Actor Constance Wu, 36, grew up in Virginia, the child of Taiwanese parents, and has been a vocal advocate for better representation of people of colour in Hollywood. In 2016, she criticised the decisions to cast Hollywood superstars Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson in roles that could have gone to Asian actors (Damon as a warrior in China 1,000 years ago; Johansson in a Japanese manga adaptation).
This year, she starred in the hit comedy Crazy Rich Asians, the first major Hollywood studio film for 25 years to feature a majority Asian cast. For Wu, who plays a New York University economist whose boyfriend is heir to one of Singapore’s biggest fortunes, blazing a trail was not new. She also stars in the hit US TV sitcom Fresh off the Boat, which recently became the first Asian-American network show to be renewed for five seasons.
The director of Crazy Rich Asians, Jon M Chu, described it as “more than a movie, it’s a movement”. Why was so much riding on the film?