KEVIN YEE's Queer, Asian-centered Pilot to Premiere at SXSW “A Guide to Not Dying Completely Alone”
Weslo: We're talking with Kevin Yee— actor, writer, comedian, and creator of A Guide to Not Dying Completely Alone. Kevin, how are you today?
Kevin Yee: The sun is finally shining again in Los Angeles, so all is well!
Weslo: Yasssss, positive attitude! I understand you have a pilot premiering at SXSW, how exciting is that?
Kevin Yee: It’s extremely exciting! I’ve been a filmmaker for a long time, and have screened other projects at major queer festivals like Outfest, Frameline, and Newfest. But this is the first time I’ll be screening at SXSW. It’s also been a long six year journey to get this specific TV pilot in front of an audience, so I’m so glad that it’s finally about to happen in such a big way.
Weslo: Congratulations! How familiar are you with Texas? 🤠
Kevin Yee: I’ve been to Texas a lot! Texas seems to love entertainment, and as an entertainer I’ve performed throughout the state several times. I’ve been to Austin when I was a Broadway chorus boy and toured with the musical “Wicked.” We did three weeks there, so I got to know the city well. I’ve also toured to other parts of the state as a comedian. It’s always so lovely, and the food is amazing!
Weslo: I love to hear that. I’m looking forward to brisket during SXSW. So, tell us, where did you get the inspiration to make A Guide to Not Dying Completely Alone?
Kevin Yee: The original concept of this show came to me when I was in my early/mid 30s. I had made the move from New York to Los Angeles, and it wasn’t going very smoothly. I went through long periods of times where I didn’t work. And now that I was in a new city, I didn’t have a lot of friends or deep connections around me to occupy the quiet times. It was very isolating and lonely. I also went from being fairly successful in the Broadway world, to a relative newcomer to the Hollywood world. I remember being very ambitious and confident in my 20s, but now in my 30s I was questioning everything. I was questioning if I had made the wrong decisions, and if being so career oriented was going to make me alone forever. My family was back in Canada and I was used to not being around them, but I was suddenly missing them in a way I never had. So I decided to write about it. I think a lot of people think about the themes of this show; aging, loneliness, regret, and if it’s possible to change so late in life, shake off the isms that you’ve been hiding behind as a protective shield, and live a self-help book’s ideal fantasy life. So it feels like a story everyone could connect to, even though it’s told through the very specific and often ignored lens of a queer Asian protagonist.
Weslo: Your character, Ben Wu is a gay, Asian, writer... did you pull from personal experiences when creating the character?
Kevin Yee: Ben is an extension of me, for sure. I would say I’m a little more open than he is, and maybe a bit more positive? I don’t think either of us are optimists, but I think he’s definitely more of a pessimist, while I consider myself more of a realist. Ben isn’t in show business though, so I think that’s the biggest difference. There’s a fantasy element to working in show business, a “tomorrow could be your big break” and a “what if” element to life that affects me, but doesn’t really affect someone like Ben. I think the things he wants for his life are a lot simpler than me. But ultimately he’s an exaggerated bitchier version of myself.
Weslo: I love it… Ben Wu wants to make the most of his life after passing out in a gay bar and waking up in the hospital, heavy stuff. Do you personally have a bucket list? If so, what's the first thing you'd want to check off?
Kevin Yee: That’s a good question! You’d think with the theme of this show, I would. I think the usual go-tos people would put on their list (travel, skydive, etc) aren’t appealing to me. I’m kind of a quiet person who isn’t that adventurous in the traditional sense. I think because I was when I was younger, and now I feel like I have a better grasp on what I like and don’t like. I love my work and creating, and that has always been what fulfills me. So I guess I wouldn’t call it so much a bucket list, but I would like to make more TV shows. I would like to fall in love with an awesome guy. And I would like to eventually move my work closer to my family in Canada so I can spend time with them as I grow older.
Weslo: You’re gonna make me cry… ok, I’m back. Ben and Rory are two loners who find themselves in an unlikely friendship. I'm already loving their bond. What can we expect from their characters in terms of growth?
Writer, Actor, Director- Kevin Yee | Photo Credit: Nina Menconi
Kevin Yee: Ben and Rory will definitely help each other grow in every sense. I think the one thing they will teach each other is that it’s okay to be different. And even if you’re different, there are people out there that you can connect to. I feel like society and Hollywood always portrays “fun” and “friendship” in a very specific, loud, and crowded way. Like, you have to drink and go to bars to have fun. Or you have to live in an apartment complex with all your friends like “Friends” in order to not be lonely. But I push back against all of that. I think there are many ways to have fun, many ways to have friends, many ways to party and have connections. So Ben and Rory, two loners who identify with each other even though they come from completely different backgrounds, will let each other fully embrace themselves and what makes them happy simply by existing within the same space. Sometimes you just have to find your tribe, and that tribe may not look like anything you see on TV, or at the bars, or on tik tok.
Weslo: What do you hope viewers take away from this series?
Kevin Yee: I really hope that people will be uplifted and embrace the moment more fully. Especially after what we’ve been through over the past few years; with covid, queer rights being stripped from us at an alarming rate. To realize how short life is and how it’s up to us to find our own peace of mind. This show isn’t about dying, it’s about how to live. How do you live life well? And you won’t necessarily find any answers to that question in this show. I’m not trying to answer an unanswerable question. The show just asks the question and then shows a flawed human trying to answer it. And hopefully it makes you think about your own life, laugh, and cheer for his success.
Weslo: That makes a lot of sense. So, I’m not huge on self-help books, but I got a lot out of author, Gary John Bishop; do you personally have a favorite self-help book?
Kevin Yee: I read “You Are a Badass” by Jen Sincero maybe once a year. It’s the self-help book I most connect to since she kind of “tells it like it is.” She’s also a musician so I relate to the entertainment side of the book. But also, a lot of my show is meant to roast the self-help world. There is a flawed impossible positivity to a lot of the self-help industry that I think makes people feel worse about themselves. Like, “the book said if I did what it said I would find a husband, and I haven’t found a husband, so it must be my fault. I must be doing it wrong, or not want it enough.” But I think if you can read a book like “You Are a Badass” not as a bible but as a guide, there are a lot of good points in it about where to put your energy, that I find to be very helpful.
Weslo: Thank you for taking the time to chat with us. We wish you the best of luck on all your future endeavors. You are remarkably talented.
A Guide to Not Dying Completely Alone will premiere at SXSW in Austin, TX Sunday March 12th at 5:15pm and Wednesday, March 15th at 11:45am at Alamo Drafthouse Lamar.
