By Erin Chew
Universal Pictures is scheduled to release the coming-of-age film DÌDI (弟弟) on October 29. The film about a teenage boy navigating life in a Taiwanese American home is also still playing in theaters in select cities.
Sean Wang’s debut feature film had its World Premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in January and had its theater release all across the USA in July. AsAmNews attended the film’s World Premiere and spoke to the director- Wang and all the cast members from the main protagonists to the supporting cast members.
In a catch up piece, AsAmNews revisited the two main stars in DÌDI (弟弟)– Izaac Wang (Clifford the Big Red Dog, Raya and the Last Dragon) who played the tween Chris Wang and Joan Chen ( The Last Emperor, Saving Face) who played the mother of Wang, Chungsing Wang, to find out their thoughts on the film getting the theatric release so a more large and diverse audience could watch the film.
Reaching the cusp of his teenage years, Wang stated that playing Chris was extremely relevant for him as when he was in the role, he was still a teenager, and understood everything his character was going through – because he also had just been through some of the coming-of-age journeys that his character was going through.
Wang, hopes that DÌDI (弟弟) is a relatable film for diverse audiences and will someday be remembered as one of the Hollywood coming-of-age films such as The Breakfast Club, Dead Poets Society, Eighth Grade and The Outsiders etc.
“It is funny because I was and in many ways still am a teenager who played a tween in DÌDI (弟弟). The journey that my character Chris went through was fresh in my mind because it wasn’t that long ago that I went through some of the motions of growing up”, Wang stated.
“Now that the film has its theatric release more people will be able to watch this, and more young people and those who grew up as a young person between generations and cultures can relate to the themes of the film.”
Disagreements and misunderstandings between child and parent is an inevitable rite of passage for most teens, due to differing views and opinions on life. Adding in different cultures and locking heads with identity issues and intergenerational cultural misunderstandings, the recipe is a little messier and tells the story of many Asian Americans growing up.
For Chen, this is an all-too-common feeling. Stating that her two children are the best and turned out to be awesome young people, she still understands the cultural differences between her growing up Chinese and her children growing up American.
In essence Chen inserted her own real life, personal experience into her role as Chungsing Wang and hopes her performance did justice for all the Asian mothers out there.
“Both Chunsing and myself are actually very similar. We are both immigrants to America and we both brought up children in America. We both had fraught relationships with our children due to cultural chasms but ultimately we all love. Chunsing was afraid for her children and that was how I was being an older mother and being away from my family. This is a feeling all Asian mothers and possibly all mothers have for their children.”
On the topic of cultural identity, Chris and the other teen characters in the film go through these journeys. They question Asian parental expectations of studying hard and keeping out of trouble and the desire to have the freedom to do as they please like all other American teens.
Wang passionately stated that like Chris, he and many other teens of Asian and other cultural backgrounds would have confronted this, and in many ways, it is a fork in the road of multiple decisions and desires that need to be made and met.
“Like Chris, I too struggled with my identity when I was younger. I didn’t know who I wanted to be identity wise and I just wanted to belong – which is what Chris desires deeply. When we have parents who are Asian or come from other cultural backgrounds this struggle forms another layer and we all must decide why and what are we doing here, is the path we are on the right one or is it time to start a new path.”
At Sundance Sean Wang mentioned to AsAmNews that working with Chen was an absolute honor. Not only was he elated to have her legendary presence in his debut feature film, but he learned so much from her experience on and off the screen. Wang said it was such an opportunity for him to act as Chen’s son in the film and improve in his own acting skills and career – which really has just started.
When this was bought up with Chen, she humbled the praises and stated that even with her insurmountable acting experience she still learns every day and that was the case with both the Wangs (Sean and Izaac).
“You know what? Even with my many years of experience, I can say being an actor is still an ongoing dream for me – that means I am still on the journey of learning and self-improvement. If I can impart any of my experiences on others, that is something I will always aim to do. I learned so much from Sean in terms of how to create an atmosphere of support and how to create tight bonds with cast and crew and with Izaac I was continuously learning about this new generation and the energy they can bring”.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
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Last day to get tickets for our fundraiser Up Close with Connie Chung, America’s first Asian American to anchor a nightly network newscast. The in-depth conversation with Connie will be held tonight, November 14 at 7:30 at Columbia University’s Milbank Chapel in the Teacher’s College. All proceeds benefit AsAmNews.
