's I'm glad to hear that.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
If you, given the opportunity, would be able to actually
do it, you know, a frontkick, face cake, round kick
as opposed to just you know, stop double cut and
stepping in. But so you have thought about it, I
think is good. Is there something that you could do
to help yourself along in that regard?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Is it something that you.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Say, hey, you know, agent, can you like put a
call into Kevin Fagey and see us up?
Speaker 5 (10:47):
You know, I really appreciate that the fans have been
suggesting it, and I'm like, yeah, which is great. So
if you want to show some extra love at Jonah
shoujo O na x I A oh, I've been dropping
just some behind the scenes and some things and also
answering questions from fans.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
So that's been really fun for.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Those who don't know about the series itself. Let's get
into that eyes of what Kanda talks about. Obviously the
civilization of Wakanda if you're familiar with Black Panther, but
it's taking you through history. It's taking you back to
time before Christ and different points in history and showing
Wakanda's influence on world history, but not necessarily from a
(11:27):
very flattering vantage point.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Would you agree, Yeah, like The first episode, for instance,
delves with deals with slavery, for instance. So yeah, I
really appreciate that the creators were willing to really show
different topics that are less comfortable to talk about because
they are part of our history. And it's great that
it's a TV series because with it being an anthology,
(11:52):
we can as you mentioned, we're going across centuries of
time and different geographic locations, and you could never do
that in like one movie.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I like the fact that not only going over different
periods and eras in time, you're also touching upon some
known events like the Trojan War. You get to see like, oh,
how possibly what kind of influenced that? And you have
this I will say, just a short quterie my word
of voices and actors and action. It's a well done,
(12:22):
well rounded series and there's a lot that's put into it.
Do you know how long the total production took to
make oh Man?
Speaker 5 (12:30):
Several years? Because I was in my involvement. Usually the
actors come in much later in the process compared to
everyone else on the team. So I was involved in
twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Wow, we're just seeing in twenty twenty five yep, So
you did it and basically forgot about it.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
In a way, I never forgot about it, but I
did have to keep a secret for a very very
long time.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Did you know within let's say, three to six months
when it was going to premiere?
Speaker 5 (12:58):
So I think it's it's gotten pushed back over time,
and so I think it was supposed to come out
maybe last year at one point from my recollection, but
something installed it, which it happens all the time.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I know it's been well received, but you don't necessarily
know what Marvel will have in store if there's going
to be a season two. Has there been any public
discussion or any discussion that you're allowed to share with
us as far as the future of Eyes of Wakanda.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Not that I'm aware of.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
That would be awesome if they continued into a season
two and we got to see more stories over time
and how Wakanda has shaped history.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
I absolutely love it. Do you have time to just
hang around for one more segment, because there's a lot
more I would love to come, absolutely all right. Jonah
Shall joins me in studio. We're talking about Eyes of Wakanda.
She plays the Immortal Iron Fist and You can specifically
find her in episode three of the four part mini
series on Disney Plus. All episodes are available right now
for streaming on Disney Plus. It's Later with Mo Kelly
(13:58):
k IF I Am six forty one live everywhere in
the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
You're listening to Later with Mo Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
I Am six forty is Later with Mo Kelly.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
We're still live on YouTube and that's really important because
we have a very special guest in studio with us,
Jonah Shall. She is starring as an immortal iron Fist
in the new Disney Plus series Isa Wa Kanda, which
is just a four episode mini series. You can watch
it in a day if you would like. Him and
Jonah we were talking about that series, how it is
(14:37):
bigger than it is. What I mean by that is
it's taking you through different periods, it's taking you through
different places around the world. Is telling a big story
across four episodes. And when you were doing your episode specifically,
which is episode three, there's a lot of physicality in
it as far as there are fight scenes.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
How did you go about voicing the fights?
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Yeah, they're grunts and groans and everything, but take me
behind the scenes as far as how you put that together.
