I last saw Constance Wu in ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’ which I thoroughly enjoyed. I had heard she was going to be in the upcoming Film Hustlers but didn’t realize it was coming out September 13th:
“Hustlers follows a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients. The film is inspired by the article published by New York Magazine entitled “The Hustlers at Scores” written by Jessica Pressler.”
The film features not just Constance Wu but is filled with stars like Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo, Mercedes Ruehl, Cardi B, Madeline Brewer, Trace Lysette, and Mette Towley. And yes, the film is rated ‘R’ …
I’m hoping the best for the film – as I do for all films I want to see. I was already interested in the premise of Wall Street scumbags getting screwed over. Not a huge fan of Jennifer Lopez, but I did like her in ‘Maid in Manhattan’.
It was really interesting to read Wu’s Los Angeles Times’ interview, since it sounded like she really, really wanted the role:
“But Wu, 37, wanted the role so strongly she put herself on tape for writer-director Lorene Scafaria, to the mild bewilderment of her own agents. … There was something else she was looking for too. After zooming into the spotlight as a rising Hollywood star and the anchor of two groundbreaking Asian American hit projects, she was on the hunt for roles that were multidimensional, human, complex.
“In every project I choose, I want a character that gets to run the gamut of a full spectrum of an arc,” said Wu, whose “Hustlers” character, like the women around her, contains multitudes: The daughter of immigrants and a single mother herself, she’s a ladyboss in the making — until she’s left holding the designer bag. “Destiny has moments where she’s really funny, and moments when she’s really sad. Moments where she’s irresponsible, moments where she’s the only one who is responsible. That complexity is what I seek in any role, and this script really afforded her that journey.”
…
“I am grateful for my entire career,” she said. “But the fact that my career has been historic shouldn’t necessarily be a call [to say to] me, ‘You should be so lucky’ — it should be a call to pay attention to the fact that this kind of thing shouldn’t have been historic. Me getting to play a fully human experience as an Asian American, that shouldn’t be historic. But it is. Let’s talk about the system, not whether or not I deserve to be in it and how I need to feel about it.””
I really liked that last paragraph. Wu has had a historic role as an Asian American actor in both television AND film, but her goal is to be recognized like any other actor in America. I’ll be sure to watch the film and review it.
