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Its a good deal!
he jokes, quoting his mom.
I take Venmo also.
I dont give a fuck.
Its been interesting to see Jian Yangwithout T.J. Millers character ErlichonSilicon Valley.
Was it weird to start the new season without him?Yeah.
I love T.J. We were like the pair, like Laurel and Hardy, or Dinesh and Gilfoyle.
We bring the best out of each other.
Like, if its a scene with me and T.J., were going to kill it.
We just know that from experience.
I get to interact with everyone.
Thesecond episodewas like his asshole coming-out party, you know, with the pig and everything.
Do you enjoy how Jian Yang has become more of an asshole?I love it, man.
Its great that I get to do it fictionally.
Its just so cool to see this kind of docile, small-looking guy being such a diabolical person.
I think thats whats kind of funny about it.
Its anti-pop in in a way, which I loved.
T.J. Millers exit wasvery dramatic.Sure is, yeah.
Its like a show within a show, huh?
Were there problems on set with him?I can tell you from my perspective only.
Other people got their perspective and I hear things, but for me, we worked together very well.
Me and him never had any problems.
I would say maybe his exiting wasnt a surprise to some, but to me it was surprising.
You know, Im not coming back.
I was like, Oh, shit!
It was sad, man.
That last scene, that was the last scene with Erlich and Jian Yang, you know?
For me, I just feel so blessed to be on the show because I snuck in.
I started as a two-line part on one episode.
So, who knows?
If it wasnt for Erlich, I dont know what Jian Yang wouldve been, so yeah.
I feel sad about it.
Was he coming late to table reads?I dont know.
Maybe, maybe not.
Did you buy your parents anything once you became a regular on the show?Oh, did I?
I gave them money to go on a trip to, like, Europe and stuff.
I obviously have a go at always take care of them.
Im like, Ill get you guys a business-class ticket.
You guys are old, so you guys can chill on the plane.
Theyre like, No, no, no.
Just give me that money and Im going to spend it on something else.
You know how Asian parents are.
They refuse to let me spend it on business-class tickets.
The best present is money!Oh, for sure.
Shes like, Hey, Jimmy.
Were at Bottega Veneta.
Were going to buy a wallet for you and your brother as a gift.
Just tell me which one you want.
You want the black one?
Its a good deal here.
I dont want either one.
I have a wallet that I use and its fine.
I dont need a new wallet.
Its like, I dont know, $300 compared to maybe $500 here.
Im like, Fine, just get it.
Then I realized, Wait a minute, that was my money!
She just spent my money to get me a gift I didnt want.
Now I have to use this fucking wallet that I dont really care for.
How do you respond to criticism that Jian Yang is playing into a stereotype?
Everybodys a tech-smart person on that show.
He was like, Yo, you know better than me.
You do whatever feel right for you.
Doing that, its making him into a real person instead of a cartoon.
Because there are people like that that exist.
I know Asian actors out there wont even audition for a role that have an accent.
But for me, I was the kid with an accent.
I still have an accent to some degree.
I dont agree with that.
I never understood that.
A lot of that is American-born Asians and Chinese people have different opinions.
Being an immigrant, I think I have a different opinion.
My thing is, hes an immigrant.
I think its not realistic to shun all immigrant characters.
Thats shunning a part of society.
Thats shunning your own brothers and sisters in a way, but I get it.
If you dont feel comfortable playing it because thats not how you grew up, I get it.
But for me, I was the foreign kid.
I had to fight for myself to assimilate.
So its important for me to represent these characters in a three-dimensional way.
The most painful thing was the Asians who were born here didnt accept me.
I wish we dont live in that world.
Hopefully its going to get more normal with portrayals on TV.
My parents have accents.
They deserve to be protagonists.
I think the question is whether the accent is a punch line in and of itself.
I think thats what clicked for us.
He was like, Just look at T.J. for like five seconds.
Dont say anything, and just see how pissed off he gets.
That was a lot of where the comedy came from, where the panic came from.
I dont think its just the accent.
Its just good fucking comedy at the end of the day.
Its a fine line between hack and good comedy.
Thats the same exact line between a cartoon character, a stereotype, and good comedy.
Do you feel like hes an anti-assimilationist character?Yes.
For so long, I desperately wanted to be as American as possible.
I listened to hip-hop, tried to rap, I worked at a strip club.
But for Jian Yang, theres something so brave and awesome about, like,Fuck everyone else.
I dont need to be here.
Im Chinese, Im better.When I was growing up, I was opposite of that.
My life would have been so much easier.
And it takes a confidence to do that.
I guess I just had low self-esteem thats why I wanted to fit in and assimilate.
When you are a kid, when youre 13, thats what it is.
But now Im more like Jian Yang ever since shootingCrazy Rich Asians.
After that, I was just so fucking proud to be Asian.
Were the closest friends, like with Ronny Chieng, we just hung out yesterday in Chicago.
Last time I was here doing a book signing, Awkwafina came out and helped me out.
We all got each others back, no questions asked.
Is there a group text?Oh, theres a WhatsApp group!
Thats how fucking Asian we are.
I literally was just texting Sonoya [Mizuno] on WhatsApp right now.
Ken Jeong just texted me like, Dude, congratulations!
Jon Chu lives right by me.
Were actually like brothers and sisters.
Its not just like were Asians and we support the Asian organizations.
Were like the new Asian mafia.
Whats the role youre playing inCrazy Rich Asians?I play Bernard Tai.
Hes the fat asshole that throws the bachelor party.
Hes the biggest asshole that nobody wanted to hang out with.
He throws them the bachelor party and hes in business with their dads.
So I guess hes a ladies man.
That Versace robe that hes wearing.
Dude, hed just always constantly have like five girls around him.
[Shows a photo of himself in character on his phone.]
I know that guy.Right, theres a guy thats like Versace everything.
It was so fun playing that.
But yeah, the pressure was just off.
Its not like, Am I being too much of an asshole?
Because theres a whole spectrum of us.
Im just an actor now.
Im not just one Asian actor to represent everyone.
We can be funny; we can be romantic.
Its really like a coming-out party for us and its really fucking awesome.
I made some lifelong friends, man.
I found my creative people so I couldnt be any happier.
What was it like to go back to Hong Kong after all those years?Its crazy.
It was a pretty happy childhood, and Hong Kong was like the perfect place looking back.
But when I went back, it was just this sense of peace.
Not that people look at me weirdly here, but theres still something.
Youre not the norm.
And it felt fucking good.
Do you ever wonder what your life would have been like if you stayed?I thought about that.
I think I would not be taking this many chances.
I think if I just stayed in Hong Kong, Id be a lot more content.
Its like dislocation trauma.
Especially this young, everythings gone and then you have to start over.
Thats why people become stand-up comedians.
Normal people dont become stand-up comedians.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
