‘Crazy Rich Asians’ star Henry Golding had never acted before the movie

“Crazy Rich
Asians”
Warner
Bros.

• “Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding had never acted
  before filming.
• Director Jon M. Chu found Golding after he widened the
  search for the leading man, Nick Young, because the casting
  process was “lazy.” 
• Chu found Golding through an accountant on the movie
  who noticed his charm and movie-star quality after seeing him
  at an awards show.

“Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding took the leading role in
the $30 million Warner Bros. rom-com without any acting credits
to his name. 

Before Golding was cast in “Crazy Rich Asians,” which is the
first studio movie starring an Asian-American cast in 25 years,
he hosted travel shows on BBC and Discovery Channel. The movie is
his acting debut, and he has another film out in September: Paul
Feig’s “A Simple Favor” starring Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick.

By fall 2016, most of the “Crazy Rich Asians” cast was set,
except for Nick Young, the leading man. Young is a handsome
professor from Singapore who neglects to tell his serious
girlfriend that he comes from one of Asia’s wealthiest families —
until they meet his family while they’re in Singapore for his
best friend’s wedding. 

“Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu said Golding wasn’t easy
to find. In a
Vulture profile about Golding, Chu said lazy Hollywood
tradition was holding them back. 

“I was very frustrated because I felt like our casting was lazy
in the beginning,” Chu said. “We weren’t digging up people I’ve
never seen. It’s a systematic problem: there are the casting
directors who are only aware of ten Asian male actors out there
that they go to. When you see the same ten people, you don’t get
to discover new people.”

So in an effort to discover new talent, Chu broadened the search
by making the casting global and by looking in unexpected places
like theater schools, sports teams, modeling agencies, and even
YouTube. But Golding was ultimately discovered through
networking: an account working on “Crazy Rich Asians” saw Golding
host an awards show, and recognized his charm. 

After getting slews of emails with suggestions for Asian actors
who could pull off a British accent to play Nick Young, Chu
wasn’t feeling too confident about Golding. “I think I blew
it off, because I got so many emails from people who have
good-looking Asian male friends that are just good-looking Asian
men.” But Chu went into a rabbit hole watching Golding’s travel
videos, and then got connected through a mutual Facebook
friend. 

“Crazy Rich Asians” which stars Golding, Constance Wu, Michelle
Yeong, and Awkwafina comes to theaters August 15.

Watch the trailer below: