'To All The Boys' Author Jenny Han Fought For Lara Jean Not To Be Whitewashed
23 August 2018, 17:56
"One producer said to me, as long as the actress captures the spirit of the character, age and race don’t matter," Jenny Han revealed in a recent essay.
To All The Boys I've Loved Before , starring Lana Condor and Noah Centineo, is the teen romantic comedy hot on everyone's lips. The film, which dropped on Netflix August 17, is an adaptation of New York Times best selling author Jenny Han's book of the same name.
Han's hugely successful book series centres around a teenage girl named Lara Jean who is part Korean and part white. Despite this being a part of Lara Jean Song Covey's identity, Jenny Han recently revealed that only one production company agreed not to whitewash her lead character.
In a personal essay for the New York Times, Jenny Han writes that her book had attracted movie adaptation interest very early on. Unfortunately, when Han would express that the lead needed to be Asian, producers would lose interest.
"One producer said to me, as long as the actress captures the spirit of the character, age and race don’t matter," Han writes. "I said, well, her spirit is Asian-American. That was the end of that."
"I ended up deciding to work with the only production company that agreed the main character would be played by an Asian actress. No one else was willing to do it," she later reveals in the essay.
The idea that anyone would want to take this character and change a part of her identity for seemingly no reason is frustrating.
Fortunately for fans, the movie specifically cast an Asian-American actress in the role, per Jenny Han's request, and Lana Condor was able to portray the character beautifully.
Most fans will agree that Lara Jean is a brilliantly written and performed character and it's clear people want NEED to see more of her and characters like her.
Meanwhile, is anyone else still crying over Jenny Han's brilliant cameo in the film? Because we are absolutely still crying.
