
CULTURE SHOCK. This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures
shows (L-R) Michelle Yeoh, Henry Golding, and Constance Wu in a
scene from Crazy Rich Asians, which opens in theaters
August 17. It’s been 25 years since a major Hollywood studio
released an English-language film with a primarily Asian cast.
The last was Wayne Wang’s adaptation of the generational
tearjerker The Joy Luck Club, which was released in 1993.
But that dry spell is about to end with the release of the
opulent romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians. (Sanja
Bucko/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
From The Asian Reporter, V28, #10 (May 21, 2018), page
7
Crazy Rich Asians changes everything
By Lindsey Bahr
AP Film Writer
LOS ANGELES — It’s been 25 years since a major Hollywood
studio released an English-language film with a primarily Asian
cast. The last was Wayne Wang’s adaptation of the generational
tearjerker The Joy Luck Club, which was released in 1993.
But that dry spell is about to end with the release of the
opulent romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians. The film is
based on Kevin Kwan’s best-selling book about a Chinese-American
woman who gets a culture shock when she meets her boyfriend’s
family in Singapore.
Veteran producer Nina Jacobson said that when she and her
Color Force partner Brad Simpson (The Hunger Games) read
Kwan’s manuscript, they knew it had to be a movie.
"We just tore through it," Jacobson said. "It was so specific
that it became really universal: Anybody who has ever faced
in-laws who felt that they were not worthy of their beloved."
However, they knew the film would likely never survive the
studio development process. They decided to have a vision, a
script, and a budget to sell as a package before going to the
marketplace. Warner Bros. would ultimately sign up to partner
with them and release the film.
"Hollywood has done a bit of a disservice by not taking us
into these worlds that we’re just now seeing between Black
Panther and things on TV," Simpson said. "There is a hunger
for not just token representation but to really dive into the
world of different ethnicities and races."
Meanwhile, Jon M. Chu, who would eventually sign on to direct
Crazy Rich Asians, was hearing about this new book from
family members. And he understood why. His last name is the same
as that of the main character, Rachel Chu, and they’re both from
Cupertino. There’s even a reference to his family in Kwan’s
book.
"I think a lot of Asian Americans go through the same journey
... I relate to having that dual cultural identity of being
full-on all-American, all-California boy, but having a Chinese
side to me," Chu said. "I remember going to Asia for the first
time and there’s a very specific emotion that you feel that’s
like, ‘Oh, this feels like home but it’s not my home and these
people don’t see me as being part of this.’ Then when you’re
home you start to notice people may not see you as part of that
either."
Having known Jacobson and Simpson for years, he knew they
would "protect" the film and do it right. He signed on to
transport audiences to an unbelievable world of wealth,
privilege, and tradition — part Edith Wharton, part "Gossip
Girl."
Chu brought on Malaysia-born screenwriter Adele Lim to give
the script an Asian specificity and set off to assemble his
dream cast. The worldwide search had casting directors looking
in Canada, New York, Los Angeles, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong,
London, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. All had to be
English-speaking — and have the right accents, too.
Constance Wu was chosen to play the lead, Rachel. They found
an unknown to play her boyfriend, Nick, in Henry Golding, a
handsome and charismatic TV host who had the perfect English
accent to play the London-schooled heir, and landed on Michelle
Yeoh to be his disapproving mother, Eleanor. But even this
handpicked ensemble caused some consternation on the internet
over the specific ethnicities and whether they matched exactly
with what the book laid out.
Chu said that there’s even a discussion is important. A film
having a female Asian-American lead and also a majority
pan-Asian cast is significant. A University of Southern
California study found that 44 of the top 100 films from 2016
featured no Asian-American speaking characters.
"Since I’ve graduated from drama school, I never get to play
the lead," Wu said. "The fact that Asian Americans never get to
center the narrative means that their parts are always going to
be not as whole and fleshed-out."
That made it an emotional experience for many on the set.
"Everyone had gone through the process of what it’s like to
be an Asian American in Hollywood or around the world," Chu
said. "You could see the difference between someone like
Michelle Yeoh who literally said, ‘I’m the majority where I’m
from so I don’t understand the plight that you guys are going
through.’ It was very shocking for her to see how it affected
these young actors and how people would just cry on the set and
how happy they were that they got to do this."
Jacobson described it as a "joyful sense of purpose that we
all shared."
Wu, who is an outspoken advocate for Asian representation on
social media, said the film is significant for differentiating
the Asian experience and the Asian-American experience.
"You show that our culture is more than just skin-deep," Wu
said. "You show our similarities and how we’re different."
Although the film doesn’t open until August 17, excitement is
growing with the new trailer and some extremely positive
reactions from an early screening in Los Angeles for the press.
"I hope people go see it because I think we have a great
movie and if they go see it, it changes things," Chu said.
"People have to show up. I guarantee four new stories of Asian
Americans will be greenlit in two weeks if it comes out and does
well. That’s what’s on the line and that’s what I think is still
up in the air."
"I think we have to take control of our own voice and our own
story," he said. "And we won’t be perfect, this discussion is
ongoing the more stuff that gets made, the more discussion we
can have about what we want. We just never had the privilege of
having that conversation."
AP writer Marcela Isaza contributed from Las Vegas.
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