The Cast Of Crazy Rich Asians Talk About The Incredible Response The Movie Received

[Music] welcome to build I'm your host Rihanna Dillon and we are live from London joined by the incredible cast of crazy rich Asian if you have a burning question for them then send us a tweet at build series LDN or you can leave a comment below in the video if you're watching live on Facebook and we will do our very best to get them to this wonderful cast we are joined by Constance Jemma Aquafina thank you so much for joining us today now I know you've done this a lot but can one of you just give me a very quick summary of this amazing film no all right well you don't know what it's about on the line you start you give the beginning and then we'll just go home I cannot do the a story you did the peace story okay do the a spoiler there so are the beasts like this okay oh yes okay well my character is an Asian American woman who goes to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's family for the first time but she doesn't know is that her boyfriend's family is super wealthy and that all the girls they are like want to get their hooks in him you know and so yeah she has sort has to navigate all of that and see if she can still stay with the guy and that's when the zombie apocalypse of E story there is this wealth gap which is also civilized by well I should say my character I play a card called Astrid and she's one of the few people who is welcoming towards Rachel yeah and she's the cousin of Nick your boyfriend and she's got her own marital issues going on she's she's got a and who's quite insecure and and yeah her life is kind of falling apart beneath the surface it gets very emotional yeah it does yeah I've watched the trailer so many times as of the all the audience everything but if you have then we're gonna show it to you right now emotional Jing trailer encapsulate I remember watching the trailer for the first time with my parents I always happened to be at their house and it just brought back all these memories of our experience I just thought the trailer was cut so well and actually watching it with you guys it's so cute this has been like top of the u.s. box office for three weeks already like just shot straight there when you first started working on this were you expecting it to just lift off in the way that it has no I mean I think we all felt it could be something special but you you didn't you never know you don't know what the response is gonna be and I mean I'm I'm so happy that that it's gone down as well as it has I'm relieved as well it means that hopefully Hollywood won't you know believe it another 25 years before they let Asians make a movie do you think that is gonna happen do you think this is right the floodgates are now opening hopefully what we are gonna hear more diverse stories I don't know if it's a floodgate true but in gain it's something there's there's water in what was once a desert I think that's a really nice way of pushing it because I think everyone is getting so excited but I guess there's still a lot of work that needs to be done yeah and it also it's a it's a two-way relationship we provided the product and people showed up you know and then that that's what really like makes me really emotional about the whole thing the success of it yeah and I mean a lot of the conversations have been about how important it is to see Asian representation on screen but then you know for you guys that's a that's a lot of pressure like you say the first film in like 25 years having to almost become a fully seen role model overnight there must be a lot of pressure to deal with well now that you said that yeah pressure can exist I think with obviously it's been 25 years and movie like this is a risk in that way but I think that it needed to happen you know what I mean and in order for more so this is just the first of many you know and and and I don't think I think the tricky thing about representation is that sometimes it can be seen as a trend something that oh well its trendy now but I don't think that's the case with crazier taejun's I think that it's it's here to stay yeah what I loved after seeing films that also had similar conversations like black panther was that you saw an a wrinkle in time you saw little kids seeing themselves he's being represented so constants for you that must have been quite emotional seeing children around well being like oh it'll be like her yeah I mean for me I think representation equals possibility sometimes you have to see someone else to do something before you know it's possible and I know a lot of us who grew up in countries where we're not the dominant culture it means something to see your country get behind a film that values your story that centers your story so yeah I had no idea would have this financial success but I knew it means something to people because I know that if I you know was a kid at this time it would mean something to me yeah my my mom and dad saw the film for the first time last night and I spoke to my mom afterwards and she was in tears and she said you know one of the songs one of the Chinese songs that's on the soundtrack that plays in the beginning I haven't heard that song since my childhood it's a song that her mom used to sing to her I'm not sure which one it was but yeah you know it yeah she was really most about she said she didn't realize until she heard it and you know I guess you don't realize what you're missing until you see it yeah it's amazing the response has been incredible as consul said the box-office success is great but what really meant something is the response of people that we spoken to and yeah how much it means I love that it's not just a little kids as the parents yeah that's really special to kind of transcend all the generations