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AsiaOne
a day ago
- Entertainment
- AsiaOne
Producers of all-Asian rom-com Worth The Wait reject Hollywood pressure to cast white actors, Entertainment News
SINGAPORE — Producers on the US-Canada romantic comedy-drama Worth The Wait wanted their movie to showcase Asians falling in love, navigating awkward encounters with former lovers and coping with loss. But they faced pressure from Hollywood financiers, who suggested a change they thought was minor, but was anything but to Rachel Tan. The Malaysia-born, Los Angeles-based producer says they wanted to add a white male to the cast rather than letting the film be an all-Asian ensemble. "They gave me a list of white guys we could cast. If we could give one of the roles to them, we could get funded. It was so tempting," the 43-year-old recalls. She was in town with her producing partner and husband, Chinese-American Dan Mark, for a screening of their film — which the couple also co-wrote — at Tanglin Club on July 10. The investors held the belief that, except for genres such as martial arts, Asian male characters are not bankable, with little appeal for Western audiences, she says. [embed] Tan and her team ignored the suggestion, completing Worth The Wait without watering down their goal of an all-Asian cast in stereotype-breaking stories. For years, Asian Americans have been viewed by the majority as the "model minority", the ethnic group to be the most well educated, well adjusted and upwardly mobile, but the film seeks to show a more complete picture, she says. Slated to open in Singapore cinemas in August, Worth The Wait is directed by Taiwanese film-maker Tom Shu-Yu Lin, known for his Golden Horse-nominated drama The Garden Of Evening Mists (2019), adapted from the 2011 Booker Prize-shortlisted novel of the same name by Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng. Set in Seattle and Kuala Lumpur, it revolves around a group of singles and couples of different ages, and features actors of Asian or mixed descent from North America and Europe, including Ross Butler, Lana Condor, Andrew Koji, Sung Kang and Elodie Yung, as well as Singapore actors Tan Kheng Hua and Lim Yu-Beng. Producer Mark, 43, says audiences will see that Butler (Shazam!, 2019; 13 Reasons Why, 2017 to 2020) fits the profile of the romantic lead, while also being Asian. "He's a masculine Asian man. He's stereotype-breaking, and we love that — we need to have that in our culture," he says. Singapore-born American actor Butler plays Kai, the son of a corporate bigwig (Lim). On why on-screen white male-Asian female couples are the more common representation, Butler feels it has to do with Asian men being seen as not desirable. "It's a deep topic to talk about. In the West, for a hundred years, the Asian man has been emasculated," the 35-year-old tells The Straits Times at the same event. Butler drew on his personal experience to play Kai, who is under pressure to live up to his father's goals for him. The performer took chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio State University, but left his studies to pursue acting as a career. "A lot of this was generational legacy pressure from my mum. She is from Malaysia, and she took me to the US for the opportunities. We all know about the immigrants' dream," he adds. In another of the film's intertwining story threads, a couple played by Chinese-Canadian actors Osric Chau and Karena Lam find their marriage becoming strained after a miscarriage, while a young man, Blake (Chinese-Canadian actor Ricky He), has priorities other than school. Rachel Tan says: "Osric's character is vulnerable and Blake failed maths. There are so many layers to the characters. We are so much more than what's usually shown." Worth The Wait opens in Golden Village cinemas on Aug 8 and EagleWings Cinematics on Aug 14. [[nid:720270]] This article was first published in The Straits Times . Permission required for reproduction.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Asian Rom-Com Producers Reject Hollywood Pressure to Cast White Actors
