The director of Crazy Rich Asians has denied former Disney star Brenda Song’s claim she was overlooked for the film because she was not “Asian enough”.
The romantic comedy which featured a predominantly Asian cast was a smash hit last year, which starred the likes of Constance Wu, Gemma Chan, Henry Golding and Michelle Yeoh. It was praised for being the first high profile Hollywood production to feature a majority Asian cast since 1993’s The Joy Luck Club.
However, The Social Network star who is of Thai descent, said she tried to get an audition but missed out because of her appearance.
The 31-year-old told Teen Vogue: “Their reasoning behind that, what they said was that my image was basically not Asian enough, in not so many words. It broke my heart.
“I said, ‘This character is in her late to mid-20s, an Asian American, and I can’t even audition for it? I’ve auditioned for Caucasian roles my entire career, but this specific role, you’re not going to let me do it?”
Song, known for TV roles including The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, added: “You’re going to fault me for having worked my whole life?’ I was like, ‘Where do I fit?'”
After the interview was published, her comments came to the attention of Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu who said he was a “fan of hers” and denied barring Song from auditioning. He responded to two tweets regarding her comments, saying, “I love @BrendaSong and that sucks if anything of that nature was every communicated. It’s gross actually.”
“The fact is, obviously I know who she is and didn’t need her to audition. I’m a fan of hers! Nothing more nothing less. Bums me out she thought it was anything but,” he continued.
Chu also responded directly to an article about Song’s comments, asking, “Would these words ever come out of my mouth? Nope makes no sense. I feel horrible she thinks this is the reason.”
Crazy Rich Asians was adapted from the popular Kevin Kwan novel series of the same name and surpassed expectations at the box office, grossing $238 million (£184 million) worldwide. A sequel is in development.
Additional reporting by Press Association.
