Also I have no problem with the movie having a Chinese character if that character is required for the story and the role is specifically written as having a Chinese or Star Wars equivalent background or more importantly, the best actor for the role just happens to be Chinese. But Rose’s character very much feels like she’s only there partly to put an extra tick in the box of “actor diversity” and that’s a slight to the actress herself who does a good job even if I find the character pointless and lacking in many aspects. It also makes me wonder alongside a number of other recent examples (that are not connected with SW) whether there is something to the talk about an increase in China’s influence on Hollywood due to the amount of money they are investing into it (and therefore a need to appease that demographic)…though in that case, one would have expected Matt Damon’s character in ‘The Great Wall’ to be cast with a Chinese actor, though I’m also sure the choice of Matt Damon was more in line with audience pull than authentic characters for a movie set in China.
This would all be a great point if she wasn’t born in America to Vietnamese parents.
Actually it wouldn’t be a great point, in fact it’s ridiculous, but you somehow managed to make it worse.
This aside, they were not casting specifically for an Asian actress.
Huh, if that’s true, color me surprised, considering how many important people were here for this diversity question.
If I remember correctly, Tatiana Maslany and Gugu Mbatha-Raw were a couple of the actresses in the running for the role.