Constance Wu and controversy have walked hand in hand for the past few months, yet the “Hustlers” star says she would not have done anything differently.
In a new interview with The Guardian, the 37-year-old actress says she has no regrets about being “messy and imperfect in public” after she reacted angrily to ABC’s renewal of her sitcom “Fresh Off The Boat”.
While news of a TV show’s renewal is typically met with celebration, Wu took a different approach when her show was renewed for a sixth season, taking to Twitter in response to the news and writing, “So upset I’m literally crying. Ugh. F**k.”
While she later revealed that her tweet (and some other similar social media missives) expressed her disappointment that the show’s renewal meant she wouldn’t be able to participate in a dream project, she later issued a tweet to explain and apologize.
As Wu tells The Guardian, she doesn’t regret her actions but does wish she had taken more time to consider how they might have affected her co-stars and the show’s producers and crew.
“I don’t regret being messy and imperfect in public. but I do regret not taking into account how it might have affected people I care about, like the kids on the show. I love them. I had a talk with each kid. I wanted to make sure they knew I acted out of a moment of passion that was not reflective of how I feel about them,” she said.
“They’re like: ‘I’m sorry you went through that, and that people think that, but we know who you are,’” she added. “Because here’s the thing — we’ve had the same crew for six years. That never happens if you have a diva on set.”
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Has the experience made Wu more wary of expressing herself on social media?
“A bit, but I was never really that much of a social media person anyway,” she responded. “I’m definitely not an influencer, and I’m definitely not seeking more followers or anything like that. I’m not a perfect person and I not only think it’s okay, but I think it’s good to sometimes publicly fail.”
Wu stars alongside Jennifer Lopez, Lizzo, Lily Reinhart and Cardi B in “Hustlers”, which recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and opens in theatres on Friday, Sept. 13.
