“Crazy Rich Asians” is one of the most anticipated summer comedies — it is, after all, the first film in 25 years to be released by a major Hollywood studio featuring an Asian-American director and all-Asian cast.
In an exclusive interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the cast, filmmaker, and author of “Crazy Rich Asians” — Henry Golding, Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh, Jon Chu, and Kevin Kwan — talk about not signing with Netflix, the pressure for the film to succeed, and how they hope it will reshape the cinema landscape.
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Director Jon Chu explained that he felt like it was his mission to shine a light on the under-representation of Asian films and actors in Hollywood after seeing a number of protests on Twitter (e.g., #Whitewashout and #StarringJohnCho).
“Something in me shifted during those Twitter-sphere protests… I was like, ‘I have this power to do something but what is the story?’” the 38-year-old said.
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Chu and Kwan revealed they passed on the crazy rich offer they received from Netflix and signed with Warner Bros.
“I could sense every lawyer on the call shaking their heads: ‘Ugh, these stupid idealists.’ Here we have a chance for this gigantic payday instantaneously,” Kwan, the author of the bestselling novel, said. “But Jon and I both felt this sense of purpose. We needed this to be an old-fashioned cinematic experience, not for fans to sit in front of a TV and just press a button.”
“We were gifted this position to make a decision no one else can make,” Chu added, “which is turning down the big payday for rolling the dice [on the box office] — but being invited to the big party, which is people paying money to go see us.”
“I’ve been waiting and waiting [for a movie like this],” actress Michelle Yeoh said of the groundbreaking film. “I wish for personal reasons that it happened when I first started my career. But the important thing is it’s happening now.”
When it comes to the future for 31-year-old Henry Golding, he wants to continue striving for leading male roles.
“That’s the intention, really, with a trajectory of staying as a leading man, a colourblind leading man. I can only hope that we do keep getting those meaty, good leading roles. I think now’s the right time.”
Breakout star Constance Wu, 36, said she wanted to focus her character Rachel’s story around identity.
“What does this say about the experience of being Asian-American, how it shapes you differently than the experience of being Asian-Asian? People think it’s the same but when you grow up without your face being a part of dominant culture, it changes things.”
Check out the rest of their in-depth interview with The Hollywood Reporter here.