Find out what's new on ST website and app. In Worth The Wait, Lana Condor and Ross Butler play a couple in a long-distance relationship. SINGAPORE – Producers on the US-Canada romantic comedy-drama Worth The Wait wanted their movie to showcase Asians falling in love, navigating awkward encounters with former lovers and coping with loss. But they faced pressure from Hollywood financiers, who suggested a change they thought was minor, but was anything but to Rachel Tan. The Malaysia-born, Los Angeles-based producer says they wanted to add a white male to the cast rather than letting the film be an all-Asian ensemble. 'They gave me a list of white guys we could cast. If we could give one of the roles to them, we could get funded. It was so tempting,' the 43-year-old recalls. She was in town with her producing partner and husband, Chinese-American Dan Mark, for a screening of their film – which the couple also co-wrote – at Tanglin Club on July 10. The investors held the belief that, except for genres such as martial arts, Asian male characters are not bankable, with little appeal for Western audiences, she says. Tan and her team ignored the suggestion, completing Worth The Wait without watering down their goal of an all-Asian cast in stereotype-breaking stories. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $3b money laundering case: MinLaw acts against 4 law firms, 1 lawyer over seized properties Singapore Air India crash: SIA, Scoot find no issues with Boeing 787 fuel switches after precautionary checks Opinion What we can do to fight the insidious threat of 'zombie vapes' Singapore $230,000 in fines issued after MOM checks safety at over 500 workplaces from April to June Business 'Some cannot source outside China': S'pore firms' challenges and support needed amid US tariffs Opinion Sumiko at 61: Everything goes south when you age, changing your face from a triangle to a rectangle Multimedia From local to global: What made top news in Singapore over the last 180 years? Singapore 'Nobody deserves to be alone': Why Mummy and Acha have fostered over 20 children in the past 22 years For years, Asian Americans have been viewed by the majority as the 'model minority', the ethnic group to be the most well educated, well adjusted and upwardly mobile, but the film seeks to show a more complete picture, she says. Slated to open in Singapore cinemas in August, Worth The Wait is directed by Taiwanese film-maker Tom Shu-Yu Lin, known for his Golden Horse-nominated drama The Garden Of Evening Mists (2019), adapted from the 2011 Booker Prize-shortlisted novel of the same name by Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng. Set in Seattle and Kuala Lumpur, it revolves around a group of singles and couples of different ages, and features actors of Asian or mixed descent from North America and Europe, including Ross Butler, Lana Condor, Andrew Koji, Sung Kang and Elodie Yung, as well as Singapore actors Tan Kheng Hua and Lim Yu-Beng. (From left) Lim Yu-Beng, Ross Butler, Tan Kheng Hua and Osric Chau at the red carpet event for Worth The Wait on July 10 at Tanglin Club. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO Producer Mark, 43, says audiences will see that Butler (Shazam!, 2019: 13 Reasons Why, 2017 to 2020) fits the profile of the romantic lead, while also being Asian. 'He's a masculine Asian man. He's stereotype-breaking, and we love that – we need to have that in our culture,' he says. Singapore-born American actor Butler plays Kai, the son of a corporate bigwig (Lim). On why on-screen white male-Asian female couples are the more common representation, Butler feels it has to do with Asian men being seen as not desirable. 'It's a deep topic to talk about. In the West, for a hundred years, the Asian man has been emasculated,' the 35-year-old tells The Straits Times at the same event. Butler drew on his personal experience to play Kai, who is under pressure to live up to his father's goals for him. The performer took chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio State University, but left his studies to pursue acting as a career. 'A lot of this was generational legacy pressure from my mum. She is from Malaysia, and she took me to the US for the opportunities. We all know about the immigrants' dream,' he adds. (From left) Osric Chau and Karena Lam play a couple dealing with the trauma of a miscarriage in Worth The Wait. PHOTO: WORTH THE WAIT MOVIE LLC In another of the film's intertwining story threads, a couple played by Chinese-Canadian actors Osric Chau and Karena Lam find their marriage becoming strained after a miscarriage, while a young man, Blake (Chinese-Canadian actor Ricky He), has priorities other than school. Tan says: 'Osric's character is vulnerable and Blake failed maths. There are so many layers to the characters. We are so much more than what's usually shown.' Worth The Wait opens in Singapore cinemas in August.
