A Quote by Nico Santos

It wasn't until I worked on 'Crazy Rich Asians' that I all of a sudden have this Asian crew of friends that I became super close with. — © Nico Santos
It wasn't until I worked on 'Crazy Rich Asians' that I all of a sudden have this Asian crew of friends that I became super close with.
I auditioned for 'Crazy Rich Asians' four times and it was very, very hard for me to not get it, because it was like, these 'Crazy Rich Asians' people were the cool kids and I was the one being left out.
I'm not sure if being Chinese really helped, but I do think that if a non-Asian had written a book called 'Crazy Rich Asians,' they might not have been looked upon so kindly.
It's called 'Crazy Rich Asians,' but it's really not about crazy rich Asians. It's about Rachel Chu finding her identity and finding her self-worth through this journey back into her culture. Which, for me as a filmmaker, exploring my cultural identity is the scariest thing.
As a major feature film with Asian Americans in leading roles, 'Crazy Rich Asians' is important. We hope that this movie will be our 'Black Panther,' announcing to Hollywood that we are here, we belong, and we are ready for more.
There are very few people who are Asian who have the kind of global reach that I have, not just with Asians but with non-Asians. I've worked hard for what my name represents, my brand, not just in Britain but around the world.
For once in my life, I wanted to flaunt my Asian side instead of hiding it to fit as somebody else... 'Crazy Rich Asians' made me want to get in touch with my roots, instead of running away from them.
As a community, we're fighting for Asians to play Asian roles. And then there's the other battle, which is Asian Americans playing roles that aren't written for Asians, and I think that's something that completely should happen; Why can't an Asian American male just play a leading cop figure... or the Matt Damon roles?
I'll be a janitor in 'Crazy Rich Asians 2.' Let's do that.
I started asking friends, my white friends around, I said, "What's something that you think all Asians have in common?" They almost always immediately said, "Slanted eyes." I thought that's really interesting. No. 1, it simply isn't true. Not all Asian Americans have slanted eyes, and of course, Asians aren't the only ethnic identities to have them. No. 2, we could talk about our slant on life and what it's like to be people of color, while at the same time, using this outdated and obscure racial slur, and turning it on its head.
'Crazy Rich Asians' has been compared to 'Black Panther,' but I feel like that's a false equivalency. The idea that there's only this film for Asians and that film for African Americans - it's so binary. I don't think it's like that at all. There should be and will be many films and many stories. Hopefully this just opens the floodgates.
I feel like my evolution has come to a place where now I'm attached to Crazy Rich Asians.
I believe that we are still hovering around the realm of Asians playing all types of Asians. I do not see that changing any time soon just because there is a limited pool of Asian actors.
I never thought an opportunity like 'Crazy Rich Asians' would ever come my way.
We promote Asian storytelling - not just Asian stories but Asian people in stories with the full spectrum of the human experience. When you say, 'Oh, it's not enough attention on Asians. It's more black and white,' that game becomes like you're playing the discrimination Olympics.
Being able to work on a film like 'Crazy Rich Asians' as your first role is phenomenal.
When I heard that Hollywood was going to make Kevin Kwan's novel 'Crazy Rich Asians' into a movie, I was so ecstatic I nearly cried.
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