Are you just giving them random grunts and groans and
then they put it to the action later on.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
Yeah, So for me, I I try to be as
physical as I am allowed to get away with in
the booth. So I've done push ups before, Like if
I'm supposed to be out of breath, I'll just.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
I'll just get down and start doing push ups right before.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
Like for like efforts like if I as long as
I'm not actually hitting something and messing with the sound,
it's very much like ugh, you know, like I actually
fully or like taking a hit like oh, And there's
a little trick with voiceover where you can just substitute
the first part with the different letter of the alphabet,
so and it sounds like a different effort, So it
(15:44):
could be like and then you could do a G
like good.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Seem different but very similar.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Okay, are you doing it just to script or is
there some sort of animation in front of you that
you're acting too?
Speaker 4 (15:58):
This one?
Speaker 5 (15:59):
Usually there isn't, so it's there's no scenery, there's no visuals. Occasionally,
with voice voiceover, I might see like a storyboard.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Okay, just as like, hey, here's.
Speaker 5 (16:09):
What visually is happening. So occasionally I'll get that, but
usually no.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
When it dropped on August first, did you watch it
immediately or are you someone who kind of just sits
back and waits for feedback because you just don't want
to see the final product.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
I saw it at two am, so yeah, I saw
it right away, and.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
I just get really nervous.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
I get both excited and nervous to watch projects I've
been involved in.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
It's very much like, I'm.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Like this, where were you allowed to let people know
that you were in Eyes of Wakanda?
Speaker 2 (16:47):
This is no small deal.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Yeah, so when was that?
Speaker 1 (16:51):
That was?
Speaker 5 (16:52):
I think a couple months ago was when I was
finally able to shoe You're.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Still sitting on it for literal years.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
Years but I still couldn't say who I was, and
it wasn't. I was actually at Comic Con. It was
the friday of Comic Con that my amazing publicist was like, hey,
you can say that you're iron fisted now. I'm like, yeah,
how perfect because I was at Comic Con and got
to announce that.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Okay, I have a real semi personal question. Nobody's listening
it's just you and me.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Is it true that Marvel has agents everywhere, like listening
in on all your phone conversations?
Speaker 5 (17:26):
It tapped right now, It's yeah, sorry you said it
was private. It's not Marvel's listening.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Did the like follow you when you're like driving around city.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
Or I feel more they're like bodyguards. I choose to
see them as a little body guide.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
But everywhere agent Smith, everyone in there, no one. When
you finally saw it, though, and you have knowledge of
what you said and what you did, the lines you delivered,
were you surprised at all, well what you saw on screen?
Speaker 4 (17:56):
A little bit?
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I was.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
Actually I'm very hard on myself as an artist. Yeah,
and I deal with imposter syndrome and that comes up sometimes.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
And I actually really enjoyed.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Like how the art came to the stunning animation that's
inspired by hand paintent hand painted African art, so I thought.
And the animation was stunning, the score was amazing, and
just the whole world that was built, and I feel
like it came together really nicely.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Did you have any real interaction with castmates?
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Yes? Yeah, this is so rare in voiceover because it's
usually just you in a booth.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
Yeah, but this was really special in that Jacques, who
plays Basha, I heard some good compliments about the chemistry
we had, and I think part of it is because
we actually got to work right side by side, next
to each other in the booth.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Let me just say so people don't give some perspective.
You find Bosha in the snow and you nurse him
back to health. He's a Wakandan war dog, you know.
You don't know that at the time, and they developed
some chemistry. Put it that way, and then something happens
which throws all that into doubt.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
And I don't want to give.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
That away, but the episode is focused around you too, specifically,
so you did have your scenemate with you.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
I did, absolutely.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
And then Isaac who is hilarious and played Captain Ebo
in the episode, he was zooming in, so the three
of us got to work together.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
He was giving his lines via zoom.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Yes, but we were all doing it like live at
the same time.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
You were doing it live, so you didn't have like
a table read, did you.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
No, it was just we were recording.
Speaker 5 (19:40):
And so that's why I think the banter and the
relationship between Basha and Captain Ebo is so like there's
so much history and richness there and the banter between
them is lovely and it was really fun to watch
when they were interacting.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
To do you know if they watched it two in
the morning as well?
Speaker 4 (19:56):
You know, I should have asked.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
I should have been like, do y'all want to do
this at two am?
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Very quickly? My time is running short with you. I
want to make sure people can follow you and join
you on your journey. How can they find you on
social media?
Speaker 5 (20:11):
And beyond sure, I'm on all the social media platforms
at Jonahshaw, which is at j O N A x
I AO.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
And I have to ask you this question because I
started off the conversation acknowledging that you're born in China.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
How many languages.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Do you speak to point two?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Is that Mandarin, Cantonese.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
Mandarin English and Upoco Espanol.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
When are you gonna come back and see us again?
Speaker 4 (20:50):
I would love to anytime you have me.
Speaker 6 (20:51):
And also, by the way, this oh, we had Wendy's
in the studio from the very first day because Nick
Poliochini took it upon himself to common deer and hijack
the show and so we had a taste test that
John was nice enough to participate in, and so what
did you try?
Speaker 4 (21:12):
The chocolate Frosty's my favorite.
Speaker 5 (21:15):
I was like, I don't remember something tasting like the
sense like the pumpkin, something spice latte at Starbucks or
something from years ago.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
It was amazing. And then the taki.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
I was very pleasantly surprised by the chicken taki sandwich.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
We're very cheap here. We usually don't have food for guests.
So just know you're you're you're treating me.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
Like I mean, I have to draw my power somehow, right.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Talkies.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
That's really her secret.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
The Frosty's, the chocolate one especially see you soon.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
Yes please, I would love that.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
It's Later with mo Kelly if I am six forty.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
We are alive everywhere on the iHeartRadio app and YouTube,
Instagram and Facebook.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
It's Later with Mo Kelly.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
We're live everywhere on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and the iHeartRadio app.
My Next Guest Born in China, raised in both New
York City and Saint Louis, she eventually made her way
to USC for her collegiate career, even minoring in theater.
Since that time, you've seen her My Next Guest starring
in shows such as Halt and Catch Fire, Love That
Show on AMC, Being Mary Jane on BT and Netflix,
(00:29):
The Flash on the CW, Rizzoli and Isles on T
and T, and even Two Broke Girls on CBS, though
not in that order. You've heard her and Ryan the
Last Dragon, and you can even hear her right now
as the Immortal Iron Fist is part of the Disney
Plus four episode mini series Iesa Wakanda. It's my pleasure
to welcome Jonah Shao to Later with Mo Kelly.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Good evening, Jonah, It's great to see you. Thank you
for coming in tonight.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
I'm excited to chat with you. You're a legend in radio.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
So see I've been trying to tell you, Steph, and
I told you I'm a legend.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Like your tongue, I'm a legend. This is some hilarious comedy.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
Keeps it coming, as quoted by Iron Fifth, So I
think it's immortalized.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
There we go.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Jodah, your story fascinates me because it's it's not you're You're.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
A person of the world. Let me put it that way.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Your world traveled and you have seen different quations of
the United States. Tell me more about the trip from
China to hear growing up in New York and Saint Louis,
because New York is nothing like Saint Louis and Saint
Louis is nothing like China.
Speaker 5 (01:41):
Very true, so it's very much an immigrant story. I
was made in China, and when my dad came here,
we moved to up St. New York when I was
one and a half and he was five five five
and ninety five pounds as a man, so very malnourished.
And yeah, he really his goal was to give his
(02:02):
family a better life than he had. And I'm really
proud of him for all the the sacrifices he made.
And so going from China to then up St. New
York and Saint Louis. I remember what convinced me. They
wanted us to move to Saint Louis, and I was like,
in second grade, He's like, there's this there's a thing
called six Flags.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
It's a fil word coach.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I was like, okay, and you were in soul, yes, and.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
So that's what it took to convince me and moved
to Saint Louis was six Flags.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Did you have any inclination, any idea that your life
is going to take you to Los Angeles, be at
USC or Hollywood?
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Not at that time at all.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
No.