aquafina and can you play father and daughter in this incredible relationship so they were already anticipating how funny is I think I was in a screening where everyone just laughed as soon as your face came on screen that's not an insult everyone just knew they were going to expect what to expect something brilliant so talk me through how you kind of workshopped that relationship there was a lot of improv that went on right well I lived with Ken for about six months no I'm kidding um we you know when I found out Ken was playing my dad I like could not believe it I mean he's he's legendary and he's you know one of the one of the very few out there that are really doing it and I was I was like I was so like fangirl E and then you know we met and to see Ken Jeong work is it's truly magical especially if you're at all involved with comedy it was very difficult to keep it together yeah because he's just he's a machine man he just just like endlessly and yeah he inspires me every day and I'm so glad I was able to play his daughter Nora we there was our first day meeting you know on the first day is set and to see someone like Nora who can just go without saying anything and we credit goes to John Chu for casting us as father and daughter and John told me he's like you guys are going to work magically together and when we got on set it's exactly what happened and we just started improvising from the first take and we would just it was like it's almost like like a jazz improv where there was just a flow never ends impressed junkets it's unbearable the reporters are like okay all right we're gonna go see Connors and Gemma now unbearable non-stop pivoting you have some incredible jackets as well yes my own [Laughter] the sequins everything like the fact that I have no shirt underneath it really is again credit goes to Mary or a costume designer that is all her and for them to you know just work on the fly and have this kind of meruit like let's just get this movie together and everyone again the magic happens when it's organic and there was no like it wasn't like this long-term planning in the sense of just like you're gonna be this you're gonna be that we know everything just kind of came together seamlessly and I'll all I really remember about the the meal scene was that just how just how organic everything was and we were just having fun Kobe beef and it was it was very you know that that's word to me the best comedy comes out of when there's no set agenda and you just want to let him play I mean you mentioned the food there is so much incredible food porn about all their like traditional dishes that you were eating this guy I should really know how to make this know we're many dishes that I want to smuggle back yeah you know we had dumpling making lessons we do I was actually you were pretty good I remember I got quite I was very back after dumping why because I just probably had no passion for this I just wasn't into it you know listen I wanted the chicken rice your carrot wasn't meant to know how to exactly I'll say make burgers that's my character she's good like the crude American what did you do during your downtime because like exploring downtime so conscious didn't have a lot of downs out it was great pretty much the entire movie karaoke yeah we went to a bird park we went to so much food I went to Chili's which is an American chain in Kuala Lumpur still delicious thank you um karaoke they come on karaoke song she I'm sorry I keep selling her out but she loves karaoke this because she's like no no no boy like this girl is on fire girl is out you've got to deliver now the audience waiting for you to deliver garlic what were you thinking though when you're out there like she's paradise is a fave yeah I feel like you wouldn't know all the words to that Texas hardness yeah I think so thank you very much she Ken did hit a piano bar yesterday and actually took over the piano and started to what did you see sang Radiohead Radiohead Coldplay play and it was asked to kindly get off the piano at some point and I bribed the hotel manager just $30 I'll just play three more songs and they were like no Jing your character is like kind of one of the closest that we get to a villain in this that's understood ok with that she she must have been so much fun to play cuz you start off so sweet and then you get like a Viper yeah it was it was sort of trying to find where I fit it into the world with everybody else because everyone like everyone here is so nice to Rachel and obviously coming in having an agenda but not wanting to like shoot that on her immediately it was fun it was just about twisting the knife and also to play the knife twisting scene on my face which I only discovered as we got to set I was like oh great I can't emot-- cuz I'm actually on my face the things that I need for my craft show half I can show half my face this is big thank you so much and we had like real masseuse what they could massage therapist him on us real yeah ok that's nice therapist though I think that's the piece were they real they were real did you not know that they were not they did not work for you it was not getting all they know but they had two mouths chef I thought well you know what that my character was stressed cuz you were you know I was mean stuff I was on my face yeah I was half my face I was on my face too yeah we were both on fair yeah it was an interesting scene to play - yeah convey this plot point with Hinault then we turn over on our back or maybe I do you did really well that like you nailed that slice the scene was was great yeah Asian parents on yourself I could've done that seeking gone so bad if they're just did you know oh I know from before yeah you know guys just constant like we just said you are literally on screen for the majority of this