interview
New Marvel actor Meng’er Zhang talks about punching Simu Liu’s face
In an exclusive interview, Meng’er Zhang, the Chinese actor who plays Shang-Chi’s sister Xialiang, shared that she didn’t know she was auditioning for “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and ended up punching Simu Liu in the face on set.
Landing the role: Zhang told NextShark she wasn’t aware she was auditioning for a Marvel movie. She sent her self-tapes after seeing the audition call in a group chat.
How Mixed Asian Artist Alex Porat Connects to Her Asian Heritage
Alex Porat, a Chinese-Polish Toronto-based singer, songwriter discussed her dual identity alongside the release of her new single “happy for you.”
The 22-year-old singer celebrates diversity encouraged by her Malaysia-born, Chinese mother and her Polish father. From a young age, Alex was encouraged to be creative. She told NextShark that she would spend her childhood singing karaoke, in a choir, or lining up for TV show auditions.
Meet the Real-Life Hustler Who Inspired Constance Wu’s Character Destiny
When “Hustlers” hit the big screen, all eyes were on Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez. Audiences flocked to cinemas to see the film about the famed crew of female sex workers who devised the notorious scheme to drug and swindle Wall Street big shots out of hundreds of thousands.
It’s a story that centers on sisterhood united by a criminal enterprise. The “modern Robin Hood story,” as dubbed by the Cut, appears far too wild to be true, and yet, it was.
Bruce Lee Once Called Fake Martial Artists ‘Cowards’ in Rare Phone Recording
An old phone call unearthed from 1972 has perfectly captured the timeless passion Bruce Lee had for martial arts.
Uploaded to YouTube back in 2016, Lee can be heard talking to a friend and martial arts student named Dan Lee in the audio clip.
Genius College Students Create a ‘Boba Watch’ App to Track Milk Tea Expenses
A trio of college students developed and designed a program that allows people to track how much they are spending on boba milk tea.
Boba Watch, now available for iOS and Android, emerged from a Facebook group called Subtle Asian Traits (SAT), where it has gone viral and has since then been downloaded thousands of times.
‘Wu Assassins’ Star Lewis Tan is Assassinating Asian Male Stereotypes
Netflix continues to champion Asian representation with “Wu Assassins,” a new supernatural martial arts series that follows a warrior’s search for the powers of an ancient triad to restore balance in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
The show, which drops next week, stars Indonesian actor Iko Uwais (“The Night Comes for Us”), along with Hong Kong American star Byron Mann (“Blood and Water”) and British American actor Lewis Tan (“Into the Badlands”).
After a Freak Accident Destroyed His K-Pop Career, He’s Coming Back Stronger Than Ever
James Lee had his whole career ahead of him as the bassist for a popular Korean pop-rock band when a freak accident left him with a severed hand, making him unable to play the instrument he had dedicated his life to for over a decade.
Four years later, the Korean-American musician is back with a new sound and a new look, ready to hit the road on his Californian tour.
Chloe Bennet is Ready to Give Asian Americans the Representation They Need in Hollywood
Chinese American actress Chloe Bennet, famously known for her portrayal of Daisy “Skye” Johnson on the television series “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” has recently unveiled the trailer for her latest project with Dreamworks Animation.
“Abominable” tells an adorable story of a young Chinese girl named Yi, voiced by Bennet, who discovers a young Yeti on the roof of her Shanghai apartment building and soon embarks on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family.
Rare Bruce Lee Interview Before He Was Famous Unearthed
A very rare interview of the legendary celebrity, Bruce Lee, has recently been released that shows the martial artist before he became world-renowned.
The clip, which was released by the Center for Sacramento History, shows Lee being interviewed by Harry Martin, who is considered to be America’s pioneering celebrity reporter, sometime around 1966, according to South China Morning Post.
Lana Condor Opens Up About Her Struggles With Eating Disorders and Body Image
Lana Condor, star of Netflix’s “To All the Boys I’ve Ever Loved,” graced the cover of ELLE Canada this month and opened up about her past struggles with eating disorders and body dysmorphia.
Go Tell Mom: Asians Working in the Music Industry is More Possible Than Ever
You know the drill: working in the arts, according to your hard-nosed Asian elders, is not a viable career path. You will not make money; you will suffer; you will die broke, wishing you listened to your parents. Right?
Perhaps not. I had the opportunity to interview three musicians of Asian descent. They’re not world-famous mega stars, not exactly rags-to-riches stories you study out of ambition. They’re pretty much just regular people who have, through good old fashioned hard work and unextraordinary patience, found themselves with lasting careers in the arts. They are able to feed themselves consistently through art.
From Boba to K-Pop: Why ‘We Bare Bears’ is So Relatable to Asians
When it comes to entertainment, I believe we’re all subconsciously searching for characters or plot lines we can relate to — something you can watch and say to yourself, “that’s so me.” Whether I was explicitly aware of this or not at the time, I was craving this relatability even as a child. Perhaps this is why I felt a certain level of discomfort towards the live-action sitcoms or romcoms my white friends were so drawn to. And perhaps this is why I always turned to animation and cartoons for comfort instead.
In animation, there were no expectations of characters that resembled myself; after all, what could anyone, regardless of race, possibly have in common with a sponge living in the ocean or a magical dog?