Casting announcement for a new CBS show left people confused and eventually disappointed after learning that it will not center on an interracial romance as they had expected.
On Friday, Deadline posted a tweet announcing that Chinese Malaysian actor Ronny Chieng and British Nigerian actress Susan Wokoma were cast in “Super Simple Love Story,” an upcoming romantic comedy pilot from CBS.
Users received the news of an Asian man and a Black woman leading the show as a victory in representation, marking the network’s first of such pairing in romantic roles.
Unfortunately, early fans were disappointed after learning that Chieng and Wokoma were not cast as the power couple — instead, they will play supporting roles as friends to actual leads David Walton and Elizabeth Alderfer.
Chieng, known for “The Daily Show” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” will play Harris, an atheist, former college roommate of Kevin (Walton) who “loves to debate” and “mostly ruins every social interaction by getting in his own way,” according to Deadline.
Wokoma, known in America for her roles in “Crazyhead” and “Chewing Gum,” will play Abby, a coworker of Morgan (Alderfer) who is “happy to hate her job as long as the check clears” and takes an interest on “cute Rabbi Sarah.”
Some called out Deadline for the “misleading” news.
Meanwhile, one pointed out that CBS has a practice of putting POC actors on the sidelines.
Others seemed to have lost interest in the show altogether.
Featured Images via Warner Bros. Pictures (Left) and E4 (Right)
