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Jenny Han on casting Asians for Asian roles in ‘To All The Boys I've Loved Before’
In the upcoming "Hellboy" remake, Ed Skrein is out and Daniel Dae Kim might be in as the character Daimio. Skrein turned the role down after hearing some criticism from his fans that he is not Japanese, let alone Asian.
Novelist Jenny Han wouldn't even consider giving her approval to the big screen adaptation of "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" if the part of Korean-American lead character Lara Jean Covey went to a non-Asian actress.
"That for me was a dealbreaker," Han told GMA News' Lyn Ching in an interview on Wednesday, referring to whitewashing.
Han says she's absolutely fond of the Asian-American actresses who were cast in the lead roles, Lana Condor and Janel Parrish.
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"I think that the climate has changed a lot in the last year even," she continued, adding that producers didn't really give much thought to race before. "People didn't think it was a big deal."
The world has come a long way from the days of acceptable yellowface (think Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi from "Breakfast at Tiffany's), but Asian roles going to Caucasians is still a sore topic.
In "Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism", published in 2016, Nancy Wang Yuen quoted a casting director saying:
I work with a lot of different people, and Asians are a challenge to cast because most casting directors feel as though they’re not very expressive.
They’re very shut down in their emotions … If it’s a look thing for business where they come in they’re at a computer or if they’re like a scientist or something like that, they’ll do that; but if it’s something were they really have to act and get some kind of performance out of, it’s a challenge.
The quote made it to Paste Magazine and fueled the #ExpressiveAsians hashtag.
For Han, the question of diversity doesn't end with being represented and having Asian issues in stories. Producers are likely to question the inclusion of Asian characters in the movie if "being Asian" is not part of the plot and Han asserted that race is part of a character's identity, but it is not the whole identity.
"If you read the book, it's not a big part of the story line, it's not related to the plot... which is to say it's not a story about how Lara Jean feels, like she's struggling with her identity, fighting with her parents because...you know whatever. It's not about that," she explained.
Asian is not shorthand for Tiger Mom and repressive upbringing, folks.
"To All The Boys I've Loved Before" is slated for a 2018 release.
Han is currently in the Philippines for book signing events with longtime friend and fellow novelist Siobhan Vivian. The pair will be at SM Cebu (September 15) and SM Megamall (September 16) for book signing events before joining the Manila International Book Fair to meet fans (September 17).
Visit the official Facebook event page for more details. — LA, GMA News
