'Crazy Rich Asians' Director Responds to Brenda Song's Claim That She Was 'Not Asian Enough' to Audition

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“Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu responded and apologized to actress Brenda Song after she said that she was unable to audition for the romantic comedy because she was “not Asian enough.”

Song did an interview with Teen Vogue addressing an observation from fans that she was the “original Crazy Rich Asian” when she played the wealthy character London on the Disney Channel’s “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.” She told the magazine that she never got to read for the part and was informed by her managers that she wasn’t right for a role in the film.

“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,” she said. “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? You’re going to fault me for having worked my whole life?’ I was like, ‘Where do I fit?'”

Also Read: 'Crazy Rich Asians' Actor Ronny Chieng Sets First-Ever Netflix Standup Comedy Special

Chu said in response that he feels awful if Song ever got that impression.

“Would these words ever come out of my mouth? Nope makes no sense,” he said in a tweet on Wednesday. “I feel horrible she thinks this is the reason. The fact is I love Brenda Song and am a fan. I didn’t need her to audition because I already knew who she was!”

“Crazy Rich Asians” had a worldwide talent search, and the director also resurfaced an article saying how proud he was of the process.

Also Read: 'Crazy Rich Asians'-Inspired, Multigenerational Family Docuseries 'The Ho's' Ordered at HBO Max

“One of my favorite memories of making #CrazyRichAsians was when we opened the auditions to anyone in the world with our open call. We watched hundreds & hundreds of videos from very talented people from all around the world. Made us tear up many times,” Chu said.

Check out Song’s interview here and Chu’s tweets below.

????????‍♂️would these words ever come out of my mouth? Nope makes no sense. I feel horrible she thinks this is the reason. The fact is I love Brenda Song and am a fan. I didn’t need her to audition because I already knew who she was!

— Jon M. Chu (@jonmchu) November 20, 2019

One of my favorite memories of making #CrazyRichAsians was when we opened the auditions to anyone in the world with our open call. We watched hundreds &hundreds of videos from very talented people from all around the world. Made us tear up many times. https://t.co/G5e64q0zmf

— Jon M. Chu (@jonmchu) November 21, 2019

16 White Actors Miscast in Nonwhite Roles, From Mickey Rooney to Emma Stone (Photos)

Katharine Hepburn in "Dragon Seed" (1944)
Caucasian Hepburn played a Chinese woman in this big-screen adaptation of the Pearl S. Buck novel.
MGM
Marlon Brando in "The Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956)
Brando starred as an Okinawan translator for the U.S. Army in this comedy about the American occupation of the island nation.
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John Wayne in "Conquerer" (1956)
Wayne was cast as Mongol conquerer Genghis Khan in what's considered by many to be one of the worst films of all time.
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Charlton Heston in "Touch of Evil" (1958)
Heston starred as Ramon Miguel Vargas in the 1958 crime film, a Mexican narcotics officer.
Universal
Mickey Rooney in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961)
More caricature than character, Rooney starred as the buck-toothed, Japanese Mr. Yunioshi in the 1961 film, which has faced volumes of criticism since.
Paramount Pictures
Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" (1961)
Wood plays a Puerto Rican teenager in the 1961 musical film, although she was Russian-American in real life.
United Artists
Laurence Olivier in "Othello" (1965)
Not only did the white actor play a Moor in 1965's "Othello," he did so while wearing blackface.
Warner Bros.
Al Pacino in "Scarface" (1983)
Pacino plays a Cuban gangster in the 1983 film, and many criticized his over-the-top accent as offensive.
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Anthony Hopkins in "Mask of Zorro" (1998)
Welsh actor Hopkins starred as the Spanish Zorro, a.k.a. Don Diego de la Vega, in the 1998 film.
Tristar
Rob Schneider in "50 First Dates" (2004)
Schneider seems to play a different ethnicity in every Adam Sandler movie. In "The Waterboy" he was the "You can do it!" guy, in "Big Daddy," he was a Middle-Eastern deliveryman, and in "50 First Dates," he plays a native Hawaiian. Badly.
Columbia Pictures
Mike Myers in "The Love Guru" (2008)
Myers played an Indian-American guru in the roundly panned movie, in which he dressed up a lot of racist jokes in a terrible accent.

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Every character from "21" (2008)
The movie follows a group of math students who come up with a card counting strategy to win big in Vegas. While the movie had a predominantly white cast, the real life MIT students were all Asian-American.
Sony
Jake Gyllenhaal in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" (2010)
Gyllenhaal plays a Middle-Eastern prince in the film, which many called "insulting" and "the perfect example of whitewashing."

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Johnny Depp in "Lone Ranger" (2013)
Like Mara, Johnny Depp played a Native American in Disney's film, which sparked outrage among fans and critics despite the actor's claims that his great-grandmother had mostly Cherokee blood.

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Disney
Rooney Mara in "Pan" (2015)
Mara was cast as Tiger Lily, a Native American, in the 2015 film based on the Peter Pan story.

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Warner Bros.
Emma Stone in "Aloha" (2015)
Stone played a Chinese/Swedish/Hawaiian woman in this critically and commercially disappointing Cameron Crowe romantic comedy.

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Sony