VIDEO: Ken Jeong Talks Pushing Himself as a Dramatic Actor on Fox’s ‘Accused’

The Contending talks to Ken Jeong about his dramatic guest turn on Fox’s Accused in the episode “Eugene’s Story.”

You know Ken Jeong as Senor Chang on NBC’s Community or as a judge on FOX’s The Masked Singer, but you’ve never seen him like this. On Fox’s crime drama Accused, where each episode features a new case, Jeong plays Eugene, a jewelry store owner who’s accused of killing his wife Grace (Jamie Chung).

“This was not a vanity project,” said Jeong in a video interview. “This wasn’t for publicity. This was for me to push myself as an artist, and I think I did, and it was a lot of fun.”

Jeong has made a career out of pushing himself. After all, he quit his day job as a doctor to pursue acting!

“[Accused] felt like I was in acting class every day. And Michael Chiklis was, like, the best acting instructor ever. As a character actor, I’m used to showing movement, but when the camera’s really tight, [you] don’t do anything except listen and believe. Your eyes will tell the story. That’s something that’s going to stay with me the rest of my life.”

Jeong said he liked to lighten the mood on set to break the tension, something he usually didn’t do on comedies like Dr. Ken. 

“The table read was so intense and all the actors were crying. Michael was worried we were getting too emotional. Through tears, I was like, ‘I’m so glad I’m doing Masked Singer after this.’ That’s cheaper than therapy for me!”

Watch the full interview below where we talk about his The Shield reunion with Chiklis, why his character struggles with his masculinity, and what he’d like to do next when it comes to drama.