Simu Liu and Henry Golding – who's more Asian?

Why are fans on the Internet battling over whether Simu Liu (left) or Henry Golding is 'more Asian'? It's about the talent, people, not the look, says our columnist. — Original pics in composite by AFP

“Perfectly tousled black hair, chiselled Cantonese pop-idol features, and impossibly thick eyelashes.” Who does that conjure up for you: Henry Golding or Simu Liu?

In case you’re confused, I’m referring to the latest five-minute spat on the Internet, where Liu (of Kim’s Convenience and Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings fame) had mentioned in a recent interview at nme.com that he had auditioned for the leading man role of Nick Young in Crazy Rich Asians but didn’t get the part – the producers felt he didn’t have the “It” factor, it seems. Instead, the part went to Golding, who presumably did have it.

The Internet then promptly gave its interpretation of what “It” meant. Instead of some nebulous attraction that you can’t quite pin down, some on social media preferred to refer to Golding having pan-Asian looks because of his white father. According to them, Golding won the part because of “white-passing”, ie, in the case of movies specifically, when an “exotic” role goes to an actor who appeals more to a Western white audience because he/she has a passing resemblance to them.

These very vocal people on the Internet screamed “unfair”, and said that Liu should have got the role, being much more Asian than Golding. Never mind that neither man spent a lot of time in Asia: Liu lived in China till he was five years old before his family moved to Canada, while Golding was born in Sarawak and moved to Britain when he was eight.

This issue of whether Golding was “Asian enough” began from the moment his casting in Crazy Rich Asians was announced in 2017.

“I always think, ‘What is the litmus test for being Asian enough?’,” he said in a 2018 interview at Instyle.com.

“I was born in the jungles of Borneo. I’ve been to every single Asian country apart from Myanmar, on work, listening to human interest stories, giving me a broad outlook on all Asian cultures. But it’s OK for [someone] who’s never been to Asia to say, ‘Oh no, he’s definitely not Asian enough’,” said the former reality TV show and travel programming host.

Myself, I’m wondering why there’s all this fuss now when nobody complained when Stephen Rahman-Hughes played the part of legendary Malay warrior and folklore hero Hang Tuah.

Rahman-Hughes – who is of Welsh-Malay ancestry – was born in London and, as far as I can tell, grew up there. Yet I heard no murmur of complaint from the audience at the staging of Puteri Gunung Ledang the musical that I watched all those years ago in 2006 (only some sharp intakes of breath as he flexed those muscles in a slightly too tight baju Melayu).

However, such “colour blind casting” is somewhat the norm in stage performances, especially when music is involved. For example, leading parts in opera emphasise ability rather than looks, resulting in performers like Sumi Jo (Korean) and Leontyne Price (African-American) playing a multitude of roles, including I would guess, French, Spanish and Italian.

Probably the most notable musical that has actors of the “wrong” colour is Hamilton. The history of Alexander Hamilton and how the United States was formed has a largely non-white cast playing white men, including characters such as George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette.

In some ways it makes sense, given that the music draws heavily from hip-hop and R&B styles, and although the show originators deny it, I always felt it was a deliberate casting to get across the idea that although America was formed by white people, the America of today is most definitely much more colourful.

The somewhat crazy thing is that I don’t really notice looks, at least in musicals. Partly it’s because when I do watch musical theatre it’s from the cheap seats at the back with obstructed views – more a case of “blind” than “colour blind”. But it’s also because in the arts it’s about a suspension of disbelief, and a skilled performer can evoke genuine emotion, whatever his or her race or colour.

If someone like Shila Amzah can end up winning a Chinese singing talent show judged by Chinese jurors in China, then surely it means that talent trumps the fact that some of your genes come from the "wrong" race.

It might be gilding the lily to say this is something that all Malaysians could learn from. So instead I’ll let Golding sum it up for us: “It’s [about] grasping on to what I believe and what I love about who I am and not really caring about others’ misconceptions. And so for me, I’m proud to be Asian, I’m proud of my British heritage, and I think that’s all you can ask for in a person.” (E! News, May 24.)

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In his fortnightly column, Contradictheory, mathematician-turned-scriptwriter Dzof Azmi explores the theory that logic is the antithesis of emotion but people need both to make sense of life’s vagaries and contradictions. Write to Dzof at [e-mail]. The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own.