Jon M. Chu Says He Should Have Made Brown Characters ‘More Human’ in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’

Filmmaker Jon M. Chu has addressed criticisms on his treatment of South Asian characters in his 2018 film “Crazy Rich Asians,” which featured an entirely Asian cast.

Better roles: Chu, who has been criticized for casting Brown actors as domestic workers in the hit film, told Insider that he should have made the characters “more human” instead of just being figures in the background.

The director said he “totally gets” the criticism, noting that he only understood the lesson after the movie happened.
While Singapore has a significant Indian population, the film features only a few South Asian characters who are mostly armed guards working for the leading character’s family.
Realizing that “there’s stuff to do to make them more human,” Chu said he could’ve given the characters more dialogue “instead of just, like, these guards.”
Referencing a scene where the South Asian characters were seen near Rachel and Peik Lin, Chu said he could have added a scene from the book that had the guards say a joke.
“I didn’t understand some of the other contexts to that. So hearing it from people, for me, it was a learning experience,” he said.
Chu explained that while he did not highlight their presence, there were South Asian actors present at the party hosted at Nick’s (played by Henry Golding) home.
According to Chu, he “will pay more attention to that stuff” in his future projects, hoping that he “won’t make that mistake again.”

Chu’s latest film, “In The Heights,” made it to the big screen on Friday night with a preview event at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival after nearly a year of delay, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

Featured Image via Vanity Fair (left), The Punisher (right)

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