Cosmopolitan
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
'Love Island USA's Cierra Responds to Death Threats on Instagram
If I were asked to leave a reality TV show because old footage of me using a racial slur had gone viral, my first order of business—after a heartfelt apology—would be to turn off all comments on every single one of my socials. Cierra Ortega of Love Island USA took a different route, leaving comments and DMs wide open. And on Sunday, Cierra responded to the death threats she's received since leaving the Villa, asking fans to 'be kind' instead. On July 13 before the Love Island USA season 7 finale, Cierra shared some of the hateful messages she's received, compiling them together for one very distressing Instagram Story. I won't post the messages here as they are quite triggering, but they included threats to 'call ICE' on her family, as well as threats of violence and death. 'Hey so is this still about accountability or...?' she wrote at the top of the Story. Cierra followed up that post with a message to the trolls, writing in part, 'I carry nothing but love in my heart.' She continued, calling out those who continue to attack her instead of combatting the racist language against Asians that got her kicked off the show to begin with. 'What should be a collective opportunity to address derogatory language and the harm they carry, has instead snowballed into an excuse for cruelty,' she wrote. She continued, 'I have every belief that all this energy can be alchemized into something with real impact. If even a fraction of it was used to uplift the community directly impacted—to continue amplifying Asian voices & their healing—imagine how much further we could be as a collective.' She concluded her message by asking her followers to 'be kind.' Her comments and DMs still appear to be open. Cierra isn't the only one who has had to ask trolls to stand down. Just before the finale aired, the official Love Island USA Instagram account shared a message celebrating season 7 and asking for positive vibes only. 'Love Island exists because of the real people who share their search for love with the world,' the message read in part. 'Our host and all islanders deserve respect and kindness for opening their hearts to the experience and to viewers everywhere.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cierra Ortega of 'Love Island USA' apologizes for using 'incredibly offensive and derogatory term' that got her booted from show
Cierra Ortega, a contestant on this summer's season of Love Island USA, abruptly left the villa just one week before the reality television dating show's finale is set to air on Peacock. Ortega's departure was announced on Sunday after resurfaced social media posts in which she allegedly uses a racial slur against Asians began circulating online. In a nearly five-minute video posted on Instagram on July 9, Ortega opened with an apology to "not just anyone that I have hurt or deeply offended, but most importantly, the entire Asian community. I am deeply, truly, honestly, so sorry." The backlash against the L.A.-based influencer hit a fever pitch in recent weeks, with many fans of the show calling for her removal. Iain Stirling, the show's narrator, announced that Ortega had left the villa 'due to a personal situation' in Sunday's episode, though no specific reason was given. This isn't the first time a contestant on this season of Love Island USA has been booted from the villa after using a racial slur on social media. Yulissa Escobar, who appeared in just two episodes, was abruptly removed from the show after clips of her using a racist slur on a podcast resurfaced online. Contestants were also not told why Escobar left. Ortega was introduced on this season of Love Island USA at the end of Episode 2, when she entered the villa as a new bombshell — a potential love interest — for fellow contestants. She eventually went on to form a connection with Nic Vansteenberghe, a registered nurse from Jacksonville, Fla. Here's everything you need to know about the controversy. Ortega's departure comes after weeks of backlash from fans, who uncovered two social media posts in which she used an anti-Asian racial slur. The first instance is an Instagram Story, reportedly from February 2023, in which Ortega appears to speak candidly about why she's getting Botox. Ortega had reportedly written, 'I can also be a little ch***y when I laugh/smile so I love getting a mini brow lift to open up my eyes and get that snatched look.' Another Instagram post, reportedly from 2015, shows Ortega smiling at the top of a hill, presumably after a hike or run, with the caption, 'Still ch***in' even at the top.' Ortega, on a separate occasion, was apparently made aware of the word's racist connotation but continued to use it anyway. One TikTok user posted a screenshot showing that one of Ortega's Instagram followers had sent her a direct message in January 2024, letting her know that the word is 'so derogatory.' Ortega reportedly responded, 'oh man thankfully that's not how I used it.' Several fans immediately called for Ortega's removal, asserting that she should be held accountable for her use of the word. While some fans argued that Ortega may not have known that the word is considered an anti-Asian racial slur, others believe her use of it was intentionally harmful and should be taken seriously. Ortega, prior to her sudden departure, was coupled up with Vansteenberghe. The pair first coupled up in Episode 6 after immediately hitting it off. Vansteenberghe was then momentarily dumped from the island during Casa Amor week — when new female and male contestants are brought in to test the current contestants' existing connections — but later returned to Ortega in a tearful embrace. They recoupled and became 'closed off' — a Love Island term for focusing only on each other — during Episode 25. Following Ortega's departure in Episode 30, Vansteenberghe revealed that it felt 'bittersweet' without her. 