Speaker 5 (02:41):
I had zero connection to the entertainment industry in New York.
We were in a trailer park and I loved film
and TV, but I never imagine myself like being on
the TV.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
So that was it's really insane looking back.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Now, But you find find your way to Los Angeles
going to USC, you're minoring in theater. Something must have
changed in your mind or have been in the back
of your mind.
Speaker 5 (03:09):
It's like, maybe, yeah, I fell in love with acting
when I moved to Saint Louis. So when I was
twelve years old, I had to do rap in Stiltskin,
which was the rapping version of rumpel Stiltskin and me
attempting to rap. It's like a funny, funny thing you.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Think you're gonna get by and not try to just
give us a little sample.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Ooh, I'm probably the worst freestyle rapper ever.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
No one will judge you, except to Waala, who's a
former rapper.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Even I can't like the most.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Is there anything which rhymes of rumble Stiltskin?
Speaker 4 (03:43):
No, not that I'm aware of.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Not an English get ready to beat box there?
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Oh, this is the most.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I can do. I can't.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
I'm just making fart noises. I can fart that I can.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
But he's got to have a talent, you know.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Some of us are blessed with special skills.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
But from there you had some sort of desire to
pursue it.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
Absolutely, I think for me because film and TV really
helped me understand more of the world myself. People human
are an interaction empathy. I realized, like doing rumples, up
rap and still skin, I loved making people laugh and
feel and so that I was like, oh my gosh,
this is what I want to do. And so yeah,
(04:34):
I got bit by the acting bug when I was twelve.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
What was the first time you put yourself out. There?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Was it for auditioning for a theater performance? Was a commercial?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
What was it?
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (04:46):
It was a musical when I was in high school
and my mom is a great singer, and so I
was like, Mom, and I decided to sing Memory from Cats.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
You know, I know, I know why. And I was like, Mom,
I need to go to my audition. You're an amazing singer.
Can you help me. She's like, I'm busy.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
I'm like mom, She's like, Jonah, you're singing is more
painful to listen to than you're crying.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Oh gosh.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
And then I went to the audition. It didn't go well.
It didn't go well. I didn't get it.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
No, but there's something in that because you still remember
that to this day. I do you still hold on
to it to this day? Right, you're petty like me,
and you probably remember who turned you down, and you
probably send them you're real and you probably send them
notice that you're in isyesa Wakanda, tell me I'm wrong.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
You know.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
I have been very inspired by people saying I can't
do something.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Yeah, it's like that chip on my shoulder.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
Yes, when someone says I can't do something, I'm like, oh,
I'll show you, And so that's motivated me a few
different times in my life.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
You have an extensive amount of credits on TV.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
You've done soap operas, You've done episodic procedurals, You've done
a comedies, situation comedy.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
But they're not all the same as far as approach
is an actor, is it?
Speaker 4 (06:06):
I would say, yeah, each one of them is a
little different.
Speaker 5 (06:08):
I think for me, over the last few years, I
really leaned into what I consider my brand of being
like hard candy, which is more as sweet on the
outside and then tougher, hardened underneath. And so I find
a way to thread that through different types of roles
and it comes out in different forms, but it gives
me something that feels like very much authentically me, and
(06:29):
that way I can bring what's authentically me to different roles,
even though they seem very very different.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Are you chasing after a certain type of role as
you craft yourself and your career or is it just
I'm just trying to get a job.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
So I my dream role, Oh, one of my dream
roles would be mulan, So that would be incredible. But
I do love the variety as you mentioned like from
like drama to like multiicam comedy, so I really love
it all.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
When did you know that you were auditioning for something
that was Marvel related? So or did they give you
just some blind sides and they said read this and
you didn't know what it was for.
