Hollywood movie Crazy Rich Asians is earning rave reviews and enthralling cine-goers after it opened in the United States on August 15. The romantic comedy is being hailed as a game-changer that has opened the floodgates for more Asian representation in Hollywood. Meanwhile, Constance Wu, who plays the lead role, revealed where the heart of the story lies.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly (EW), Constance Wu, who plays the protagonist Rachel in the movie, said, "For me, what this movie really is at its heart, in every single part of it, is about quiet sacrifices that women make to protect the men they love."
A key scene from the movie takes place between Wu and Michelle Yeo's characters during a game of Mahjong (a nod to the 1993 American drama 'The Joy Luck Club' which also featured an all-Asian cast).
Yeoh plays Eleanor, the mother of Rachel's boyfriend Nick, who dislikes her because she is not from an affluent background. Despite her steely resistance to Rachel, the latter succeeds in explaining to her why they are more alike as women and not opposed to each other.
Wu adds, "At the end, it's Eleanor realising that even though she and Rachel are from different countries, continents, and upbringings, they both have made sacrifices to protect the men they love, and I think that garners a type of respect that transcends wealth and background."
In the end, Eleanor realises that her aim is the same as Rachel's, which is to make sure Nick, played by Henry Golding, is happy. Though Rachel decides to leave Nick forever, she is convinced to take him back into his life after he proposes to her again with his mother's engagement ring. She realises it was a gift to her from Eleanor.
Constance Wu reveals she did not want the movie to be another romantic comedy. Instead, she says, "It had to be rooted in something that was deeply important.... I think if you really think about it thematically, Nick and Rachel's love pretty much stays the same the whole time; their dynamic is not the one that's interesting, that changes."
The dynamic that changes, of course, is between Rachel and her domineering future mother-in-law. Unlike the 2013 novel of the same name by Kevin Kwan on which it is based, the movie focuses more on the evolving relationship between the mother and the girlfriend. This is how director John M. Chu wanted to bring more depth into the story of the film and the characters.
The actresses did not want to play stereotypical representations of the good girlfriend and the evil mother-in-law featured in many Hollywood films. Chu revealed, "When we first approached Michelle [Yeoh] about it, she said, 'I just want you to know that I read the book, and if you want me to play the villain, I'm the wrong person. I refuse to play a truly cartoony villain.'"
Regarding Rachel's character, Wu says, "She finally realizes that the way to value yourself isn't with money and isn't with a hot boyfriend," adding "It's by having the courage to walk away from something you really love so that that person can have a better life. That's true love, that's true sacrifice." The ending of the movie and the equation between Rachel and Eleanor are thus much different from Kwan's novel where no such understanding happens between the two women.
Watch the trailer below.
