Just go ahead and try to put Ludi Lin in a box — he welcomes it. “It just gives me motivation to be more creative,” says the 29-year-old actor, who is playing Zack in the upcoming Power Rangers, out Friday, March 24.

He’s an actor in a highly anticipated action movie, but don’t think that action is all he can do. “If you want to pigeonhole me as an action actor, then I’ll find sensitivity in those action roles,” he tells Teen Vogue, noting that he views stereotypes as an opportunity. "It gives me the challenge to break them.” And Ludi is busting all sorts of preconceived notions with his role as Zack, a teen who has to balance caring for his mother, who is ill, with the the newfound responsibility of being the Black Ranger.

Ahead, Teen Vogue chatted with Ludi about defying expectations, representation, and his favorite Power Ranger.

Teen Vogue: So, we have to ask — were you a Power Rangers fan growing up? How does it feel to be part of such an iconic franchise?

Ludi Lin: [Power Rangers] was one of those things that I ran home from school every day to watch, and it’s the only thing that could get me up in the mornings.

I was definitely a big fan of the original series. … And it feels amazing, to be back in it, to do the reboot, because the reboot is the original series that I was a huge fan of.

My relationship with Power Rangers started before I knew who the Power Rangers were. My first action figure was a Yellow Power Ranger, which I got when I moved from mainland China to Hong Kong [when I was 4]. My mom got it for me as a toy because I was crying so much for leaving the rest of my family behind. She bought me this Yellow Power Ranger, the first action figure I ever had. … [It] actually came with a motorbike that looked like a unicorn. It was the coolest thing, and I brought this toy with me everywhere — in the bath, we had underwater adventures, it was with me all the time. That was my favorite for a long, long time, until I found out what the Power Rangers actually were. Then, once I watched [the show], my favorite as a kid growing up was the White Ranger or the Green Ranger, mostly because they had the coolest costumes — they had the extra shoulder pads that the other Rangers didn’t get.

So, [my favorite Power Ranger] went from yellow, to green, and now, of course, black.

TV: How long have you been acting, and how did you get started? What is it that first got you interested in acting?

LL: I think I was always acting — but as a kid, I was more acting out than acting. I moved around a lot, and I didn’t have a lot of parental guidance a lot of time. I was kind of just a rambunctious little boy, running around all around the world. But my mom was a stage actor, doing traditional opera in my hometown. And one of my first memories, actually, was standing in the audience, watching her on stage. Chinese opera is very shrill, very high pitched in our own dialect. I speak the dialect, but I can’t understand what they’re singing. But it was really cool watching my mom on stage with these crazy costumes, with flags sticking out behind her, [looking] like ancient Chinese legends. She was in full costume, and I remember how interesting that was, watching my mom putting on makeup and all that stuff. … I think originally, my interest started then. I was in drama class and I took roles in plays in school, and then I studied theater after I graduated from high school and got a degree in that. I transitioned to film acting — and there’s just so much to delve into in film, because there are so many different aspects to it, with technology and also with nuances that you can tweak. I think the possibilities are limitless, and [considering] the audience you can reach, you can affect a lot of people. To give something from yourself and affect others — that’s what art is.