Brenda Song Claims She Was “Not Asian Enough” For ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Audition

Brenda Song has made a bold claim that she was told her “image was basically not Asian enough” to audition for Crazy Rich Asians. 

The 31-year-old actress, who played London Tipton in Disney Channel‘s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, spoke with Teen Vogue and said that she wanted to audition for the role of Jon M. Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians.

Song explained that she was met with heartbreak from the film’s crew when they declined her audition request, saying, “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 was born to That and Hmong parents, and believed that she fit the role as an Asian American in her mid-to-late 20s, saying to Teen Vogue, “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 in 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?’”

Director of Crazy Rich Asians, Jon M. Chu, responded to her claim on social media, saying, “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!”

He furthered to say, “One of my favourite 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.”

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