When Eddie Huang was first shopping his feature film “Boogie” (now in theaters and available on demand) around Hollywood he got turned down. “People told me this film would never work,” Huang said on “Salon Talks” about the story of a Chinese-American high school basketball star. “They were like, ‘Yo, no one is going to make a coming of age, teenage story with an Asian-American male lead because there isn't an Asian-American male actor that will sweep at the box office.’”




Huang shared why he didn’t give up on the film and was determined to bring forth a diverse cast, which includes the late Pop Smoke and newcomer Taylor Takahashi. “This is the vision of America that I believe in,” he said of his casting choices. Much of Huang’s determination grew out of his frustrations with ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” which is based on his memoir. “It broke my heart, man. I really retreated for a while,” he said of the series. “It stripped the pain and struggle from our story and made it funny. They only dealt with issues that could be solved in 22 minutes.”




Watch the full Salon Talks episode with Eddie Huang here: https://www.salon.com/tv/video/eqqzf0