Interviews
Brooklyn couple receives Marriott Hotel invoice with typewritten anti-Asian slur
- Jamie Chung, 37, and his girlfriend Tierney Oberhammer, 35, received an invoice from the Courtyard by Marriott in York City, Pennsylvania, with an anti-Asian racial slur typewritten on their bill.
- “They’d written the racial slur ‘Ching and Chong’ on it. Pretty bold and brazen,” Chung tells NextShark.
- The couple informed Marriott executives about the incident. While their contact apologized, they were unable or unwilling to answer questions regarding the details of the sensitivity training they claimed to have implemented.
- Marriott has not released a statement regarding the racist incident.
- The couple hopes for the international hotel company to take accountability and understand the culture of racism they uphold when a racist situation is taken lightly.
A Brooklyn couple who checked into a Marriott Hotel in Pennsylvania received an invoice with an anti-Asian slur.
Jamie Chung, 37, and his girlfriend Tierney Oberhammer, 35, stayed the night at the Courtyard by Marriott on Concord Road in the city of York on June 13. Following their stay, they received an invoice through email with an anti-Asian racial slur typewritten on their bill.
He walked so Shang-Chi could run: How James Hong created a space for Asian American actors when there was none
- It is fitting that the multiverse-spanning “Everything Everywhere All At Once” features one of the most ubiquitous actors in Hollywood history — James Hong.
- The sheer multiplicity of roles Hong has played throughout his seven-decade-long career can be attributed to his unyielding resilience and dedication to his craft.Hong also faced racial discrimination throughout the early stages of his career, with one incident costing him a major co-starring role.
- The dearth of major roles for Asian actors burdened Hong and many of his contemporaries, so they created their own in the form of a theater organization.
- At 93 years old, Hong’s acting career is still going strong. Just this year, he has appeared in two of the year's biggest films: “Turning Red” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
It is fitting that the multiverse-spanning “Everything Everywhere All at Once” features one of the most ubiquitous actors in Hollywood history — James Hong.
Even if you have never heard of his name, chances are you will recognize one of his performances, ranging from evil sorcerers to CGI geese in over 650 film and television credits. The sheer multiplicity of roles Hong has played throughout his seven-decade-long career can be attributed to his unyielding resilience and dedication to his craft.
Trailblazing Rolling Stone journalist Ben Fong-Torres says he’s no ‘Asian American role model’
- NextShark sat down with legendary journalist Ben Fong-Torres, who gained worldwide recognition for his work as an early writer for Rolling Stone magazine, to talk about his documentary, “Like a Rolling Stone: the Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres,” which chronicles his career spanning from the ‘60s to today.
- He explains that “it’s not a rock doc, it’s not a Chinese American story,” but a “recollection” of ‘60s protest, referring to the wild decade of rock and roll, fight for civil rights and war.
- The documentary took director Suzanne Joe Kai over ten years of research and compiling footage of past interviews to complete.
- Fong-Torres is heavily credited with shaping and bringing Rolling Stone to the level of prestige it is widely recognized for today, even while he insists he is no Chinese American role model.
Legendary journalist and renowned former Rolling Stone magazine journalist Ben Fong-Torres explains that his new Netflix documentary is “not a rock doc, it’s not a Chinese American story” but rather a “recollection” of 1960s protest.
The ’60s marked a significant period in American history, with President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the civil rights movement, among others. This war-ridden period also saw some of history’s greatest musical talents, with Elvis Presley and the Beatles dominating the charts.
Interview: John Cho ditches the conservative Asian dad archetype in new tearjerker ‘Don’t Make Me Go’
Since his days of playing Harold in the “Harold and Kumar” film series of the early 2000s, the actor has had several “first Asian” titles attached to his name – the first Asian male lead in a Hollywood romance series with “Selfie” (2014) along with the first Asian male lead of a mainstream thriller with “Searching” (2018). It’s possible there’s even more hidden among his 100-plus acting credits.
In Amazon Prime Video’s newly released emotional film, “Don’t Make Me Go,” Cho takes on the role of Max, one-half of the father-daughter duo opposite Mia Issac’s Wally. He takes her on a road trip with the promise of teaching her how to drive once he discovers the headaches he’s been having are due to a terminal illness. It’s a role that the Korean American actor says wasn’t “written Asian,” which is clear when watching his open interactions with Wally on typically taboo topics like love and dating – very much against the strict, conservative archetype of an Asian dad.
‘Everyone’s allowed to love whoever they want’: ‘Boo Bitch’ star Lana Condor addresses her onscreen WMAF relationships
Lana Condor re-enrolls in high school for Netflix’s newly released miniseries “Boo, Bitch.”
The 8-episode comedy series puts a spooky twist on the world of teenage drama Condor previously explored for her breakout role in the “To All The Boys” franchise. In “Boo, Bitch,” her character Erika Vu wakes up one day to find she’s become a ghost who’s still capable of interacting with the world. Realizing she’d spent most of her life unnoticed, with the help of best friend Gia, she decides to spend the rest of her days as someone her peers will remember — but at what cost?
Right person, wrong time: Vince Xu, Kasey Ma show ‘what Asian love is’ on ‘The One That Got Away’
- “The One That Got Away” premiered on June 24 with 10 episodes on Amazon Prime Video.
- The show centers on a social experiment that has six singles dating random people from their past to see if one of their missed connections was the right person at the wrong time.
- Chinese American Twitch Streamer Kasey Ma and lawyer Vince Xu sat down with NextShark to talk about their experience as Asian American contestants on the show.