'It is bittersweet. I was kind of really excited to feel closed off with somebody,' Vansteenberghe said. 'It took a lot for me to get to that point but it was just not meant to be.' Vansteenberghe is now coupled up with fellow contestant Olandria Carthen. Together, they're affectionately referred to by fans as 'Nicolandria.' Ortega's friend, influencer MJ Hedderman, was in charge of posting on her social media accounts during her time in the villa. Hedderman, in the wake of the controversy, has since announced that she's taking 'a step back.' 'Hi guys, I see your comments concerning someone I love and care about. I want to be clear that I do not condone racism, bigotry or hate in any way shape or form, nor was I aware of the recent screenshots until they were posted,' Hedderman wrote on July 4. 'I discovered it at the same time as all of you did. I cannot speak for anybody or make any statements besides my own and decided to take a step back from running her account.' Ortega's other friend Johnnie Olivia, who is part Filipino, shared a similar statement on Instagram Story. 'I'm sure many of you have noticed that I've refrained from talking about Love Island and have stopped publicly supporting my friend on the show. This was after I saw a post involving a racial slur for the first time,' Olivia wrote. 'I loved supporting her during her time on the show, but once I came across that post, I felt it was necessary to take a step back. I do not support or condone that kind of language never have, never will.' Since Ortega's use of the anti-Asian racial slur became public knowledge, her popularity on social media has dipped considerably. Ortega reportedly lost more than 120,000 Instagram followers following the July 1 episode of Love Island USA. On July 9, Ortega responded to the backlash herself in a video post on Instagram. "While I was in the villa, there were some posts that resurfaced from my past where I was very naively using an incredibly offensive and derogatory term," she said in the video. "I had no idea that the word held as much pain, as much harm, and came with the history that it did, or I never would have used it. I had no ill intention when I was using it, but that's absolutely no excuse because intent doesn't excuse ignorance." Prior to Ortega's personal apology, her family shared a statement on her behalf. Ortega's family revealed that they've received a slew of threats since the social media posts resurfaced and are asking that audiences be kind. 'While Cierra is not in the villa anymore, she is still away. She hasn't had the chance to process any of this or speak for herself,' Ortega's family wrote on her Instagram Story. 'But we know our daughter. We know her heart. And when she returns, we believe she'll face this with honesty, growth, and grace.' Jeremiah Brown, who exited the villa in Episode 18, said during a TikTok livestream, 'I don't condone no type of racial slurs, brother. I've been dealing with that my whole life, bro.' Belle-A Walker, a Filipino American who was dumped from the villa in Episode 6, posted a lengthy response to Ortega's reported use of the anti-Asian slur. 'When I first saw what my fellow Islander said on their social media pages, I was incredibly heartbroken,' Walker wrote. 'But I wanted to wait until they left the villa and were able to address the situation, genuinely apologize, and commit to learning from the experience before deciding how our relationship would look moving forward.' Walker continued, 'As screenshots continued to surface, it became clear that I could no longer support this person, and made the decision to unfollow them a couple of days ago.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A Shocking Sudden Exit! Who Went Home on 'Love Island USA' 2025 Tonight?
A Shocking Sudden Exit! Who Went Home on 'Love Island USA' 2025 Tonight? originally appeared on Parade. It was only a few days ago that we said goodbye to a whopping five islanders on Love Island USA 2025. But, with the finale only a week away, and so many people left in the hunt for love and the prize money, more hearts had to be broken. The drama in this episode's recoupling largely came down to Amaya's decision between the Casa Amor men. But a last-minute departure caused a shake-up in the game, fracturing the most solid couple in the game. Check out spoilers about tonight's episode below and find out who was eliminated from Love Island USA Season 7 in 2025. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 Cierra suddenly departed the show at the beginning of the episode, with narrator Iain Stirling saying she simply "left the Villa due to a personal situation." As a result, due to the gender imbalance, any guys who were not chosen at the recoupling would be eliminated. Bryan, Elan and Zak all spent the past couple of days vying for Amaya's attention. Ultimately, she chose Bryan, eliminating Elan and Zak. After closing things down with Nic, it seemed like Cierra was primed to make the finale, if not win the season overall. However, she suddenly disappeared from the Villa at the beginning of tonight's episode, with Iain saying she left "due to a personal situation." Many fans have speculated, however, that Cierra was removed from the show upon discovering a previous TikTok video where she used a racist slur against Asians. Related: After the recoupling, here are the couples remaining after tonight's elimination. Related: A Shocking Sudden Exit! Who Went Home on 'Love Island USA' 2025 Tonight? first appeared on Parade on Jul 7, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
