For the stars of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the movie is more than a job. It’s affirmation of who they are as Asians in an industry where they are often unseen.
Simu Liu who plays the titular role wrote a letter of gratitude on Instagram.
“The sun rose today to a world where Asian superheroes exist as the leads of their story; that is the gift that (director) @destindaniel and @marvelstudios have bestowed upon all of us, across all communities, everywhere. A celebration and a sharing of culture, of language, of laughter, of excitement, of sorrow and of heartbreak,” Liu proclaimed.
Awkwafina, who stars as Shang-Chi’s childhood friend, told ABC7 News that the movie is a reason to celebrate.
“I think this movie is very significant for the AAPI community. Specifically he’s the first Asian superhero and what that means to underrepresented communities is that they can see themselves reflected in Hollywood. It’s really important,” said Awkwafina.
The movie raked in more than $70 million in the Labor Day weekend box office, breaking a Labor Day record and coming in third at the box office during the Pandemic behind just Marvel’s Black Widow and Justin Lin’s F9.
“It felt like people were underestimating us,” said Liu to ABC7’s Kristen Sze. “I was reading some really really low estimates for a real long time. It’s been a crazy weekend to see those numbers go up and up.”
Liu admits he didn’t see this coming.
“It’s such a dream come true. I wanted to play a superhero my whole life. Before I wanted to be in movies, I wanted to be a superhero. Just to see so many people from our community support this movie as well. Seeing all the theater buy outs. The grass roots campaigns. That is the engine that is propelling this movie forward.
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All I can say is YAYYYY!!!