25-Year Wait Ends For an All Asian Cast
WEST HOLLYWOOD, California — In January 2017, the director Jon M. Chu announced an open casting call for Asian and Asian-American actors for his movie adaptation of “Crazy Rich Asians.” The online plea instructed anyone interested in joining his all-Asian cast, from aspiring actors to “cool personalities with hidden talents,” to post a two-minute video of themselves on social media.
The call was an enticing one. The romantic comedy was going to be a major feature film, with a reported budget of $ 30 million; its inspiration, the best-selling novel by Kevin Kwan, had already sold millions of copies. And then there was the sheer singularity of it all. How often did a Hollywood filmmaker go looking for a bunch of Asians for anything? The last time a major Hollywood film set in the present day showcased a majority Asian cast was 25 years ago, with “The Joy Luck Club” in 1993.
For Asian and Asian-American viewers, the film, now in global release, offers hope that if this movie succeeds, it just might stave off another quarter- century drought.
Producers use something called “comps” — recent films similar to the ones they’re pitching — to help sell studios on their ideas and budgets. For the producers of “Crazy Rich Asians,” there weren’t any. For scores of Asian-themed films to come, “Crazy Rich Asians” could be that comp.
When Mr. Chu made his online pitch, the film seemed a godsend for Asian actors. Forget a few token parts here and there; in this one film, Asian actors would play everything: the romantic leads and sympathetic sidekicks, the comic foils and cads, the faces in the crowd.
With more than four billion Asians on the planet, how hard could it be to cast this thing?
As roles were considered and cast, the filmmakers contended with questions about identity amid the Asian diaspora. Could an Asian play an Asian-American? Could a Malaysian play a Singaporean? And what about an Asian guy with a white mom or dad — could he even be in the running?
On a recent morning, Mr. Chu recounted the joys and struggles of casting his all- Asian feature. He talked about hiring legends ( Michelle Yeoh) and relative unknowns (Henry Golding), Asian stars (Singapore’s Fiona Xie) and Asian-Americans on the rise (Awkwafina).
Mr. Chu also explained why he had cast such a wide net, supplementing the usual casting calls with a five- continent search and an online open call. “We just didn’t want to miss anybody,” he said. “I wanted this to be the ‘Avengers’ of Asian actors.”
The search began in 2013, when the producers Nina Jacobson (“The Hunger Games”), Brad Simpson (“Pose”) and John Penotti (“Awake”) secured the rights to Mr. Kwan’s book. In the story, Rachel, a Chinese-American professor, travels with her London-bred professor boyfriend, Nick, to Singapore, where he was born. Once there Rachel discovers two things: Nick’s steely mother, Eleanor, thinks Rachel is beneath her, and Nick — and the rest of his family — is obscenely, stupefyingly wealthy.
When Mr. Chu announced his open call, thousands of videos poured in. Working actors from the United States, Singapore and elsewhere submitted auditions alongside those outside the industry who figured they had nothing to lose.
The cast soon became increasingly international. There was Gemma Chan and Jing Lusi from Britain; Chris Pang and Remy Hii from Australia; Pierre Png, Ms. Xie and a host of others from Singapore; Ronny Chieng and Ms. Yeoh from Malaysia; Lisa Lu and Jasmine Chen from China. Among the American- born crew, there were actors who hailed from Detroit (Ken Jeong); New York (Awkwafina); and Richmond, Virginia (Constance Wu).
With much of the action taking place in Singapore, there was a push to get as many Singaporeans as possible. If that wasn’t possible, the producers said, they wanted to understand when a non- Singaporean could fill a Singaporean role.
With more people talking about diversity in casting and calling out examples of whitewashing, the practice of casting white actors in roles envisioned as non-white, Mr. Chu sees positive developments, particularly for Asian-Americans. Netflix recently began streaming “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” starring the Vietnamese-American Lana Condor. And, later this month there’s “Searching,” a thriller starring John Cho.
“We shouldn’t be fighting over scraps,” said Nancy Wang Yuen, the author of “Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism.” “We should be fighting for the system to expand, so that all of us can get access to roles.”