Daniel Wu’s most important job yet? Besides acting in Reminiscence with Hugh Jackman, the Hollywood actor takes on a new role: fighting anti-Asian racism in the US – interview

Sep 6 , 2021

Daniel Wu has made a commitment to fighting anti-Asian racism in the US. Photo: @吳彥祖/Weibo

Besides working on season 4 of HBO’s Westworld, produced by Lisa Joy, Wu has formed a think tank with celebrities like Jeremy Lin and Daniel Dae Kim

Crazy Rich Asians and Minari won Oscars and prompted more support of Asian-American films, but Wu calls for more representation – in sports and politics too

With the horrific rise in hate crimes against people of Asian descent in the US amid the coronavirus pandemic, Daniel Wu has committed to fighting racism by working with a small group of notable AAPI (an acronym that stands for Asian-American and Pacific Islander) leaders from journalism, fashion, politics and entertainment to bring awareness to the issue.

Daniel Wu makes frequent posts supporting Asian-Americans on his Instagram. Photo: @thatdanielwu/Instagram

The veteran actor has started a movement with actor Daniel Dae Kim and other prominent Asian-Americans, such as reporter Lisa Ling, the president of Gold House (an organisation that supports Asian-Americans in entertainment) Bing Chen, fashion designer Phillip Lim, athlete Jeremy Lin and television host Jeannie Mai.

“We are a think tank, helping to amplify messages that local community groups have been trying to get out there, but have not been getting much attention in the past few years,” he explained. “We are also working with the NAACP [The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] in terms of allyship. This joining forces is very important to our overall cause, which is to fight racism.”

Actor Daniel Dae Kim has joined a think tank with fellow actor Daniel Wu to raise awareness about hate crimes against Asian-Americans. Photo: Getty Images

Wu is also speaking up about the need to lift Asian-American voices in Hollywood. Earlier this year, the 46-year-old star was on a panel at the Milken Institute to discuss representation in Hollywood.

“It’s not just Asian representation in entertainment that we need, we also need representation in politics, sports, in fields that normally you don’t see Asian-Americans,” he said. “That has led to the ‘othering’ of Asian-Americans, meaning we are constantly looked at as foreigners and not part of the American fabric. That is because we are largely absent in a lot of fields where people see people in the media, which is sports, entertainment and politics.”

He added: “It’s very easy for people who are unaware to assume that we are all foreigners.”

Daniel Wu appeared as a guest speaker in a forum hosted by Milken Institute about representation in Hollywood. Photo: Milken Institute

Wu pointed out that representation must also come from the top, more specifically from studio heads and producers who have the power to greenlight projects that represent America’s social fabric more accurately.

“We are slowly starting to see that. With the success of Crazy Rich Asians there has been more interest in supporting Asian-American films. Which is why we have seen films like Minari and The Farewell being produced. We are finally seeing our immigrant stories being told on the big screen,” he said.