SubtitledAn Immigrants Guide to Disappointing Your Parents, the book documents Yangs journey from Chinese immigrant to television star.
And yeah, he knows what youre thinking.
Im 30 years old, what the hell am I doing writing a memoir?
Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
I look like an ahole.
the Justice League of Asians was a transcendent experience.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What made you want to write a book?
Da Capo Press
Im very self-conscious about certain things.
I look like an ahole.
It came naturally, and they trusted me enough to let me write it all in my own voice.
The title is simple and works great; where did that come from?
Its not a self-help book, but hopefully people can find it helpful reading my story.
The subtitle we struggled with for a long time.
The first iteration of the subtitle was A Narcissistic Memoir Disguised as an Immigrants Story.
Its once again my low self-esteem saying, Who am I to write a book?
I need to make fun of myself.
Because if you call yourself narcissistic, then you might write the most narcissistic s ever and its fine.
Because throughout the journey, my dad is pretty disappointed, probably to this day.He literally just told me.
And my dad was like, No, not really.
I wish he was a scientist.
I guess scientist is more noble in the Asian culture.
Maybe successful author will get you closer to him being proud.
I just saw her in the Chinese newspaper.
The Chinese newspaper is the status quo, so I need to get in there.
At least you have a goal now.But EW is great.
Ill send him a copy and see what he thinks.
[Listen to an exclusive audio excerpt from the chapter below.]
So its one of those forks in the road; it could have really gone the other way.
Youre starring in theupcoming film adaptationof Kevin Kwans best-selling novelCrazy Rich Asians.
This is a summer movie with an all-Asian cast being released by a major studio.
How does it feel to be a part of such a historic project?It was an amazing experience.
Going into it, I wasnt sure what to think about it.
Usually when youre Asian and youre on set, youre the only Asian there.
Either youre the token Asian or youre the Asian sidekick.
Its amazing to see, like, the Justice League of Asians coming together for this movie.
Its the new Asian coalition mafia.
I mostly dated white girls before this movie, but now I need to find myself an Asian girl.
[Laughs] You cant do that, youre going to let yourself down.
I have no expectations.
I think its going to do really well because its a really, really great film.
Its not just for Asians, its for everyone.
How to Americanhits shelves March 13, whileCrazy Rich Asiansopens in theaters Aug. 17.