Speaker 5 (07:14):
I had no idea that I was reading for Iron
Face at all, so I was aware that this was
like I knew that they were using some code word
because they tend to for these types of projects, and
even in the callback, still didn't know. I just casting
mentioned they were looking for someone to play this role
for quite some time, and so I actually got this
(07:35):
from my TV film agent, and normally this is like
with voiceover, you get it from your voiceover agent. So
I think they were looking kind of far and wide,
and the callback seemed to go well, And it wasn't
until I got the script and the script said I
am Iron Fist with a bunch of exclamation points that
I figured it out.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
At that point.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Oh, that's a good point to pause, because there's so
much I want to follow up on. Because you're, as
I said before, your story fascinates me, your journey fascinates me.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
And if you're just tuning in right now.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
I'm joined in studio by Jonah Shao, who is the
Immortal Iron Fist as part of the four part episode
mini series on Disney Plus.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Eyes of Wakanda.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Will have more with Jonah Shao and just a moment,
kay if I am six forty it's Later with mo Kelly.
We're live on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
You're listening to Later with Mo Kelly on demand from KFI.
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yes, Later with mo Kelly.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
We're live on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and the iHeartRadio app.
I'm right in the middle of a conversation with actress
Jonah Shaw. She is co starring in Eyes of Wakanda
as the Immortal Iron Fist, specifically in episode three of
the four part Disney Plus mini series.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And Johnna, let me come back to you.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
We were just talking about you reading for the character,
not knowing what it was, or the magnitude of the
universe literally that you were entering. Talking about Marvel and
even though this is a TV show, it often intersects
with the cinematic universe, we do know that because everything
(09:09):
that Marvel does is intentional in that regard. Have you
thought about how this character could exist beyond just this series.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Yeah, so I just learned that Shanchi too will go
back in time, and so maybe this character.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Could be involved. I just learned that, which would be
really exciting. I would love to see a live action version.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Okay, if there's a live action version, and let's say hypothetically,
you will find yourself part of it.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
You know, how are your kicks and punches?
Speaker 5 (09:41):
I studied taekwondo, escrima and martial arts tricking, so I'm
in Well, now you're speaking my language.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Well you may not know this, but I've studied hopketo
for the past forty years.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Wow, Okay, I'm old, but I've.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Been studying a long time, so I can appreciate you're skilled.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Well, I'll put it this way.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
I could appreciate someone who takes martial arts seriously and
understands what needs to happen to bring that to the screen.
Because there are a lot of people we were talking
about some off air. You know, they're actors, but they
can't fool anybody as a martial artist, and we have
discriminating eyes.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
So it's I'm glad to hear that.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
If you, given the opportunity, would be able to actually
do it, you know, a frontkick, face cake, round kick
as opposed to just you know, stop double cut and
stepping in. But so you have thought about it, I
think is good. Is there something that you could do
to help yourself along in that regard?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Is it something that you.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Say, hey, you know, agent, can you like put a
call into Kevin Fagey and see us up?
Speaker 5 (10:47):
You know, I really appreciate that the fans have been
suggesting it, and I'm like, yeah, which is great. So
if you want to show some extra love at Jonah
shoujo O na x I A oh, I've been dropping
just some behind the scenes and some things and also
answering questions from fans.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
So that's been really fun for.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Those who don't know about the series itself. Let's get
into that eyes of what Kanda talks about. Obviously the
civilization of Wakanda if you're familiar with Black Panther, but
it's taking you through history. It's taking you back to
time before Christ and different points in history and showing
Wakanda's influence on world history, but not necessarily from a
(11:27):
very flattering vantage point.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Would you agree, Yeah, like The first episode, for instance,
delves with deals with slavery, for instance. So yeah, I
really appreciate that the creators were willing to really show
different topics that are less comfortable to talk about because
they are part of our history. And it's great that
it's a TV series because with it being an anthology,
(11:52):
we can as you mentioned, we're going across centuries of
time and different geographic locations, and you could never do
that in like one movie.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I like the fact that not only going over different
periods and eras in time, you're also touching upon some
known events like the Trojan War. You get to see like, oh,
how possibly what kind of influenced that? And you have
this I will say, just a short quterie my word
of voices and actors and action. It's a well done,
(12:22):
well rounded series and there's a lot that's put into it.
Do you know how long the total production took to
make oh Man?
