John M. Chu “feels horrible” Brenda Song thought her image wasn’t “Asian enough” to audition for “Crazy Rich Asians.”
The director, 40, tweeted a response to the former Disney Channel star’s comments, in which she claimed she asked her management team to get her an audition for the rom-com but they came back and said it wasn’t the right fit.
“Their reasoning behind that, what they said was that my image was basically not Asian enough, in not so many words. It broke my heart,” Song, 31, told Teen Vogue in a new interview. “I said, ‘This character is in her late to mid-20s, an Asian American, and I can’t even audition for it? I’ve auditioned for Caucasian roles my entire career, but this specific role, you’re not going to let me do it? You’re going to fault me for having worked my whole life?’ I was like, ‘Where do I fit?'”
Upon reading Song’s comments, Chu denied those were his feelings about having her audition.
“🤷🏻♂️would these words ever come out of my mouth? Nope makes no sense. I feel horrible she thinks this is the reason,” Chu wrote. “The fact is I love Brenda Song and am a fan. I didn’t need her to audition because I already knew who she was!”
Song has yet to respond to Chu’s tweet.
Constance Wu and Henry Golding ended up starring in “Crazy Rich Asians” alongside Awkwafina.