‘Unapologetic’ voices needed in Hollywood — Constance
I can’t take any of them (scripts) because I film my show nine months of the year. But I’m getting them.
LOS ANGELES: Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu figures that “unapologetic, unusual” voices will diversify Hollywood.
Constance herself is in great demand for showbiz projects, thanks to the sudden rush to embrace diversity in Hollywood.
She’s getting more offers — not auditions or scripts to read, but actual offers to star in movies. Disclosed Constance: “I can’t take any of them because I film my show nine months of the year. But I’m getting them.”
Cosntance is still starring in the sitcom Fresh Off the Boat.
That change, in and of itself, is an important personal development for an actress who’s been part of creating positive cultural touchstones with her work. Fresh Off the Boat is the first TV series led by an AsianAmerican cast to sell syndication rights.
It’s also the first AsianAmerican series to complete a full season, not to mention the first to earn a renewal. Yet even after its fifth season was picked up on ABC (airing now), Constance’s offers didn’t start rolling in until Crazy Rich Asians became a global juggernaut, earning near-universal critical
Constance Wu, star of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’
accolades and grossing more than US$ 232 million ( RM974 million) worldwide — with a China release still to come.
This line of history now runs straight through Wu, but she doesn’t take much credit for it. As evidenced by her pinned tweet, she sees a clear connection between the two projects — beyond the Crazy Rich easter eggs Constance promises are coming in Fresh Off the Boat. To get a major studio to green light Crazy Rich Asians, she said another TV show or film had to break the glass ceiling.
“It could have been any show,” she said. The key was a unique, compelling, and accessible voice — like Fresh Off the Boat author Eddie Huang. “It’s because he stood out, that people watched him on TV, read his book,” she said. “And his book inspired the show. …I think if it had to be something. And I think it would have been somebody who has an unapologetic unusual voice. But not necessarily Fresh Off the Boat.”
Added Constance: “I don’t think there is one right way to continue the movement. I think there is a way that I might want to do it, that somebody else thinks is bad. But I think action at all in media, in culture, is action.”