Even though the Golden Globes failed to reward “Crazy Rich Asians” with its two nominations (Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy and Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy for Constance Wu), we can all agree that they missed the mark. The film did wonders for Hollywood representation, and the cast is just a wonderful assortment of people.
And that’s proved by Harry Shum Jr., who, even though he didn’t even have a speaking role in “Crazy Rich Asians” and was on screen for half a second during the credits, wanted to show director Jon M. Chu his appreciation. Don’t worry, though -- Shum Jr.’s appearance during the mid-credits scene only promises that he’ll play a larger part in the sequel, and those who are familiar with Kevin Kwan’s books know what’s up.
“A lot of amazing things have been happening for ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’ for Jon Chu,” Shum Jr. said, speaking into the camera on his phone from the seat of a U-Haul truck he’d rented to transport his gift to Chu. “He’s given me a lot, he gave me one of my first acting gigs, and I’m so proud to be a part of this.”
The result was a giant oil painting featuring the entire “Crazy Rich Asians” cast; Shum Jr., in his video, claims they hadn’t yet been able to get everyone in one photo. Completely original, it took over three months for Depicteur, a company that usually turns photos into oil-based art, to create.
Chu was understandably in awe of the gift, and rightly so -- it’s a gorgeous piece of a gorgeous cast.
According to Shum Jr., he and Chu have worked together in the past (Shum Jr. was a dancer, Cable, in “Step Up 2,” which Chu directed, for one) and has been in awe of Chu over the resounding success of “Crazy Rich Asians.” And, granted, that was no easy feat -- the film broke all kinds of barriers that everyone's been going bonkers over since it came out, something that Chu felt Hollywood was ready for and that he wanted to give to fans as an opportunity to see themselves represented on screen.
Depicteur’s “master painters” regularly do great work, having painted stars like Melissa McCarthy and Kumail Nanjiani. And cats...they do a lot of cats.
Put Harry in charge of next year’s Yankee swap, yeah?