When she’s not playing a fierce and hilarious Tiger Mom on Fresh Off The Boat, Constance Wu has been an eloquent voice promoting diversity in Hollywood. Whether she’s taking the creators of The Great Wall to task over apparently pushing a white savior narrative instead of promoting Asian heroes or criticizing the Academy Awards for Casey Affleck’s nomination, Wu is making a name for herself as a progressive champion for racial visibility in Hollywood. She is also about to make the leap to the big screen, as The Hollywood Reporter announced that she’ll be starring in the new film, Crazy Rich Asians.
Based on the New York Times best-selling novel, Crazy Rich Asians will feature an entirely Asian cast led by Wu. According to THR,
“It follows Rachel Chu (Wu), an American-born Chinese economics professor, who travels to her boyfriend Nick’s hometown of Singapore for his best friend’s wedding. Before long, his secret is out: Nick is from a family that is impossibly wealthy, he’s perhaps the most eligible bachelor in Asia and every single woman in his ultra-rarefied social class is incredibly jealous of Rachel and wants to bring her down.”
The romantic comedy genre has taken a bit of a hit lately, but Crazy Rich Asians sounds like it could be a sharp and funny romp, so here’s hoping it gets the fast track to the big screen. Peter Chiarelli (The Proposal) and Adele Lim (TV series Lethal Weapon) penned the screenplay, so there’s certainly a romcom pedigree. Asian representation is particularly dismal in Hollywood, so here’s hoping this is merely the first of many projects to foster underutilized talent.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
