Actor on importance of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’
Much has been made about the fact that “Crazy Rich Asians,” Jon M. Chu’s romantic comedy based on the bestseller, is the first film in 25 years to feature all Asians in front of and behind the camera.
Much should be made about that fact, according to Henry Golding, who plays Nick Young, heir to a massive fortune, who’s dating a woman (Constance Wu) not of his social status. (She’s an economics professor at New York University, if that tells you anything about the circles the Youngs run in.) She doesn’t know about his wealth; when she meets his family, a clash of cultures follows.
“It is that important,” Golding said of the allAsian cast and crew. “It’s ridiculous, the fact that Jon had to campaign so hard to make the movie in the first place. But he got to a point in his career where he could take charge, and he could tell the stories he wanted to tell. He was in Hollywood. He was a Hollywood director. And he just realized, what did he want to leave for his daughter?
“He wanted something he could pass on, something he could be proud of. Having the ability to have a voice on a platform that dictates pop culture globally, to be able to open the eyes of someone who perhaps is not necessarily clued up with Asian culture? If we can affect a generation of people to be able to think broader, we’ve totally achieved, and that’s what this movie has the possibility to do.”
It does it in subtle-but-meaningful ways. For instance, a game of mahjongg is crucial to the story. Yet Chu doesn’t explain the game, or even tell the audience who wins, or why. We simply pick it up from the context of the story.
“That was from Jon,” Golding said. “He keeps saying that it’s specificity ... Don’t over-explain things. The audience isn’t dumb. We don’t need to apologize for being different. I think we revel in the fact, in these little cultural tidbits, that sometimes only Asians will get. But when they get it, it’s like, oh my gosh. When you live in that world, everything becomes like a little hint at the cultural
aspect. I think that was definitely Jon’s goal, to make a film that we were unapologetic about, and we were able to celebrate our cultures, both West and East.
By the way, “The Joy Luck Club,” released in 1993, was the last mainstream Hollywood film with an allAsian cast and crew. But distinctions are important.
“A lot of the time people are saying, ‘All-Asian cast’ — you kind of have to be specific about that, a contemporary story told with an all-Asian cast in Hollywood,” Golding said. “You know, Hong Kong has an amazing cinema history. All of Asia has its own personal history. But for a contemporary piece made in Hollywood? It’s never been done, really, apart from 25 years ago. So that’s where it’s bringing this generation’s stories, or relevant stories we can tell now, not from the past or the future — it’s the contemporary stories that lack representation.”
But it’s important, Golding said, that the film plays to a wide audience, especially because of its diversity.
“Because of the vibe that John brings to it, it’s relevant not only for Asians, but for everyone to enjoy,” he said. “Everybody’s had problems with their family. Everybody’s had the pressures of finding the right love, or not loving the right person because other people say so. And it’s hilarious. The comedians, Ken Jeong, Awkwafina, Jimmy O. Yang — everybody brings their Agame. So in that way, it celebrates the fact that we’re Asian, but also we’re unleashing these roles to Asians where in the past we weren’t allowed. We were relegated to the sidelines, to be extra characters. This sort of just revels in it.”