Anna May Wong will become the first Asian American to be on U.S. currency
The Joy Luck Club Is Getting a Sequel From Amy Tan
“Almost half of all Asian roles serve as a punchline, study finds.”
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Explore new shows to binge, videos to keep you on the edge of your seat, and Asian celebs to stan. If that’s not enough, there are also job listings for the entertainment industry & open casting calls just a scroll down.
🏆 The Headlines
Anna May Wong will become the first Asian American to be on U.S. currency — The U.S. Mint will begin shipping coins featuring actress Anna May Wong on Monday, the first U.S. currency to feature an Asian American.
The U.S. Mint will begin shipping coins featuring actress Anna May Wong on Monday, the first U.S. currency to feature an Asian American.
Dubbed Hollywood's first Asian American movie star, Wong championed the need for more representation and less stereotypical roles for Asian Americans on screen. Wong, who died in 1961, struggled to land roles in Hollywood in the early 20th century, a time of "yellowface," when white people wore makeup and clothes to take on Asian roles, and anti-miscegenation laws, which criminalized interracial relationships.
The roles she did land were laced with racial stereotypes and she was underpaid, earning $6,000 for her top billed role in Daughter of the Dragon compared to Warner Oland's $12,000, who only appeared in the first 23 minutes of the film. For Shanghai Express, Wong earned $6,000 while Marlene Dietrich made $78,166.
After experiencing this racist treatment in Hollywood, Wong moved to Europe and starred in English, French and German films. She told the Los Angeles Times in a 1933 interview that she was tired of the roles she had to play in Hollywood.
"Why is it that the screen Chinese is nearly always the villain of the piece, and so cruel a villain — murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass," she told the newspaper. "We are not like that."
Wong's career spanned 60 films — many in the silent era — and she earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
The Joy Luck Club Is Getting a Sequel From Amy Tan — Wayne Wang’s sweeping 1993 drama The Joy Luck Club is getting a sequel film.
Wayne Wang’s sweeping 1993 drama The Joy Luck Club is getting a sequel film.
Variety reports that Amy Tan, who wrote the original 1989 novel, has signed on alongside the first screenplay’s co-writer, Ronald Bass. The original film followed four first-generation Chinese American friends and the stories of their mothers, and the sequel will revisit the characters in the present day when they have had children of their own.
In Joy Luck Club 2, “the mothers become grandmothers and the daughters become mothers in their own right, introducing a new generation exploring their own relationships with culture, heritage, love, womanhood, and identity.”
The original cast is in talks to return to their roles, and as Variety points out, the expansion of their characters’ families will lead to a number of acting opportunities for Asian American actors.
‘38 at the Garden’ Tells the Powerful Story of Jeremy Lin and How He Not Only Transcended the Game, but Inspired the World —
It’s February 10, 2012, and filmmaker Frank Chi is leaving Washington, DC on a train headed to Madison Square Garden in hopes of scoring tickets to a Friday night New York Knicks game against the Los Angeles Lakers. But this wasn’t just any game. After standout performances against the Nets, Wizards, and Jazz, Linsanity was coming to a head and the late-Kobe Bryant was coming to the Mecca.
Everyone knew it was a big game, even the scalpers. The cheapest tickets available were going for $700. Chi decided he’d watch the game at a karaoke bar instead in the neighboring Koreatown, surrounded by people who looked just like him. And together, they all witnessed one of their own, Jeremy Lin, an undrafted Asian American point guard that went from Harvard to the NBA, drop 38 points on the Lakers in an electric 92-85 victory.
“Looking back at that experience, I don’t think I would have traded it for actually being at the Garden, if I’m being totally honest with you,” Chi says over Zoom. “I [was] surrounded by people who look like me, maybe a little older. Jeremy played out of his mind the whole game so we had two hours of people just losing it. People are crying, they’re running around, they’re screaming. It’s unbelievable.I’m doing all of these things too, but I’m like what is this? Is this a cathartic reaction to seeing [someone] break the stereotypes we all deal with?”
A decade later, things have now come full circle for Chi, who is the director of 38 At The Garden that captures Lin’s incredible run in 2012 while playing on the Knicks. The film is a Mr. Fahrenheit and GTG Entertainment production and was spearheaded by GTG Entertainment Group’s founder Samir Hernandez, who produced the documentary alongside Academy-Award winner Travon Free.
🎬 Industry Insider
‘House of the Dragon’ Writer and EP Sara Hess Renews HBO Overall Deal (Variety)
Simu Liu To Headline ‘Seven Wonders’ Series Adaptation In Works At Prime Video; Justin Lin To Direct (Deadline)
Warner Bros. Television Promotes Parul Agrawal to Head of Drama (Variety)
🗄 Industry Job Board
Manager, Live Ops Analytics | Activision
Compensation Analyst, Total Rewards | SiriusXM
CNN Network Booking Intern - Spring 2023 | Warner Bros. Discovery
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👋, Lea @ Crushing the Myth