By Ron Wynn
NASHVILLE, TN — One of the more unusual shows about a musical group will soon be ending, and its members are now reflecting on the experience of doing television. RZA, Ashton Sanders and other members of the Hip-Hop ensemble the Wu-Tang Clan are now in the third and final season of their weekly show streamed on Hulu. It’s an occasion that has brought them the opportunity to reflect on both the group’s impact and that of the show.
“That’s one of the greatest joys for me as a producer and as a creative artist, is that something that was in my youth, you know when I was 21/22, years old, and wanting to burst out into the world and show Wu-Tang. We succeeded at it,” said RZA in a recent interview with the website Shadow and Act. “But yet, to see a group of young actors like Ashton, Shameik, Siddiq, Julian, Zolee…all come together and also grow through this Wu-Tang experience and grow as artists — because I felt that from season 1 to season 3, there was a great trajectory of the artists all growing — but also growing personally and business-wise. The show has been successful.”
He added, “You know, for some actors, on your first TV series, you hope they will continue to have season 1, season 2, season 3, because that helps build your economics and build your strength for your future. So knowing that this show is a potential platform that will launch all of these young actors into a great future simply is a blessing because I’ve seen it do the same for Method Man, Raekwon and Ghost, and now I can see it do it for Siddiq, Zolee and all of them.”
Ashton Sanders, who portrays RZA, offered his own views on the series.
“It’s cool that we have been chosen to be a part of, we’re now part of Wu-Tang’s legacy, like, forever,” he told us. “And when you think about it, that s**t is deep as hell, you know? It’s bigger than us. So it’s such a blessing.”
”As the final chapter of the series prepares to close, Shameik Moore, who is also the voice of Miles Morales in “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse” told us that becoming Raekwon aka The Chef is another check off the versatility box for him as an actor.
“Wu-Tang is a deeper bad boy, further away from who I am, and I think that there are people in reality that really do live the life that The Chef lived, that’s really cooking, selling on the block [and they’ve] got to figure it out. I feel like everything has impacted me,” he said. “The fact that they can relate to me and then some little kid can relate…like me being a vessel that’s used for that is [something] I don’t take lightly at all.”
The third and final season of Wu-Tang: An American Saga drops new episodes weekly on Hulu.