Twitch streamer Kasey Ma and lawyer Vince Xu sat down with NextShark to talk about their experience as Asian American contestants on the Amazon Prime Video reality dating show “The One that Got Away.”
The new show centers on a social experiment that has six singles date random people from their past to see if one of their missed connections was the right person at the wrong time. For a month, the singles live without their phones, building genuine relationships with the others around them.
Exclusive: Park Hae-soo assures he’s a ‘very pure soul’ despite his villainous onscreen personas
A knowing smile broke out on Park Hae-soo’s face when I spoke about his role in last year’s global sensation “Squid Game.”
“Everyone hated your character after that one heartbreaking episode,” I told him over Zoom.
Don’t call her an icon: Constance Wu shows her range in ‘wildly different’ role on ‘The Terminal List’
- Amazon Prime Video’s new series “The Terminal List,” which is set to be released on July 1, follows the story of former Navy SEAL officer James Reece, portrayed by Chris Pratt, who investigates the circumstances surrounding the ambush of his former platoon during a covert mission.
- The action thriller series also stars “Fresh Off the Boat” star Constance Wu, who portrays Katie Buranek, a war correspondent who pursues high-impact stories on her own terms.
- The 40-year-old actor was compelled to the role of a risk-seeking journalist in “The Terminal List” after seeing an opportunity to challenge her range as an actor.
- The actor, who is known for her roles in “Fresh Off the Boat,” “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Hustlers,” told NextShark her status to some as an icon in Hollywood’s Asian representation leaves her uncomfortable.
“Fresh Off the Boat” star Constance Wu was compelled to challenge her range as an actor with the role of a risk-seeking journalist in the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series “The Terminal List.”
“The Terminal List,” based on the novel of the same name by Jack Carr and directed by Antoine Fuqua and Ellen Kuras, follows the story of former Navy SEAL officer James Reece, portrayed by Chris Pratt, who investigates the circumstances surrounding the ambush of his former platoon during a covert mission.
‘Money Heist: Korea’ cast on the pressures of becoming the iconic characters — and only within months
Berlin. Tokyo. Moscow. Nairobi. Rio. Denver. Helsinki. Oslo.
What might have looked like a bucket list of travel destinations some years ago is now familiar to many as TV’s most sophisticated thieves from Netflix’s hit Spanish series “La Casa Del Papel,” or “Money Heist.”
From Kitchen Stadium to the world: Cast of Netflix’s new ‘Iron Chef’ on how food brings people together
- Netflix’s reboot of “Iron Chef” drops on June 15 with “Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend.”
- The show sees the return of Alton Brown as its host and Mark Dacascos as The Chairman, while franchise newcomer Kristen Kish joins as its co-host.
- Viewers will be introduced to five new Iron Chefs: Ming Tsai, Curtis Stone, Marcus Samuelsson, Gabriela Cámara and Dominique Crenn.
- The show’s format has changed slightly, allowing the challenging chef with the highest score in the season to return and compete against all five iron chefs for a gold knife and the title of Iron Legend.
- Ahead of the show’s premiere, Dacascos, Kish and Tsai spoke with NextShark about what being on a show with such a legacy means to them and how kindness through sharing food is a way to combat anti-Asian hate.
Long before the television cavalcade of culinary competition shows such as “Master Chef,” “Chopped,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “The Great British Bake Off” and so many others, there was “Iron Chef.”
The gladiatorial-style battle series took place in an arena called Kitchen Stadium and saw chefs duking it out in head-to-head matches against the designated “Iron Chefs” with their recipes centered around a secret ingredient.
Michelle Yeoh says hot dog finger scene was ‘most beautiful love story’ in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’
- In an interview with Variety, Michelle Yeoh shared her experiences with filming some of the most bizzare scenes in the wonderfully weird A24 film “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
- Daniel Kwan and Daniel Schienert (known collectively as the Daniels) managed to find ways to keep the action film veteran on her toes with raunchy setpieces.
- “[The Daniels] are really going to fling around dildos in a fight. Going into it, I couldn’t imagine it, but I believed in them and I trusted them,” Yeoh told Variety.
- However, the scene that left the actors with the most bruises was also the film’s most intimate — the hotdog fingers make-out session between alternate universe variants of Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis’ characters.
- The scene was meant to provide a flourish of love and affection in what Yeoh describes as “the most beautiful love story in that universe.”
Michelle Yeoh has shared what it was like to film some of the most bizarre scenes in the wonderfully weird A24 film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Even with Yeoh’s extensive experience with action-packed films, from playing a Bond Girl to starring in many of the most iconic martial arts films, the directing duo behind “Everything Everywhere All at Once” managed to keep her on her toes on set. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Schienert (known collectively as the Daniels) would bring in unapologetically raunchy set pieces, she revealed in an interview with Variety.
San Diego native Mar Velicaria puts a crown on Filipino American culture with their viral Reyna headpiece
- Mar Velicaria is a small business owner and social media influencer that recently went viral for their minimalist and modern Philippine accessories.
- The inspiration for their business, Marharlika, began with the idea of combining traditional and modern aspects of Filipino culture.
- “By creating Marharlika, it really helped give an idea that the popular accessories you see can be combined with heritage, which connect them to their families, culture, and histories. That is incredibly empowering,” Velicaria shared.
- When asked about what advice they would give to those who looked up to them, Velicaria emphasized the need for “[taking] it one step at a time and [going] at your pace.”
Filipino American small business owner Mar Velicaria sat down with NextShark to talk about what their identity and online platform mean to them.
In February, Velicaria went viral on TikTok for their minimalist and modern Philippine accessories, garnering more than 1 million views on their most popular TikTok video.
