‘Accused’: Ken Jeong on Taking the Dramatic Lead Role & Full-Circle Moment With Michael Chiklis

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Accused Season 2, Episode 7, “Eugene’s Story .”]

Ken Jeong is best known for making viewers laugh, but they may have been left in tears watching his dramatic performance in Accused‘s Season 2 finale installment, “Eugene’s Story.”

Portraying the titular Eugene, Jeong’s character owns a jewelry store, and he finds himself in a dicey situation when his wife Grace’s (Jamie Chung) past comes knocking at their door. When her ex Rex (Zane Holtz) begins blackmailing her after getting out of jail, Grace tries to help the man, lying to Eugene in the process. Eventually, she comes clean to Eugene, revealing that her ex went to jail for a robbery that resulted in a death that she was actually responsible for.

Thinking he can pay the man some money to sever ties, Eugene attempts to remove Grace’s ex from their lives, but a robbery at the jewelry store leaves Eugene angry and he goes after the man. When he tracks down Rex at a motel, Grace is with him and attempts to leave as a way of preventing harm to Eugene and her father, but a scuffle over a gun Eugene brought to the scene ends up resulting in Grace’s death. It’s a tragic turn of events that allows Jeong to deliver a stunning dramatic performance.

Below, the performer who is known for his work on Fox‘s other shows like The Masked Singer and I Can See Your Voice gets candid about dialing up the drama, collaborating with Chung and director Michael Chiklis, and more.

Peter Stranks / FOX

How did you get involved with Accused?

Ken Jeong: I am very blessed. [Howard Gordon] and Albert Shin who wrote the script, “Eugene’s Story,” they wrote it with me in mind and we had a meeting about it… and I totally understood what they were wanting to do with [the episode], and being a big fan of Howard Gordon’s work with 24 and Homeland and his innate ability to tell a story from start to finish and build up so much tension in an hour… It’s a really, really rare skill of storytelling to be had. And I was just drawn to the story. And then when we got Michael Chiklis involved… I’m a huge fan of The Shield and actually, early on in my career, about 18 years ago, I guest-starred on The Shield as a day player.

I never got to meet [Michael Chiklis then], but [The Shield] was one of those things [that was] really big in my worldview. So to be directed by him [was special], Michael Chiklis has really evolved into an actor’s director. And then the main ensemble cast, we all got very close. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my career. I’ve never been a dramatic lead before. I’ve done dramas and I’m currently in A Great Divide out right now on VOD, I’m so blessed to be a part of that. And then to bookend it with Accused as my first dramatic lead… there was a lot of responsibility attached to this, and I wanted to do right by not only Michael and Howard but also by the fans and by the story, I wanted to service the story as best as I could. It was incredibly fulfilling.

Religion plays a big role in the episode, why do you think it was so important to include that?

The Korean church is a huge part of the Korean American community, and I thought they captured it quite well. I mean, you see shows like Beef that really captured that… I remember texting Steven Yeun and I just told him that it gives me goosebumps of how accurate the pickup games are, that dynamic of the praise band. And I definitely thought about Beef while we were shooting the Korean church scenes because church is a huge component of Eugene’s story and as part of the redemption of this morality tale that Howard and Albert have weaved.

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'Accused' Star Jamie Chung on Tackling Drama With Ken Jeong & Collaborating With Michael Chiklis for 'Eugene's Story' (Exclusive)

What was it like working alongside Jamie Chung on the dynamic between Eugene and Grace?

We’re fortunate, we were both in The Hangover 2 and [The Hangover] 3, and so I’ve gotten to know Jamie quite well, and so that made it even more special that my scene partner is a friend and an actor I completely trust. And I think because of our friendship, it really lent to the dynamic that we had. It was very thought out. I think it is maybe on the surface considered to be an odd couple pairing, but maybe that’s the point. And Jamie and I definitely leaned into that dynamic. Maybe there’s a reason why. And yet there is a bond and a sense of love and obligation to each other that is deeper than expected from the viewer.

Did Eugene get a fair outcome at his trial?

I do unfortunately believe that that verdict was just because Eugene came to the motel with the intent to kill Rex. And [he could] have gotten the authorities involved. Unfortunately and tragically, there was an even worse outcome involved in Eugene’s story. But it is, I would dare say, in terms of law, by the book, regardless of emotions, regardless of feelings. And this is an emotional story… I mean, Michael Chiklis and I were saying this is like a modern-day Shakespearean tragedy. And it was an honor to serve that story.

It really does make you think.

It makes you think. My wife and I watched it together and the tension and the emotionality and then the thinking when we’re discussing that afterward. For that to linger and make you think in an unexpected way, [that] is why I quit my day job as a doctor to be an actor. It is why I wanted to be an actor in the first place and why I wanted to be a storyteller because this was an amazing story to tell.

Accused, Season 2, Streaming now, Hulu