Rejoice! National treasure and Asian-American icon Constance Wu will soon appear on the big screen.
The “Fresh Off the Boat” actress is in talks to star in “Crazy Rich Asians,” an upcoming film based off of Kevin Kwan’s novel of the same name, according to The Hollywood Reporter, who broke the news on Wednesday.
And she sounds just as excited about it as we are.
“Thrilled to be joining the movie #CrazyRichAsians directed by an Asian American Jon M. Chu, written by Asian Americans Kevin Kwan and Adele Lim, starring an Asian American (me!), and featuring a global, all Asian cast!!” she wrote in a Facebook post.
Wu is slated to play Rachel Chu, a Chinese-American economics professor who takes a trip with her boyfriend, Nick Young, to his hometown of Singapore. Things take a turn after Chu finds out that Young, a fellow professor, is actually the heir to a giant fortune. She attempts to prove herself worthy to be his wife.
The film hasn’t officially been greenlighted yet, THR noted, but it’s already on the development fast-track.
It’s fitting that Wu is involved in the project, which features an all-Asian cast, as she’s been outspoken about diversity in Hollywood ― particularly the lack of Asian representation on screen. Last year, the actress broke down how difficult it is for Asians to nab lead roles to the New York Times.
“An Asian person who is competing against white people, for an audience of white people, has to train for that opportunity like it’s the Olympics,” she told the outlet. “An incredibly talented Asian actor might be considered for a leading role maybe once or twice in a lifetime. That’s a highly pressured situation.”
She’s also been vocal about Hollywood’s whitewashing problem. Wu aired her objection to the casting of Scarlett Johansson as the star of Japanese anime franchise “Ghost in the Shell” back in April. And she’s criticized the movie “The Great Wall” as well for featuring a white actor, Matt Damon, as its lead.
“We have to stop perpetuating the racist myth that a only white man can save the world,” she wrote on Twitter. “It’s not based in actual fact.”
Those working on “Crazy Rich Asians” seem to mirror Wu’s passion to lift up members of the Asian community, as well.
Earlier this year, director Jon M. Chu actually opened up casting to individuals across social media in an effort to give opportunities to aspiring Asian actors. People interested in auditioning submitted clips to various platforms with the hashtag #CrazyRichAsians for a chance to be in the movie.
“You may or may not know that [’Crazy Rich Asians’] is the first all-Asian cast from an American Hollywood studio in a long, long time,” Chu said in the contest video. “So it’s a great opportunity to showcase all of the Asian talent out there.”
Now we’re just pumped to see who else joins Queen Constance!
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