The effort to document the lives of early Hollywood pioneers has gained new momentum. Gemma Chan has confirmed that the screenplay for her upcoming biographical film about Anna May Wong is now complete. The project, which has been in active development since 2022, aims to re-examine the triumphs and systemic hurdles of Hollywood’s first Chinese American movie star.
Chan is working closely with the producer Nina Yang Bongiovi and the production company Working Title Films. The Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang is currently writing the screenplay, adapting Graham Russell Gao Hodges’s detailed 2012 biography, Anna May Wong: From Laundryman’s Daughter to Hollywood Legend.
A Struggle For Identity on the Silver Screen
Wong’s career was defined by a constant battle against the rigid racial classifications of early twentieth-century American cinema. Born Wong Liu Tsong in Los Angeles in 1905, she achieved international fame but spent decades fighting against the stereotypical supporting roles assigned to her by major studio executives.
“She’s an icon. She was a woman ahead of her time. I feel like she never properly got her due,” Chan said when discussing the progress of the film.
Chan noted that the core themes of Wong’s life remain incredibly relevant to modern audiences. The actor explained that Wong spent her entire career wrestling with fundamental questions of belonging and citizenship, constantly asking who has the right to call America home.
To ensure historical accuracy, the production team has hired Wong’s niece, Anna Wong, to serve as a senior consultant on the project. The film will trace Wong’s journey from her family’s laundry business in Los Angeles to her strategic relocation to Europe, where she secured more complex leading roles in films such as Piccadilly and Daughter of the Dragon before returning to star alongside Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express.
The Battle of the Biopics
The development update arrives amid an unusual cinematic convergence. Earlier this year, Fundamental Films announced a separate, competing biographical project titled Sunset Boulevard – The Anna May Wong Story, starring the Venice Film Festival best actress winner Xin Zhilei.
The prospect of two simultaneous productions celebrating the same historical figure has sparked significant discussion on film forums and social media. Many cinema enthusiasts welcome the sudden focus on an actor who was historically denied leading roles, including the coveted lead in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s 1937 adaptation of The Good Earth, which went to a white actor in yellowface.
“Having two films in development is actually a massive win,” one online commenter noted on a popular film forum. “For decades, Hollywood behaved as if there was only room for one Asian story at a time. Now we have two major productions celebrating the exact same pioneer.”
Other users expressed hope that the films will not shy away from the harsh realities of the studio system. Another user wrote: “I hope these projects focus on her resilience. She basically had to flee her own country just to be treated as a human being and an artist.”
For Chan, the project represents a long-term commitment to reshaping historical memory. While the film does not yet have a confirmed production start date, the completion of the screenplay brings the team one step closer to cameras rolling on a story that is long overdue.
