Finding Henry Golding had been the challenge. Jon M. Chu and the rest of the production team had locked in much of the principal cast of Crazy Rich Asians by the fall of 2016, including Fresh Off the Boat star Constance Wu as the protagonist, Rachel, Awkwafina as Peik Lin (Rachels best friend), and Michelle Yeoh as Eleanor Young, Nicks mother. But they couldnt find the right Nicholas Young, the self-assured, much more of a Harry son of Singaporean scions. He had to be suave and debonair, with a JFK Jr. appeal both relatable and aspirational. There were practical concerns, too: Their Nick needed to nail a British accent, and be telegenically gorgeous, of course.
I was very frustrated because I felt like our casting was lazy in the beginning, says Chu. We werent digging up people Ive never seen. Its a systematic problem: there are the casting directors who are only aware of ten Asian male actors out there that they go to. When you see the same ten people, you dont get to discover new people. Chu broadened the search and put more of their already modest $30 million budget into casting, going global from the West (the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia) to Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, China) and scouting in theater schools, sports teams, modeling agencies, and on YouTube.
Ultimately, it was Chus Asian network that came through: someone knew someone who knew someone. Specifically, one of the accountants on Crazy Rich Asians told their line producer, who was setting up shop in Kuala Lumpur, that she had once seen Golding host an awards event, and that she and her friends were smitten with him. The producer then wrote Chu. I think I blew it off, because I got so many emails from people who have good-looking Asian male friends that are just good-looking Asian men, said Chu. Twenty-four hours later, I just happened to go back to the email and Im looking at his Instagram and he had these charming little videos of him giving tours, talking about food, talking about cats, and it was mesmerizing. Chu emerged from his social-media rabbit hole to discover they had a Facebook friend in common a venture capitalist in California. That friend connected them, Chu had a Skype session with Golding, and then asked him to send him some tapes. When Chu reached out, Golding decided to go for it. He recorded some sides for scenes from Crazy Rich Asians and sent them in, but they were too stiff. He got too serious with his reading, said Chu. We asked him to redo it, and the second video was right on target. Golding remembers, [Jon] was like, You can do this. We see so much of this character in this role for you, that if you bring who you are as a person, were going to nail this. Golding took the 16-hour flight from Singapore, where he lives, to Los Angeles, and did a chemistry read with Wu in front of 17 people, including Chu and the rest of the producers. Then he cut short his honeymoon in South Africa to do another screen test. Were all hanging on this guy, like, Please be able to say lines, remembers Chu. He was able to act. Him and Constance did a little scene together, and there was electricity in the room. It made you want to see the movie.
) but this isn't a racial purity issue. It's more a matter of reinforcing an existing prejudice that's well-known but unacknowledged, and dressing up that prejudice as fake social progress. Again, the closest analogy is that of "colorism" or "hairism" prejudices against black women.