Speaker 5 (12:30):
Several years? Because I was in my involvement. Usually the
actors come in much later in the process compared to
everyone else on the team. So I was involved in
twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Wow, we're just seeing in twenty twenty five yep, So
you did it and basically forgot about it.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
In a way, I never forgot about it, but I
did have to keep a secret for a very very
long time.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Did you know within let's say, three to six months
when it was going to premiere?
Speaker 5 (12:58):
So I think it's it's gotten pushed back over time,
and so I think it was supposed to come out
maybe last year at one point from my recollection, but
something installed it, which it happens all the time.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I know it's been well received, but you don't necessarily
know what Marvel will have in store if there's going
to be a season two. Has there been any public
discussion or any discussion that you're allowed to share with
us as far as the future of Eyes of Wakanda.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Not that I'm aware of.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
That would be awesome if they continued into a season
two and we got to see more stories over time
and how Wakanda has shaped history.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
I absolutely love it. Do you have time to just
hang around for one more segment, because there's a lot
more I would love to come, absolutely all right. Jonah
Shall joins me in studio. We're talking about Eyes of Wakanda.
She plays the Immortal Iron Fist and You can specifically
find her in episode three of the four part mini
series on Disney Plus. All episodes are available right now
for streaming on Disney Plus. It's Later with Mo Kelly
(13:58):
k IF I Am six forty one live everywhere in
the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
You're listening to Later with Mo Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
I Am six forty is Later with Mo Kelly.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
We're still live on YouTube and that's really important because
we have a very special guest in studio with us,
Jonah Shall. She is starring as an immortal iron Fist
in the new Disney Plus series Isa Wa Kanda, which
is just a four episode mini series. You can watch
it in a day if you would like. Him and
Jonah we were talking about that series, how it is
(14:37):
bigger than it is. What I mean by that is
it's taking you through different periods, it's taking you through
different places around the world. Is telling a big story
across four episodes. And when you were doing your episode specifically,
which is episode three, there's a lot of physicality in
it as far as there are fight scenes.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
How did you go about voicing the fights?
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Yeah, they're grunts and groans and everything, but take me
behind the scenes as far as how you put that together.
Are you just giving them random grunts and groans and
then they put it to the action later on.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
Yeah, So for me, I I try to be as
physical as I am allowed to get away with in
the booth. So I've done push ups before, Like if
I'm supposed to be out of breath, I'll just.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
I'll just get down and start doing push ups right before.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
Like for like efforts like if I as long as
I'm not actually hitting something and messing with the sound,
it's very much like ugh, you know, like I actually
fully or like taking a hit like oh, And there's
a little trick with voiceover where you can just substitute
the first part with the different letter of the alphabet,
so and it sounds like a different effort, So it
(15:44):
could be like and then you could do a G
like good.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Seem different but very similar.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Okay, are you doing it just to script or is
there some sort of animation in front of you that
you're acting too?
Speaker 4 (15:58):
This one?
Speaker 5 (15:59):
Usually there isn't, so it's there's no scenery, there's no visuals. Occasionally,
with voice voiceover, I might see like a storyboard.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Okay, just as like, hey, here's.
Speaker 5 (16:09):
What visually is happening. So occasionally I'll get that, but
usually no.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
When it dropped on August first, did you watch it
immediately or are you someone who kind of just sits
back and waits for feedback because you just don't want
to see the final product.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
I saw it at two am, so yeah, I saw
it right away, and.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
I just get really nervous.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
I get both excited and nervous to watch projects I've
been involved in.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
It's very much like, I'm.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Like this, where were you allowed to let people know
that you were in Eyes of Wakanda?
Speaker 2 (16:47):
This is no small deal.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Yeah, so when was that?
Speaker 1 (16:51):
That was?
Speaker 5 (16:52):
I think a couple months ago was when I was
finally able to shoe You're.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Still sitting on it for literal years.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
Years but I still couldn't say who I was, and
it wasn't. I was actually at Comic Con. It was
the friday of Comic Con that my amazing publicist was like, hey,
you can say that you're iron fisted now. I'm like, yeah,
how perfect because I was at Comic Con and got
to announce that.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Okay, I have a real semi personal question. Nobody's listening
it's just you and me.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Is it true that Marvel has agents everywhere, like listening
in on all your phone conversations?
