Fans debate casting of Henry Golding versus Simu Liu in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’
By Bryan Ke
Marvel star Simu Liu has renewed buzz surrounding the 2018 film “Crazy Rich Asians,” with fans now sharing their thoughts on the Henry Golding versus Simu Liu casting debate.
The Twitter discourse began after Liu appeared in an episode of the podcast “How To Fail With Elizabeth Day” on May 18 while promoting his newly released memoir, “We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story.”
The 33-year-old Chinese Canadian actor opened up about how he failed to land a role in the hit 2018 Jon M. Chu movie despite auditioning four times. The role of Nick Young was eventually given to Malaysian British actor Henry Golding.
Several Twitter users argued that Liu being cast as Nick Young would have made more sense.
“What does a malaysian/british actor know ab singapore?” one user wrote. “Most Singaporeans are ethnically Chinese anyway so Simu makes a lot more sense than a half white one but as i said yall LOVE the yts so get into it.”
Another user also pointed out Golding’s ethnicity.
“Seeing a bunch of nonwhite people claim that Simu Liu doesn’t have the right ‘look’ for the role and finding it wild that nobody is connecting this to the fact that Henry Golding is half white,” the Twitter user said. “All they keep saying is ‘look at the material.’ y’all some losers lmao.”
“Lmao, Simu Liu’s not ugly because he doesn’t fit yt people’s beauty standards the way Henry Golding does by being half yt,” another user claimed. “Doesn’t shock me at all that Simu got passed over since Crazy Rich Asians feels like it marketed for yt people to gawk at.”
Meanwhile, several Twitter users defended Golding’s casting, pointing out that “Crazy Rich Asians” is set in Southeast Asia with Southeast Asian characters.
“’Simu Liu was more than qualified’ crazy rich Asians are about SOUTHEAST ASIANS set in SOUTHEAST ASIA. how is the EAST Asian (Simu Liu) more qualified than a SOUTHEAST Asian (Henry) ?? p*ndek,” one Twitter user wrote.
“Henry is half SEA. half Sarawakian. half Iban. guess where Crazy Rich Asians is set? SINGAPORE. A SEA COUNTRY. you should’ve picked a better argument. so yes simu liu doesn’t have the right look. henry very much passes as the men roaming the streets here in malaysia and singapore,” another Twitter user argued.
Regardless of what fans are saying, Liu took to Twitter on Sunday to say that “Crazy Rich Asians” was “PERFECTLY cast just the way it was,” adding that it “paved way for all of us.”
“Most Asian actors/actresses remember auditioning for Crazy Rich Asians. It was so exciting,” Liu wrote. “My experience led to some really meaningful feedback being shared about my work and craft.”
Featured Image via Time (left), Warner Bros. Studios (right)
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