Michelle Yeoh cast in 'Crazy Rich Asians' film

Michelle Yeoh has that Singaporean-thing down pat for her role in 'Crazy Rich Asians.'

MICHELLE YEOH has been cast to play Eleonor Young, the status-seeking, manipulative mother of Nick in the upcoming movie version of Crazy Rich Asians.

The Hollywood Reporter announced the casting news in an exclusive late yesterday (March 7). The internationally famous movie star is the second major star named for the all-Asian cast of the adaptation of Kevin Kwan's New York Times best-selling novel, which centers on the lives of wealthy Chinese families living in Singapore. Last week, it was announced that Fresh Off the Boat's Constance Wu would play Rachel Chu.

The storyline follows Rachel Chu (Wu), an American-born Chinese economics professor, who travels to her boyfriend Nick's hometown of Singapore for his best friend's wedding. Before long, his secret is out: Nick is from a family that is ultra-ultra wealthy. He's perhaps the most eligible bachelor in Asia, and every single woman in his ultra-rarefied social class is incredibly jealous of Rachel and wants to bring her down.

Yeoh will play Nick's controlling mother who disapproves of Rachel because of what she believes are Rachel's "common" roots since she was raised by a single mother. For Rachel - Eleanor would be the dreaded mother-in-law from hell.John Chu, the director, has been very careful in casting the upcoming movie and has conducted an international search for the cast of beautiful people. Kwan will serve as executive producer in the Warner Bros. project.

Yeoh, who is Chinese Malaysian, already speaks with a slight British accent favored by the upper-class Singaporeans, so she is perfectly cast as Eleanor. Already an established international star best known for action films made in Asia, she broke into the American market as one of James Bond girls in Tomorrow Never Dies followed by the big martial arts hit, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, where she was able to display her athletic abilities.

She has also been cast in a recurring role as a starship captain in the upcoming TV reboot of the Star Trek franchise.

Still to be announced is who would play the pivotal, third major role of Nick Young, the handsome, desirable, down-to-earth and sexy male lead. It was widely speculated that Chu would pick someone who is better known in the burgeoning Asian market but the requirement that the actor speak English with a British accent may have eliminated many of those actors. The fact that director Chu (and Warner Bros.) have chosen two actresses already established in the American media market seems to indicate that there's still hope for an Asian/American actor to take that plum role that could redefine the much maligned Asian male image.

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TGIF FEATURE: Casting call for 'Crazy Rich Asians'

A LOT is riding on the success of the movie version of Crazy Rich Asians. 

The potential impact of the film that will feature an all-Asian cast goes beyond the diversity issues Hollywood is grappling with although that alone will make it a landmark in the history of movies.

Besides providing a response to the diversity issues brought forth by #OscarsSoWhite and #YellowFacedOut, the movie and the competitive studio bidding war for the rights of the film addressed the economic aspects of the business.

In addition, Warner Bros., which won the rights for the movie and the film's producers are being careful in how they cast the movie.

Based on the novel by Kevin Kwan, Crazy Rich Asians tells the story of three wealthy Chinese families preparing for a big wedding in Singapore. The story spans London, Hong Kong and other locations, but is set mostly in Singapore. Kwan's characters are pan-Asian – Chinese, Korean, Singaporean and amalgams of those nationalities.

Director John Chu told Australia's SNS in an interview that he feels the pressure in casting the film – trying to hew as closely as possible to the ethnicities Kwan portrayed in his book, but also looking for the best possible actors. "We are looking at all these actors and (wonder) are we allowed to cast a Korean actor for a Chinese role? Are we allowed to hire a half-Chinese person for this other role?"

After demanding Hollywood to be more respectful to Asians and Asian Americans, Chu said he now feels a burden to make the most authentic film possible, while also looking for the most talented actors. "There are no rules written" for how to do that, he said.

Chu and his producers said they found that many Asian actors do not have talent representation. So they are on an international tour, with open castings around the world, to cast the film. "That's a lot different than most big studio films," said producer John Penotti.

It is very likely that the roles in the film will make stars out of whomever is cast. Besides the  Hollywood names Americans might be familiar with, actors, models and maybe the guy down the street are eligible to try out for the roles. All you have to do is to send a photo and resume to the email ttcasst@gmail.com.

'Crazy Rich Asians:' Extra effort in casting could break barriers

Director John Chu

REPRINTED FROM ASAM NEWS

IN A WIDE-RANGING and extensive interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Jon Chu of Crazy Rich Asians talked about casting an all-Asian cast and his need to explore his Asian American identity.

“When I was finishing Now You See Me 2, I remember thinking about exploring the Asian/American identity side of my brain. I’ve never fully explored that as an artist. I went to Beijing several times to meet with companies to try to see, like, is there a story out there to explore that side of me?”

His sister had encouraged him to read Crazy Rich Asians. He found it to be a page turner, one he couldn’t put down. He knew right then and there, “he had to do this movie.”

“It’s a movie that speaks to my identity as an Asian and that struggle of figuring out who I am and where I belong, and it deals with what my family went through, what my mom and my dad from mainland China [went through], so all the struggles I’ve experienced are in this book in a fun way, not in some sort of lecturing way.”Now that he has the job as director, one of his tasks will be to finding an all-Asian cast and the all important male lead. He plans to search in the far corners of both Asia and the United States and go way beyond the traditional Hollywood casting call.

“We know that we’ve seen a lot of people who are working right now, we’ve seen a lot of overseas Chinese actors, but who are the people we are missing? Who are the unknowns, the undiscovered, that we need to find? Because there’s no structure for those people, and they haven’t had these kind of roles, so they may not even be represented yet. We’re trying to dig deeper and find that next round.

“A lot of the big agencies don’t necessarily know where to find the big, hunky Asian actor that could be (Crazy Rich Asians' male lead) Nick that has that charming, leading man thing. Maybe they’re in theater and haven’t crossed over yet. Maybe they’re doing commercials and haven’t crossed over yet.”

You can read about the extra time Warner Bros is willing to take to find the right actors, the lobbying effort Chu launched to get the job as director, and the discussions Chu had with Warner Bros. about diversity and Asian representation in the full interview with Chu in Entertainment Weekly.