“That’s a lesson that I did not understand until it happened"
Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M Chu has said he should have made the South Asian roles “more human.”
Whilst the 2018 Asian-led film was highly praised for its diverse representation, South Asian characters were limited to minor roles such as servants or guards.
In an interview with Insider, Chu addressed the criticism, which has been highlighted since the film’s release.
“That’s a lesson that I did not understand until it happened,” Chu said. “I was like, ‘This is a book that exists and I’m making this book into a movie.’ I can’t add a new character into this book.”
In one scene, Constance Wu and Awkwafina’s characters are trying to find the big party as their car is surrounded by armed guards.
“Looking back, I should have had a joke there [for the guards] being like, ‘These idiots’ [about the girls],” the director said about the scene. “There’s stuff to do to make them more human instead of just like these guards.”
Chu also addressed the climatic wedding scene towards the end of the film in which South Asian characters were not particularly visable.
“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. “They’re just sort of there. I don’t give them the space to be there.”
In other news, Crazy Rich Asians star Gemma Chan has been forced to remove her podcast Hold Still, Vincent after complaints from the victim’s family.