THE NINE LIVES OF CHLOE KING: A Chat with Grace Phipps, Ki Hong Lee and Alyssa Diaz

At this year’s Comic Con the cast of the new ABC Family drama The Nine Lives of Chloe King sat down with the press to talk about their show. For those unfamiliar with this new series, Chloe King (actress Skyler Samuels) is a recently turned 16-year-old who discovers on her birthday that she has special cat-like powers, including nine lives, superhuman speed, strength, hearing, agility, night vision and the ability to extend her nails like cat claws. She soon uncovers that she is a descendant of an ancient race called the Mai.

Grace Phipps (Photo Credit: Rueben)

Cast member Grace Phipps (who plays Chloe’s best friend Amy) talked about her love of genre shows such as Firefly, Battlestar Galactica and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer while Ki Hong Lee (who plays Chloe’s other best friend Paul) explained that he grew up in Korea before moving to the United States where he was introduced to the X-Men by a cousin. Having these influences and interests allows both of them to have an appreciation for the fans who gather annually for the San Diego fete.

Ki Hong Lee (Photo Credit: Rueben)

Grace and Ki also shared that if they (and their characters) could have their own superpowers, “For me, as Grace, I’d totally pick flying. I would love to be able to fly and maybe (have) telekinesis. As for (my character) Amy, she would want either invisibility or super-hearing or both so she would know everything that is going on.” Ki admitted that, “Paul would want everything. But me, as Ki, I would want to teleport everywhere.”

While speaking about their characters, Grace and Ki said that the one attribute they like the most about their characters were “No matter what is going on, Amy completely (dives) into the situation. She is (always) 100% there” and for Paul “like that (he) is comfortable in his own skin, he’s doesn’t care what other people think and he knows what he wants.”

They both also shared that while pranks do happen behind the scenes between cast members and crew, it’s all in good fun. And, they enjoy delving into the relationship hurdles between Amy and Paul, sharing that the moment when Paul knocked out a guy in order to save Amy’s life in an earlier episode was not only a poignant moment for the cast but also a turn-around in their rocky relationship.

Then sharing their favorite moment or scene in the season so far, Grace explained, “There is a scene with Chloe and (Amy) in a car that will air later. It was just really fun to sit down together and find the balance and show vulnerability – that was really fun.”

Ki he joked that the bedroom scene between Paul and Amy was his favorite moment because he and some of the crew pulled a prank on Grace: “One of the AD’s tried to prank her…the director is saying “we’re rolling” and I’m being told to get out of the bed, but I’m in character and ready (to do) the scene, but I got out of the bed (so it would look like no one was there to film the scene with Grace) in order to pull the prank.”

Alyssa Diaz (Photo Credit: Rueben)

Alyssa Diaz (who plays Jasmine, one of the Mai), who trained in martial arts for 10 years, is hopeful that future episodes will provide more insight into what she believes are dark secrets about her character and that of her mother Valentina (played by actress Alicia Coppola). She also shared that while she couldn’t provide any spoilers for upcoming episodes, she could say that “I get to play with fire.” Alyssa also shared that her favorite scene from the first season happens in the last episode, which features an intense encounter between Jasmine and her mother.

To find out just what will happen to Amy, Paul and Jasmine (as well as the rest of the cast) on The Nine Lives of Chloe King, tune in to ABC Family Tuesdays at 9/8c for new episodes.