‘Crazy Rich Asians 2’ writer Amy Wang says the sequel is a ‘slow process,’ but she’s ‘hopeful’

AUSTIN, Texas — Amy Wang is having a moment. Her debut feature film, Slanted, just premiered at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film & TV Festival. She was also tapped to write Crazy Rich Asians 2, the long-awaited sequel to the 2018 box office smash.

“It’s a slow process. They want to get the script right,” she told Yahoo Entertainment, referring to the studio in question, which she did not identify. Warner Bros. produced the first film and owns the rights to the second one. “I’m hopeful that it will be made soon, but right now, it’s a lot of waiting around.”

A TV series adaptation based on the books by Kevin Kwan is also in the works at Max, but that’s a separate project. In the meantime, Wang is in Texas promoting Slanted — a biting satire about race that’s also very personal for her.

Wang was on a walk with her husband one day in 2021, when she was “jolted” by the news that six Asian American women were killed in a hate crime spree in Atlanta. It made her reflect on her experience as a Chinese Australian woman.

“When I was growing up as a teenager, for a really long time, I would wake up and think, ‘Hey, wouldn’t life just be better if I was white?’” she said. “All of those emotions and repressed feelings came to the surface.”

She started thinking about what a story like that would look like, and it evolved into a darkly comedic (and, she admits, controversial) script — what if two actors of two different races played the same person? That’s the idea behind Slanted, a film she wrote and directed, which follows an Asian American high schooler who undergoes “transracial” surgery to become white in her quest to be accepted by the popular girls and win prom queen.

“So many of the best films, like Get Out and Sorry to Bother You, poked fun at race and difficult topics,” she said. “I felt like satire and a bit of body horror was the way to go. … I love pushing buttons and making people feel uncomfortable.”

Wang tapped Shirley Chen and Mckenna Grace to play her lead, Joan Huang. She goes by Jo Hunt after undergoing experimental surgery to appear white.

“The character of Joan has this kernel of truth to her that I like to pretend doesn’t exist. … I like to think of myself as somebody who’s very outgoing and comfortable in my skin and identity,” Chen told Yahoo Entertainment. “But I remember growing up in Washington state surrounded by a lot of white people and imagining as a 6-year-old … that I could turn blonde and have blue eyes.”

She said that she outgrew that opinion once she had a better understanding of race, but she sees this role as a tribute to that version of herself. Wang and other cast and crew members confided in her about their own insecurities, which meant a lot to her, given how impressed she was by them

“Tapping into that quiet self-doubt feels really universal and vulnerable — that was really important to me,” Chen continued.

Like Wang, she has a few projects in the works, but she’s most excited about “exploring my voice as a creator.”

“I’m really inspired by musicians and artists like Doechii … who pull from so many different forms and voices and styles to create something that’s unique to them,” she said. “[Doechii] has worked to know herself and wants to make art to show you that you can be yourself too. I hope I can have a similar effect.”

Slanted premiered on March 8 at South by Southwest.