H.E.R to star in live-action 'Beauty and the Beast' musical

Filipino American recording artist  H.E.R. will play the role of Belle in 'Beauty and the Beast.'

With her mixed racial heritage, Black and Filipino American, H.E.R. will break barriers as the next Disney princess.

Five-time GRAMMY® and Academy Award®-winning singer-songwriter H.E.R. can now add Disney princess to her expanding resume as she transforms into Belle for ABC’s upcoming animated and live-action blended special, “Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration.”

“I can’t believe I get to be a part of the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ legacy. The world will see a Black and Filipino Belle!” said H.E.R. “I have always wanted to be a Disney princess, and I get to work with two wonderful directors Hamish Hamilton and my favorite, Jon M. Chu. It is very surreal and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

The acclaimed R&B singer. also known as Gabriella Sarmiento, will lead audiences through the world of Belle with never-before-seen musical performances celebrating and paying homage to the beloved tale. 

As previously announced, Jon M. Chu will executive produce the special, with Hamish Hamilton set to direct. H.E.R.’s casting marks the first time an Afro Filipina woman will play the role of Belle on screens. The rest of the talented cast, whose performances will be seamlessly woven through the original feature film, will be announced at a later date.

“With her obvious extraordinary talent and stage presence, H.E.R. is the perfect embodiment of our Belle and we are thrilled for audiences to see her in this celebration of creativity,” says Chu, who directed the ground-breaking Crazy Rich Asians motion picture. “We were both influenced as storytellers by the original animated movie, so it’s very exciting to collaborate together to honor the artistry of that timeless classic while also inspiring a whole new generation of creators.”

In just under four years, H.E.R. has proven herself as a versatile force, earning 20 GRAMMY® Award nominations and four wins, plus Academy Award®, Golden Globe® Award and Critics Choice Award nominations for her powerful song, “Fight For You,” from “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Next year, she will make her acting debut in the Warner Bros. adaptation of the Tony® Award-winning Broadway musical “The Color Purple.”

H.E.R. released her debut album, “Back of My Mind,” in June 2021 and won the Song of the Year GRAMMY Award for “I Can’t Breathe.” To date, H.E.R. has amassed nearly 6 billion combined audio and streams worldwide – and counting – of the breakthrough projects H.E.R. (RIAA-certified platinum), and “I Used to Know Her,” and several hit singles.

Over the years, H.E.R. has captivated audiences with countless stellar performances including The Super Bowl LV, “72nd Emmy® Awards,” “The GRAMMY Awards,” “Saturday Night Live,” ABC’s “Soul of a Nation,” “Let’s Go Crazy: The GRAMMY Salute to Prince,” A BET COVI-19 Relief Effort Special and “Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020”; plus, all the morning and late-night television shows.

This year, 2022, marks the 30th anniversary of when Disney Animation’s “Beauty and the Beast” became the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. The film went on to win the Golden Globe® Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, while the theme song “Beauty and the Beast” won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1992.

Disney's animated version of 'Beauty and the Beast" was nominated for Best Picture.

The special presentation includes live never-before-seen musical performances and features brand-new sets and breathtaking costumes inspired by the classic story. Each performance is created to pay homage while also adding to the iconic story for viewers at home. Songs from the original animated classic will be performed in front of a live audience at Disney Studios.

“Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration” is produced by Done+Dusted in association with Walt Disney Television Alternative and Electric Somewhere. Executive producers are Jon M. Chu, Caitlin Foito, Hamish Hamilton, Raj Kapoor, Richard Kraft and Katy Mullan. Hamish Hamilton will serve as director. H.E.R. serves as a producer.

Presented by The Wonderful World of Disney, the two-hour reimagining of the classic story will be taped in front of a live audience at Disney Studios and will air Thursday, Ded. 15 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EST), on ABC and on Disney+ the next day.

“‘Beauty and the Beast’ was always a game-changing cinematic experience for me,” said executive producer Chu. “When the animated movie came out, I watched it multiple times in the first weekend. It showed me the outer limits of what animated artists and storytellers could achieve, so the fact that I get to executive produce a tribute to all the creatives that made this masterpiece through our Electric Somewhere company is a dream I didn’t even think was possible. 

"With world-class creatives and talent to reinterpret the classic musical numbers (with a few surprises), I can’t wait for the audiences, in person and at home, to experience what we have in store for them. It’s a true celebration of creativity.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

The new 'Quantum Leap' dares to star an Asian American male lead

Raymond Lee plays Dr. Ben Song in 'Quantum Leap.'

Fans of the original Quantum Leap adventure series won't recognize the 2023 reboot. The time-traveling accelerator is still the launching pad for stories, but instead of Scott Bacula, it will star Raymond Lee as the brilliant quantum physicist Dr. Ben Song.

Lee's starring role is a quantum leap for Asian American male actor. The handful of   shows currently airing on television featuring Asian American leads are led by women. Lee's Quantum Leap is the only one with an Asian American male topping the call sheet this season.

At first, Lee, who is Korean American, couldn't believe he landed the Ben Song role. "I couldn't understand," he says, "because it seemed like they were interested in having me as the lead for their show. I thought, 'This has to be a typo.'

"It was one of those moments as an actor where you read the script and you go, 'I can do this!'" he says. "This is something I've worked for. I've had some great number ones [on the call sheet] who I've looked up to. I've watched and learned and absorbed. Now it's time to put it all to use."

FYI: Quantum Leap premieres September 19, 10 p.m. on NBC

The original Quantum leap, which ran for four seasons, went off the air in 1993. The new storyline picks up 30 years later after Bakula's Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now, a new team, led by physicist Ben Song, has been assembled to restart the project in hope of understanding the mysteries behind the time machine and the man who created it. 

Everything changes, however, when Ben makes an unauthorized leap into the past, leaving the team behind to solve the mystery of why he did it. Included on his team is computer whiz Jenn Chou, as portrayed by Nanrisa Lee.

Historically, Hollywood has relegated Asian men to secondary roles at best, or roles that play up the stereotypes at worst. Casting an Asian male into the lead role is stepping into a rare realm as far as leading men go. The immense popularity (and probably more important - box office success) of 2018's Crazy Rich Asians has helped shift that paradigm but old biases are hard to break down.

Only Young Rock, which features three Pacific Islander actors playing Hollywood's most profitable actor Dwayne "Rock" Johnson in various stages of his career, has dared to break the mold based on old Hollywood biases that an AANHPI male cannot carry a show or be attractive to the opposite sex.

Lee is not a newbie. He's paid his dues. He can also be seen on the AMC series “Kevin Can F*** Himself,” which began its second season August 22. Previously, he was a series regular on Alan Ball’s HBO series “Here and Now.” Additional recurring roles include the HBO Max series “Made for Love,” Fox’s “Prodigal Son,” Amazon’s “Mozart in the Jungle” and ABC’s “Scandal.”

Ironically, one of the roles he had early in his career was the 2013 "The Leading Man," starring Jack Yang. It was about a Chinese American actor who got fired from a show he was starring in.

"I love going beyond people's expectations of what someone who looks like me can do, and this is no different," he states. "It's just another challenge that I'll gladly go into headfirst.

"The more of us who are out there, the easier it is for kids growing up to see themselves in these parts," he adds. "I've considered my background, my appearance and my race to be a superpower my whole life."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

'Squid Game' making history in 74th Emmy Awards

The Korean series 'Squid Game' and lead actor Lee Jung-Jae have been nominated for Emmy's

The Emmy nominations for the 2021 season produced some good news and bad news along the diversity front.

The bad news: This year there are fewer Latino and Black nominees in the high-profile acting categories.

The good news: There are nine Asian or Asian American acting category nominees; an  increase from last year. 

Altogether, there were 25 non-white nominees among the acting categories this year, a precipitous drop from 41 non-white nominees last year despite a noticeable increase in productions featuring actors, writers and directors of color.

Four of the acting nominations went to actors in the series Squid Games. The Korean dystopian drama garnered 14 nominations.

Amazingly, the American epic Pachinko with its predominantly Asian and Asian American cast was totally shut out despite its more serious tone, theme and more demanding acting roles.

FYI: For a complete list of the Emmy nominees, click here.

