Constance Wu has been described as the breakout star of Fresh Off the Boat which kicks off its second season Tuesday at 8:30/7:30 Central on ABC.
Although Wu played a central character on the program, much of the pre-show publicity last season went to Randall Park who plays Eddie’s father Louis. Park had just come off The Interview controversy surrounding North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and was a highly sought after interview in media circles.
This year that mantle seems to have been past to Wu who’s been featured in recent weeks in the New York Times, GQ Magazine and Refinery 29.
Each interview seems to have a different take on Wu. We learn about her childhood, her likes and dislikes and her thoughts on Asian Americans in Hollywood.
One thing is obvious, Wu isn’t anything like her character Jessica.
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In real life she has a pet bunny which she compares to a cat.
“Bunnies are kind of like cats: They groom themselves,” she told Refinery 29. “But you don’t want them to swallow too much hair because, unlike a cat, the bunnies don’t have hairballs, they can’t spit it up.”
She was born in Richmond, Va and raised by Taiwanese parents. Her father was a professor of biology and genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her grandparents were illiterate bamboo farmers. She says growing up in Virginia was quite different from Eddie’s experience in Florida.
“I feel like he faced some more overt discrimination and racism than I did,” she said to the New York Times. “Even though I grew up with a lot of socially conservative people, they just had their views, and if you spoke about yours, they would listen and consider. They would probably still have their views, but there was never any rudeness.”
Wu embraces the opportunity to tell an Asian American story to a mass audience. She encourages others to do the same.
“I think wanting a role that has nothing to do with your racial identity can actually be indicative of an element of shame and embarrassment, and I don’t think that’s healthy for us,” said Wu to GQ Magazine . “If there’s a reason Asian Americans haven’t broken through in entertainment, it’s probably because we haven’t taken advantage of how special our viewpoint is. It’s not something to be ashamed of. If some motherf**ker made you feel ashamed for it and teased you about it on the playground, then they’re the asshole. Don’t let that be the thing that dictates how you’re perceived.”
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