You might know Constance Wu as the perfect lead in summer 2018’s blockbuster rom-com Crazy Rich Asians, adapted from Kevin Kwan’s bestselling novel. (Wu stars as Rachel Chu, the Stanford-educated economics professor who winds up falling for Singapore’s most eligible bachelor, played by Henry Golding.) But Wu was beloved by many long before she became Rachel in Jon M. Chu’s groundbreaking movie, which is the first major studio film to feature a predominantly Asian cast and Asian-American leads in 25 years. Both as no-nonsense mom Jessica Huang on sitcom Fresh Off the Boat and on her very funny and frank Twitter account, Wu has become known by her fans for her strong opinions and outspoken views on diversity in the entertainment industry. A few weeks before the film’s premiere, Wu took to Twitter to share just how much Crazy Rich Asians means to her as a Taiwanese American and as an actor: “Before CRA, I hadn’t even done a tiny part in a studio film,” she said. “I never dreamed I would get to star in one . . . because I had never seen that happen to someone who looked like me.” She spoke directly to her “dear Asian-American friends,” saying, “we are building our own damn houses. We got the tools, the ability, and we definitely got the style.”
We have a feeling this is just the beginning for this leading lady—here are five things you probably didn’t know about Constance Wu:
1. Wu grew up in Richmond, Virginia, but her parents both immigrated to the United States from Taiwan. She told The New York Times in 2015 that her dad “got a job as a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. He teaches biology and genetics. My dad has been obsessed with science his whole life. Both my paternal grandparents were illiterate bamboo farmers, so he really worked his way up and then got a Ph.D., full ride and everything, from universities in America.”
2. There was a time that Wu almost quit acting. She stopped her theater work in New York “to study psycholinguistics—somewhat a more practical career. It just didn’t feel right.” So she went back to acting, but before getting her big break on Fresh Off the Boat, “I was in tens of thousands of dollars in debt: credit card. Car. Personal. Student loans. I paid for my college all myself. I didn’t have a boyfriend. I was really alone and lonely. I was new in the city, and I didn’t have a community of friends in L.A. I was like, Are you okay if your life stays like this, where you’re waiting tables, struggling to make ends meet? Are you still okay doing this when you’re 45? I decided that I was.” She told Vulture it was a “turning point” in her career.
3. Wu is a founding supporter of Time’s Up, and spoke out about abuse in entertainment even before the #MeToo movement came to Hollywood. In January 2018, Wu spoke at the second Women’s March in Los Angeles, saying that she and other actors “created the Time’s Up movement for equality and representation across all cultures, background, sexual orientations, and abilities—so that you can feel safe being whoever you want to be.” She was also one of the first women in the industry to speak out about Casey Affleck’s 2017 Oscar nomination for his role in Manchester by the Sea; Wu tweeted openly about how Affleck’s past legal troubles with sexual misconduct on set had been all but rewarded by the Academy.
X content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
4. Wu loves reading, and not just Crazy Rich Asians. Wu was an October 2016 Book of the Month Club guest judge, and has spoken in the past about authors like Marilynne Robinson, Jeffrey Eugenides, and David Foster Wallace. She’s also appeared as an advocate for libraries and can be found Instagramming her current book.
5. Wu has a pet bunny named Lida Rose, who frequents her Instagram. Lida Rose is very, very cuddly, but she also keeps to herself, according to Wu: “Bunnies are kind of like cats: They groom themselves,” she has said of her pet’s personality. “She pretty much keeps herself clean. I might give her a bath once every six months or so, but she’s pretty low-maintenance in terms of cleanliness . . . She’s got a litter box and everything—just like a cat.”
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Read More Culture Stories:
- Melania Trump Meets Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in Strange Video—Read More
- How Pope Francis Is Changing the Catholic Church—Read More
- Serena Williams’s Husband, Alexis Ohanian, Makes All the Other Husbands Look Bad—Read More
- Lindsay Lohan’s New Reality TV Show: Is She Our Next Lisa Vanderpump?—Read More
- Phone Addiction? Here’s One Way to Fix It—Read More