The Asian and AAPI Emmy nominees are:

Outstanding Drama Series: Squid Game

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Lee Jung-Jae (Squid Game) 

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Sandra Oh (Killing Eve)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Park Hae-soo and O Yeung-su (Squid Game)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: HoYeon Jung (Squid Game)

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series: Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) and Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso)

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama: Lee You-mi, (Squid Game)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie: Himesh Patel, (Station Eleven)

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program: Padma Lakshmi (Top Chef) and Tan France (Queer Eye)

Outstanding Director in a Drama Series: Wang Dong-hyuk (Squid Game); Karyn Kusama (Yellow Jackets); Cathy Yang, (Succession); and Hiro Murai,(Station 11)

Outstanding Director in a Comedy Series: Hiro Murai (Atlanta)

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special: Ali Wong (Ali Wong: Don Wong)

The Korean series, Squid Game, is making history. It is the first non-English speaking production to be nominated for an Emmy in any category.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Vietnamese American in runoff for Georgia Secretary of State

TWITTER / BEE NGUYEN

Bee Nguyen, candidate for Georgia Secretary of State, thanks her supporters on election night.

An Asian American rising star in Georgia politics won a runoff position after winning 44% of the primary vote last May 24.

Bee Nguyen won less than the 50% needed for an outright victory, but she garnered the most votes among Democrats running for Secretary of State. She will run off against the second-runner up, former state Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler who won 19% of the Democrats' votes.

The winner of the Democrats' run-off on June 21 will face Republican incumbent Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Libertarian Ted Metz in the November general election.

A day after the primary, Nguyen garnered a key endorsement that pretty much wraps up the  support  of the Democratic mainstream.

“When Bee was elected to my former House seat, I knew my constituents would be well represented. Now, her record of advocacy and public service for Georgia voters speaks for itself,” said Stacey Abrams, who won her own primary election for governor. She will face off against incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

Nguyen,40, is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees. She grew up in Augusta, Georgia and graduated from a Georgia public high school.

After she moved to Atlanta to attend Georgia State University, she started a local nonprofit to educate and empower young women. She spent a decade in Georgia public high schools, where she learned how to organize with her community and demand change for her students.

Nguyen made history when she was elected as the first Asian American Democratic woman to the Georgia General Assembly in House District 89, the seat formerly held by Abrams. At the Georgia State Capitol, Nguyen  is a leading advocate for voting rights, public education, and criminal justice reform.

Nguyen's victory for Abram's seat in a runoff made her the first Asian American woman in the Georgia General Assembly. But Nguyen grabbed the national spotlight in December 2020 when a video of her methodical and public takedown of election fraud claims by Trump allies went viral.

In its endorsement of Nguen, the AAPI Victory Fund stated:

"At a time when democracy itself is under attack, there can be no more important priority than to ensure that every vote counts and that the people in charge of counting the votes do so with integrity. In this year’s midterm elections, our focus must be on critical Secretary of State races, especially in Georgia where a Republican governor has made clear his intention to limit access to the ballot as part of a craven attempt to win his own re-election.

“Representative Nguyen gained invaluable mentorship experience through a local non-profit she founded to educate and empower young women and, over the decade she spent in the Georgia public school system, knows firsthand the best practices to organize and spark change for her community. Throughout her career, Representative Nguyen has been a leading advocate for voting rights, public education and criminal justice reform. By the end of her first term on the Georgia General Assembly, Representative Nguyen successfully overturned the “exact match” voter registration law, which subsequently restored the right to vote for over 53,000 voters impacted by the restrictive voting policy. Georgia deserves a champion for democracy and ... will position the state of Georgia as a leader in our country for voting rights."

As Secretary of State, the winner will oversee Georgia's elections in the 2024 Presidential race. Georgia's votes were embroiled in controversy as Donald Trump tried to get Raffensperger to overturn the state's votes, which went to eventual winner Joe Biden, the first time the state voted for a Democrat in 30 years.

In the aftermath of Democratic victory, the Republican-controlled legislature passed sweeping changes to voting rules — actions that Nguyen and other critics say are aimed at dampening the record turnout from 2020 that helped turn Georgia blue.

"This race is about defending the freedom to vote," Nguyen said during a campaign stop. "It is about protecting the future of our democracy."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.