Nancy Kwan Reflects on Stardom in New Memoir

Widely remembered as one of the first Asian American movie stars, Nancy Kwan takes readers through her journey from obscurity to her now celebrated place among cinema royalty in her new memoir “The World of Nancy Kwan.”

Born in Hong Kong in 1939 to a Chinese father and a British mother, Kwan often felt at one remove from her peers as a result of her mixed heritage. According to KQED, this feeling of isolation and the ensuing identity confusion was a major theme that would follow her into her acting career. 

WLIW wrote that Kwan was first launched into stardom at age 20 when she landed the lead role in the 1960 film “The World of Suzie Wong,” from which the name of her recent memoir is derived.

Entertainment Weekly noted that the overnight fame from the success of the film came at a price. Kwan recounts feeling vulnerable on set, including a now-infamous wardrobe dispute where she refused to wear lingerie for a scene. “Were they taking advantage of my youth and inexperience? Absolutely,” she writes. She was also often subjected to racist stereotypes quite publicly, with her recalling that during promotional tours, the press “insisted on attributing quotes to [her] that perpetuated xenophobic tropes.”

Despite these struggles, KQED sums up Kwan’s narrative as an optimistic one. Rather than leave her readers on the harsh realities she faced, Kwan closes her account by describing her work as “joyous entertainment with the universal message that whatever our race, we’re all alike,” and by expressing the hope that by uplifting Asian American voices, “East can meet West and possibly make the world a little better.”

The memoir is currently available for order online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.