Tribeca Film Festival may be best known for its independent movies, but it is also a haven for fledgling television shows to find their wings. One such episodic hopeful is Yanqui, billed as part Knocked Up and part Fleabag but with a whole lot of heart. Rowan Kahn plays the eponymous “yanqui” (slang for a hapless American), Josh, and he finds his co-lead in Argentine star Delfina Chaves (Maxima), who plays Sofia. The pilot episode also stars Sebastian Wainraich, Luis Ziembrowski, Miriam Odorico, Rodrigo Raffetto, Carolina Alamino, Pablo Lapa, and Anish Merchant.

Josh and Sofia meet in a whirlwind Barcelona weekend, and they quickly return to their respective lives on opposite hemispheres until Sofia informs Josh that she is pregnant. Though he’s unconvinced of his fatherhood potential because his “boys don’t swim,” he travels down to Buenos Aires to prove he’s not like his own father, who abandoned him long ago. As much as Yanqui is a fish-out-of-water comedy about a North American in Argentina, it’s also a blossoming romance between two strangers who are now bound together for life.

Screen Rant interviewed star Rowan Kahn along with creators Sean Quinn and Kyle Hausmann-Stokes while at Tribeca Film Festival to discuss the conception of Yanqui. The minds behind the project shared the true origins of Josh’s character, while Kahn revealed what storylines he hopes to explore more in-depth should the pilot episode receive a full series order.

Plans For Yanqui Go Well Beyond The Pilot Episode

Screen Rant: I love Yanqui. What inspired it? Where did this come from?

Kyle Hausmann-Stokes: The inspiration is a true story. My friend Sean from college, it’s the story of how he became an unlikely father in Argentina. It was COVID, and we were all anxious to make something. We wrote it and then, fast forward to a year later, we flew to Argentina with a bunch of cash strapped to our chests. We were the only two Americans with an all-Argentinian crew, and it’s been an amazing experience.

What made you think of going the TV route instead of a movie one?

Kyle Hausmann-Stokes: Yeah, it felt like a bigger story. It felt like this ongoing saga because it is a true story that’s ongoing. I think we just really liked the idea that the pilot would end with Josh getting the result that the child was his, and his decision to stay in Argentina after just felt like a bigger story.

Speaking of your protagonist, Rowan is great as Josh. I really enjoyed him. How did you find him?

Kyle Hausmann-Stokes: Rowan is an amazing actor, he’s Canadian-American and came via our casting director Jamie Castro, who I worked with on My Dead Friend Zoe and who has done Shondaland stuff.

We looked at a ton of different people, but we were looking for someone that could embody Sean’s quirkiness but also would have that leading man vibe. And Rowan had that in spades. We didn’t know if there would be chemistry with him and Delfina, who is such a huge deal in Argentina. There was just no way to put that together before getting to Argentina, so we were nervous when heading to the bottom of the world together. But I think that really plays into the chemistry they had.

I read the breakdown of the first season with eight episodes. How much further than that is in your mind?

Kyle Hausmann-Stokes: We have more ideas. It’s a fish on a water story, and we are ready to embrace that. Josh goes to the bottom of the planet to grapple with his relationship with his own father, but then after that, what happens if they go to other parts of the world? At the very end of season finale, something will catapult them both elsewhere.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Yanqui Is An Ever-Evolving True Story

Screen Rant: This show, which I really enjoyed the pilot episode of, is based on your life. Tell me everything about your life.

Sean Quinn: Essentially, I was on vacation in Barcelona. We had a weekend vacation, and then a couple of weeks later, I got the news that she was pregnant. That was hard for me to understand too because I tried to donate sperm back in college and failed, so I just thought it wasn’t in the cards for me.

But it was, and now I’m a happy father of a beautiful 5-year-old in Argentina. It brought me down to Buenos Aires; I live there now. And it was Kyle’s idea to make that the premise of our show.

Rowan is so great in the first episode. What made him right for Josh?

Sean Quinn: Well, it was really tough audition process. We had so many talented actors, and I think Kyle and I each wanted to go in different directions a little bit. I wanted to be more comedic, while he wanted more and more of the drama side — and Rowan had that perfect mix.

He was very earnest and funny in that natural way, but he also hit the dramatic moments. We auditioned him, and it was a great fit. We’re so lucky to have him now.

Speaking of amazing actors, Delfina is incredible. How did you get her? What was that experience like?

Sean Quinn: Yeah, we have a US casting director and an Argentine casting director, and he organized that. We auditioned about 18 amazing actors through him, and Delfina just really wowed us. She had that special intangible quality that you want in a star. She’s great.

She just launched two series on Max, one about the Argentine princess in Holland and the other one is about polyamory. Yeah, she was wonderful.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Filming Yanqui In Argentina Was A Magical Experience

Screen Rant: What was the audition process like for you? I know you didn’t meet Delfina until after you got the role.

Rowan Kahn: Right. I mean, the audition process was a classic tape, but I decided to actually have fun with this tape. I decided to film myself on my phone and really do the scene. My agents weren’t happy about it, but then it worked. It did well!

I love the chemistry between Josh and Sofia. They don’t know each other at all, but I am rooting for you for that whole time. How was it working opposite Delfina?

Rowan Kahn: She’s absolutely terrific, as you can tell. She’s amazing, and it was really fun being able to go down to a foreign country. I was so out of my mind, lost and confused, and I don’t speak Spanish. Delfi was terrific and she really helped me out. I think we help each other out.

I was going to say the cross-cultural aspects are one of the big selling points of the series. What was the most surprising aspect of filming in Argentina?

Rowan Kahn: The most surprising aspect? I didn’t really know what to expect at all, but I didn’t expect it to be as welcoming and beautiful as it really was. We had such an amazing crew, and Kyle and Sean were so great. For me, it was a dream come true. I’m a Canadian kid, and I get to go down to Argentina for a series shoot? Amazing.

I very much hope we get to see it become a season. I read the plan for the first eight episodes, but should we get that and more, what would you like to explore about Josh?

Rowan Kahn: I would love to explore more. God, I’m going to try and keep this concise.

It is a comedy with this funny story, but at his heart, it is a really heartfelt piece about this kid who just didn’t want to repeat the sins of his father. He wanted to go and be a really good dad, even though he didn’t think he was going to be the dad at all. And I would like to explore that really tender heart to the thing, and explore the bravery and the courage that it takes for Sofia and Josh to go on his journey together. That would be so fun; the comedy and the romance.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

About Yanqui

After a one-night stand abroad leads to pregnancy, Josh, a failed NYC entrepreneur convinced by sperm banks that he’s shooting blanks, travels to Buenos Aires to prove to Sofia, the maybe love-of-his-life, that he’s not like his (absent) father.