film what was the most challenging role part of this for you like the most challenging saying yeah Oh obviously to be honest the one of the first scenes where Rachel drives in Singapore where they go to like the hawker market and they eat all the food that was challenging simply because like who was really late at night and we had like a limited amount of time to get these shots and there were a lot of like people that were extras but weren't extras they were like actual people who are eating there yeah and um and it was just we're just tired and you have to the food is delicious but when you eat it like several takes in a row it's after a while it's what you get sick of what you feel sweet again again the chicken satay what did you not get sick of sick of no I didn't get sick of it but I definitely got full you know what I mean and that's how it was like it was a hot no it's full there's people that was hard that was hard I feel like crazy rich Asians isn't now joining like the ranks of all these phenomenal rom-coms like ones that I grew up with as well what are your favourite rom-coms of all time while you're asleep II say anything go on we need it When Harry Met Sally my cousin Vinnie Notting Hill I'm just a girl stand in front of a man boy I'm just I'm just a girl's dead in front of him a man boy Ken oh I said say anything that was it I didn't say I wasn't saying that's that's a say do you guys say anything I was saying the film saying but in life you can say anything say anything we have a question from the audience so well I hope we do somebody you put up your hand grab your mic there we go hi there I'm Vinny hello hello I'm a British born Chinese get in represent yeah anyways that's right no my question is to some of you obviously some of your characters are from Singapore I'd like to know if you've had to learn any seis English just to prepare for your character any other traditions or things like that yeah I mean just but you know LA yeah well I I watch a lot of YouTube videos to try to like encapsulate you know like kind of like the slang a little bit and you guys have some like crazy sayings you know well not you guys cuz you're not Singaporeans it's it's an amazing language because it's such a it's such a kind of a melting pot of all these different cultures and it was it's really cool I mean I auntie has taught me a lot of stuff yeah what I loved about the film though was that predominantly the accents you hear in it is British and American and for an all-asian cast that is just so unheard of and I remember like people like Nico in particular who's American and he had to play an English character he was coming up to me in German asking us for how to pronounce things in English and I'm like normally that would be someone you know we'd have to put on a on an accent or an Asian accent and just to be it was just so refreshing to hear those accents and be like that is not what you expect from a movie thank you so much for your question that's a good one and so what makes this stand out from a lot of other rom-coms it's that emphasis on female friendships I think especially between you two you have some really gorgeous moments and you got this and that I was just looking at this thing wasn't what I was expecting actually from a rom-com it is quite rare see that handles so sensitively so why do you think that is well um I think it's because a lot of rom-coms it's like will they or won't they get together how are they but my characters relationship with Nick is pretty solid it's like it's more like how is she going to navigate this new world that she doesn't know and so she has allies like these two and then enemies like her and and then she sort of has a reckoning with Michele Yoos character at the end and I think I think even though it's a rom-com because it's about her Asian American experience it's also about identity so I think that's why I think also you know none of the women in the film need saving which is refreshing yeah I think they all you know they end up kind of saving themselves actually I think they make sacrifices to protect their men yeah because you character men need saving yeah I think that's yeah I think that that's appeal to people and yes and you mentioned working with the legendary Michelle Yeoh there I mean a bit I mean yeah I think she does deserve a run because she's incredible when you're opposite here you have this incredible zuv tension with her does that make you up your game when your opposite someone like her uh well I didn't have tension with her like in real life you know so it's like I I kind of just felt like you know I I treated her like like a professional actor and she definitely was a professional here and it was really fun to kind of spar with somebody who was like really into it yeah oh it was a sweetest person oh you could ever meet yeah very down to earth if you look at her the roles that Michelle Yeoh has taken she you know Crouching Tiger even even the mummy she plays warrior she plays he's strong undefeatable women and when you look at that kind of role model for Asian and Asian women she has never led us down she's a Malia strong and everything she's ever done yeah I hail her no thank you unfortunately that is all we have time for thank you so much for joining us these are Asians is that on the 14th of September Mick Jones Boeing beer stay tuned for a discovery of witches thank you [Music]

Channel: BUILD Series LDN

Views: 112,497

Rating: 4.9341865 out of 5

Keywords: BUILDSeriesLDN, BUILD Series LDN, BUILD UK, BUILD, BUILD LDN, BUILD London, entertainment, live, build speaker series, build series, build london, interview, UK, London, Crazy Rich Asians, Constance Wu, Ken Jeong

Id: ksK-5V0zu48

Length: 21min 13sec (1273 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 05 2018