Marvel star Simu Liu has come out swinging against Hollywood accusing it of a “fucking appalling” lack of Asian representation in its films, all enabled by a “deeply prejudiced system.”
“Put some asians in literally anything right now,” the 36-year-old actor wrote on Threads. “The amount of backslide in our representation onscreen is f**king appalling.”
“Studios think we’re risky,” Liu added.
The NY Post notes the Canadian actor then hailed multiple Asian-led films, including Minari, Crazy Rich Asians, Past Lives, Farewell, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and his own Marvel flick, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, that all succeeded at the box office.
“Every single one a financial success,” Liu stated. “No asian actor has ever lost a studio even close to 100 million dollars but a white dude will lose 200 million TWICE and roll right into the next tentpole lead.”
He added, “We’re fighting a deeply prejudiced system,” Liu added. “And most days it SUCKS.”
Canadian actor Simu Liu attends the Los Angeles premiere of Amazon MGM Studios’ “Jackpot!” at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, on August 13, 2024. ( VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty)
Liu is no stranger to speaking out on social media.
He told Variety in a recent interview he “should probably be more scared” of backlash, but his desire for justice overcomes his fears.
“I just feel like there’s something about the internet that makes people just crazy,” Liu said. “There’s something about the publicness of it and where people love being the guy to put someone else down [or] put an entire group of people down. I am so not for that energy.”
In 2023, he replied to a HuffPost article that claimed he was getting the “bulk of Asian male roles in Hollywood” over other actors from his community.
“Way to attempt to put us against one another,” Liu replied to the Facebook post at the time. “What ‘bulk’ of roles are you referring to? Are there movies I’m in that I’m not aware of? Do you really think that there is a quota of ‘Asian male roles’ that is a zero sum game?”
“Every thing I have taken post Shang-Chi was not written Asian,” he added. “We’ve been able to reshape stories to get more representation onscreen. Get your facts straight.”
As Breitbart News reported, in 2021 Liu accused producers of failing to respect Asian actors, claiming the “overwhelmingly white” staff of writers and producers failed to give full dimension to the principal cast of the popular sitcom Kim’s Convenience.
Liu claimed the show’s Asian stars were paid a “horsepoop rate” throughout its five-season run. He also expressed mixed emotions about the show’s only white principal character getting a spin-off series.
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