Randall Park and Fresh Off the Boat Producers Meet With Asian Bloggers

“It’s really important that you guys liked it, specifically people with active voices representing the community,” said Fresh Off the Boat star Randall Park to a table of Asian American mom bloggers gathered at the ABC studios in Burbank. “Like white people go to Chinese restaurants and see all Chinese people eating there, so they know it’s good.”

Park, along with the Fresh Off the Boat producers, is well aware of the importance of Asian American representation. Like myself, most of the show’s creators grew up without seeing many faces like their own in primetime.

“Network TV has been around for 50-60 years, and the family sitcom has been around for that long, so to find a new access point to tell familiar stories, that doesn’t come around often,” lead writer Nahnatchka Khan explained. Eddie Huang’s memoir Fresh Off the Boat resonated with Khan, the daughter of Persian immigrants, and she recognized that the celebrity chef’s life story — particularly the part of his childhood when the family moves to the South to open a steakhouse — was ripe with the sort of tensions and situations perfect for a network sitcom.

Khan and Park, along with executive producer Melvin Mar and writer Kourtney Kang, met with a group of Asian American bloggers, including myself, during the latest event organized by ABC. “This must be a powerful table,” joked Mar, noting the laptops, phones and iPads strewn in front of us.

In particular, I was interested in finding out more about how the writers and cast feel about being part of the highest profile show featuring Asian Americans, and their answers revealed that these are topics to which they have give much thought. Park, who is of Korean descent, initially had reservations about playing an immigrant from Taiwan.”I don’t think I can do this,” he recalls telling Eddie Huang. “I’m not Taiwanese. I realize how important the show was to the community, and I thought it didn’t feel right.” But Huang and Mar were supportive of Park’s casting, bringing in a cultural consultant and dialect coaches on-set during the pilot shooting. When the series got picked up, the producers and some of the cast members flew to Orlando to meet the the real Louis and Jessica Huang.

I asked about the use of accents, as it’s been a hot topic, explaining to Park that my (Taiwanese immigrant) mother wasn’t crazy about Louis’ and Jessica’s accents — because they weren’t heavy enough.”It’s something I wanted to get as right as possible, but also not make it strong because the real Louis doesn’t have that strong of an accent,” says Park, adding, “Jessica’s accent is much heavier.”

Khan noted that Constance Wu, who plays Jessica, is Taiwanese American (as is Hudson Yang, who plays young Eddie), and that the show just premiered in Taiwan.

While the producers stressed that they tried to be true to the spirit of the memoir and the real Huangs of Orlando, Fresh Off the Boat the TV show is not a documentary, but a collaborative work of a team of writers. In the episode called “License to Sell” that aired Tuesday on ABC at 8/7 Central, mom Jessica Huang learns it’s not so easy to be a realtor, while dad Louis is distracted by a new toy: a giant hood hairdryer, the kind old ladies sit under to get their hair done at the beauty parlor. It turns out that seemingly ridiculous scenario was inspired by real-life.

“Natch’s dad has an amazing hairdryer,” hinted writer Kourtney Kang.

“I didn’t know it was weird until my friends came over, my white friends,” explained Khan. “My dad would put on a hairnet and sit under there and read Sports Illustrated.”

One sentiment that was echoed throughout the interviews was that Fresh Off the Boat is not just about representing Asians, it’s also entertainment, pure and simple.

“If you make a show and it’s not funny, it’s a noble failure,” says Khan matter-of-factly. “Because people will say, ‘I see what they tried to do,’ and it’s nice that they tried, but you get cancelled.”

“It’s not just a show about Asian Americans for Asian Americans,” remarked Mar in a conversation after our interview was officially over. “It’s a show for everybody, through the lens of Asian Americans.”

And while everyone hopes that the popularity of Fresh Off the Boat will pave the way for more TV shows featuring Asian Americans, Park acknowledges, “You need that one show to create more shows.”

What’s next? While it’s too early to know if Fresh Off the Boat will be picked up for a second season, I certainly hope we get to watch Eddie and his brothers take their SATs and get into a good colleges. After all, isn’t that what every Chinese mother wants?

Special thanks to ABC for recognizing the influence of the AAPI blogosphere and flying me to Southern California to meet actor Randall Park and the producers of the hit sitcom Fresh Off the Boat. All opinions expressed are my own.

 

For more Fresh off the Boat coverage, check out these posts: 

Thien-Kim’s Interview with Randall Park & Fresh Off the Boat Producers at I’m Not the Nanny

Stephanie’s Just Be Yourself #FreshOfftheBoat at Frankly My Dear

TerriAnn’s Interview with Kourtney Kang, Nahnatchka Khan and Melvin Mar & Randall Park Interview at Cookies and Clogs