KID SHANG CHI ACTOR MOVIE
KID SHANG CHI ACTOR SERIES
KID SHANG CHI ACTOR TV

KID SHANG CHI ACTOR MOVIE

“As much as I think is an incredibly empowering movie for Asian people and Asian Americans everywhere,” he says, “I also hope that the idea that Asians and martial arts are always linked together will eventually be challenged and overthrown.” When he first started as an actor, Liu recalls auditioning for countless characters who were martial artists. Lee empowered Asian men - but his work also unintentionally created an enduring stereotype that all Asian men know martial arts, Liu says. The martial arts stereotype stems from when Bruce Lee’s action scenes captivated Western audiences in the 1970s. It’s one of the many things that flesh out his personality, but it’s easily the most challenging from a physical perspective.” Under a recent Instagram caption about his training, Liu wrote that “Asian actors don’t just do kung fu but Shang-Chi does. “On the surface, it might seem like they’re opposite problems they are really rooted in the same thing,” he says, “which is that our narratives have not been under our control.”

KID SHANG CHI ACTOR SERIES

And Asian women face a series of connected problems such as hypersexualization and fetishization, he says. Liu never saw himself as a desirable person growing up. Something as simple as seeing an Asian American man play a lead role in a film like “Shang-Chi” allows society to see Asian men as powerful, desirable and an aspiration of possibility. Director Destin Daniel Cretton explained the plan to build a new story and father figure around what holds up in the comics, Liu says. When Liu first joined the project, he inquired about how the film would handle the stereotypes in the comics. The original “Shang-Chi” comics contain a number of stereotypes, including the hero’s father, Fu Manchu. “They were characters created through a predominantly white gaze, and that meant that oftentimes they were caricatures.”

KID SHANG CHI ACTOR TV

“When I used to turn on the TV when I was little, the Asian characters that I saw reflected back at me were very stereotyped,” he says. Seeing these depictions as a kid impacted his self-worth and confidence, he says.

When he got involved with the arts, Liu started talking more about representation and realized the way the media furthers stereotypes about Asian people. Microaggressions and more overt racism made him feel inferior and like he didn’t belong. Growing up, Liu says he wanted to “hide his Asianness” at times like when kids made fun of his “smelly” lunch. The hero is forced to come to terms with his heritage and through that, a superhero is born. “Shang-Chi” includes subtle but powerful messages about identity and the choices people make to assimilate. “But I do feel like everyone has something within them that they’ve always wanted to try and pursue.” “I feel like so often we have these dreams and ambitions within us and we kill them before we ever get to say them out loud because we judge them,” he says. Liu encourages people to speak their ambitions aloud and give themselves permission to chase dreams. Marvel studio executives didn’t read the tweet he sent out to around 27 followers, he says, but it marked Liu vocalizing his dreams as an actor. I just can’t get used to it.”īack in 2014, Liu tweeted Marvel and asked when the MCU will include an Asian American superhero. “Representation, of course, is important and meaningful. “I think I’m really aware of just how few faces I’ve seen over my life that have looked like me on movie posters,” he says. The actor says he dreamed about starring in a film like this when he began his career eight years ago but seeing his likeness all over town induces anxiety - especially the massive billboard on Sunset Boulevard. Trained by his father to be an assassin, Shang-Chi turns his back on the expectations his father set before him and attempts to make a new life for himself before understanding his true purpose.Īhead of the film opening in theaters this week, Liu’s face is plastered on billboards all around major cities like Los Angeles. Liu stars as the hero, the son of the head of a mystical terrorist organization centered in China called the Ten Rings. “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The world will soon meet a new superhero - one actor Simu Liu spent years yearning to play.

Kid shang chi actor