Speaker 5 (17:26):
It tapped right now, It's yeah, sorry you said it
was private. It's not Marvel's listening.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Did the like follow you when you're like driving around city.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
Or I feel more they're like bodyguards. I choose to
see them as a little body guide.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
But everywhere agent Smith, everyone in there, no one. When
you finally saw it, though, and you have knowledge of
what you said and what you did, the lines you delivered,
were you surprised at all, well what you saw on screen?
Speaker 4 (17:56):
A little bit?
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I was.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
Actually I'm very hard on myself as an artist. Yeah,
and I deal with imposter syndrome and that comes up sometimes.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
And I actually really enjoyed.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Like how the art came to the stunning animation that's
inspired by hand paintent hand painted African art, so I thought.
And the animation was stunning, the score was amazing, and
just the whole world that was built, and I feel
like it came together really nicely.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Did you have any real interaction with castmates?
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Yes? Yeah, this is so rare in voiceover because it's
usually just you in a booth.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
Yeah, but this was really special in that Jacques, who
plays Basha, I heard some good compliments about the chemistry
we had, and I think part of it is because
we actually got to work right side by side, next
to each other in the booth.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Let me just say so people don't give some perspective.
You find Bosha in the snow and you nurse him
back to health. He's a Wakandan war dog, you know.
You don't know that at the time, and they developed
some chemistry. Put it that way, and then something happens
which throws all that into doubt.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
And I don't want to give.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
That away, but the episode is focused around you too, specifically,
so you did have your scenemate with you.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
I did, absolutely.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
And then Isaac who is hilarious and played Captain Ebo
in the episode, he was zooming in, so the three
of us got to work together.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
He was giving his lines via zoom.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Yes, but we were all doing it like live at
the same time.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
You were doing it live, so you didn't have like
a table read, did you.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
No, it was just we were recording.
Speaker 5 (19:40):
And so that's why I think the banter and the
relationship between Basha and Captain Ebo is so like there's
so much history and richness there and the banter between
them is lovely and it was really fun to watch
when they were interacting.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
To do you know if they watched it two in
the morning as well?
Speaker 4 (19:56):
You know, I should have asked.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
I should have been like, do y'all want to do
this at two am?
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Very quickly? My time is running short with you. I
want to make sure people can follow you and join
you on your journey. How can they find you on
social media?
Speaker 5 (20:11):
And beyond sure, I'm on all the social media platforms
at Jonahshaw, which is at j O N A x
I AO.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
And I have to ask you this question because I
started off the conversation acknowledging that you're born in China.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
How many languages.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Do you speak to point two?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Is that Mandarin, Cantonese.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
Mandarin English and Upoco Espanol.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
When are you gonna come back and see us again?
Speaker 4 (20:50):
I would love to anytime you have me.
Speaker 6 (20:51):
And also, by the way, this oh, we had Wendy's
in the studio from the very first day because Nick
Poliochini took it upon himself to common deer and hijack
the show and so we had a taste test that
John was nice enough to participate in, and so what
did you try?
Speaker 4 (21:12):
The chocolate Frosty's my favorite.
Speaker 5 (21:15):
I was like, I don't remember something tasting like the
sense like the pumpkin, something spice latte at Starbucks or
something from years ago.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
It was amazing. And then the taki.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
I was very pleasantly surprised by the chicken taki sandwich.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
We're very cheap here. We usually don't have food for guests.
So just know you're you're you're treating me.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
Like I mean, I have to draw my power somehow, right.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Talkies.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
That's really her secret.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
The Frosty's, the chocolate one especially see you soon.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
Yes please, I would love that.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
It's Later with mo Kelly if I am six forty.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
We are alive everywhere on the iHeartRadio app and YouTube,
Instagram and Facebook.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty
Later, with Mo'Kelly News
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