Constance Wu

At 42 years old, Constance Wu has this physical status:

Constance Wu (born March 22, 1982) is an American actress.

Jessica Huang stars in the ABC television comedy Fresh Off the Boat (2015–present), which is her first appearance.

Wu was nominated for two TCA Awards and four Critics' Choice Television Awards for Fresh Off the Boat, among other things.

She became the fourth Asian woman to be nominated for the former.

In 2019, she appeared in Hustlers, a hit movie. Wu was included on the annual Time 100 list of the world's most influential individuals in 2017.

Early life

Constance Wu was born in Richmond, Virginia. Her parents immigrated from Taiwan. Fang-Sheng Wu, her father, is a Virginia Commonwealth University biology and genetics professor, and her mother, a computer programmer, is a computer programmer. Wu said that her paternal grandparents were very poor, surviving as bamboo farmers, and that they did not have the opportunity to learn and write. She is the third of four children.

She graduated from Douglas S. Freeman High School in Henrico County, Virginia, where she appeared in local theater. She attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute during high school and studied film theory. Wu obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Purchase's Conservatory of Theatre Arts in 2005, completing the Wu Yang Performing program. Wu has cited Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee as a source of influence. Wu explored psycholinguistics and even considered a doctorate in speech pathology before deciding on acting and moving to Los Angeles.

Personal life

Wu lives in Los Angeles. Wu met actor Ben Hethcoat, whom she dated until February 2018. Wu spoke out about online bullying and chastisation for dating Hethcoat, a white male. Wu gave birth to her first child, a girl, in August 2020 with her partner Ryan Kattner, frontman of Man Man, and her bandmate Ryan Kattner.

Wu is an activist for Chinese representation in American media, and she has voiced her support for bringing more diversity to the film industry. Wu has opened up stories about times she was refused jobs due to her ethnicity, as well as the desire that her work would help facilitate more representation in the US film industry. Wu's image is used in film promotional material to highlight Chinese actors' paucity in starring roles, according to the #StarringConstanceWu hashtag, which was modified by Chinese-American activists.

In an interview with Teen Vogue, Wu worked for Miry's List, an organization that provides essential kits to newly arriving immigrants and refugees in Southern California, saying that she wants to be involved in her care of "people with the confidence to embark on an immigrant journey in search of peace, security, and well-being for their families."

Wu expressed her dissatisfaction with the show's renewal in May 2019, posting "Dislike" on the show's Instagram post announcing the renewal and tweeting, "I'm actually crying." Ugh. "Fuckus!" says the narrator. Several days later, Wu announced that she had been furious at the show's revival because it had made her "very passionate about" another venture, one that would have been an artistic challenge compared to her role in Fresh Off the Boat. She continued to love her cast mates and displayed no animosity against them. On social media, the articles provoked retaliation. Wu revealed in July 2022 that the scandal, and particularly several private messages from "a fellow Chinese actress" who told Wu that she had "become a blight on the Chinese American community," had prompted her to try suicide; she was found by a friend and saved. Wu abstained from social media for the next three years and switched her acting hours to "focus on my mental stability," which required psychotherapy. Wu claimed in interviews that she was the object of sexual assault by an unidentified manufacturer of Fresh off the Boat in September 2022.

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Career

Wu performed onstage and in independent films in New York City. In Stephanie Daley (2006), she made her film debut as a supporting actress. She appeared in Year of the Fish and The Architect later in life. She appeared on television in episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Torchwood, and Covert Affairs, and she had a regular role as Laudine Lee on ABC soap opera One Life to Live in 2007. Wu said in an interview that she migrated from New York to Los Angeles in 2010 after a heartbreak. She appeared in Sound of My Voice, directed by Zal Batmanglij, in Los Angeles. Wu appeared in the web series EastSiders from 2012 to 2017. Both for Best Ensemble - Drama in 2014 and 2016. She was also nominated for two Indie Series Awards, one for Best Supporting Actress - Drama and the other for Best Guest Actress - Drama.

Wu spent 2014 in Sundance Screenwriters' Lab, with two up-and-coming Asian-American directors, Yung Chang and Christopher Yogi, in what she felt was a unique opportunity to help fellow Asian storytellers. Wu gained the lead role in ABC comedy program Fresh Off the Boat alongside Randall Park in 2014. The series is loosely based on chef and food writer Eddie Huang's book Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir. Wu received critical attention for her role as the series premiered in 2015.

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She has been named a breakout star of the 2014-15 television season. Jessica Huang received four nominations for her role as Jessica Huang, as well as two TCA awards for Individual Achievement in Comedy.

She appeared in the Hulu anthology series Dimension 404 in 2017 and was included on the annual Time 100 list of the world's most influential people. In February 2017, Wu was featured as the female lead in Jon M. Chu's adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians, which is based on Kevin Kwan's best-selling book of the same name. Warner Bros.' film was released in the United States and Canada on August 15, 2018, marking the first major Hollywood studio film to feature an all-Asian cast since 1993's The Joy Luck Club. The film was a critical and commercial hit and it debuted as the highest-grossing romantic comedy in a decade, grossing over $238 million. Wu received critical acclaim for her performance, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actor Guild Award, a Satellite Award, two Critics' Choice Movie Awards, and two NAACP Image Awards. She is the first Asian woman to be nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical, as well as the fourth-ever female Asian nominee. Wu has returned to reprise her role as Rachel Chu in both sequels to Crazy Rich Asians titled China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People in 2020, though production on them has yet to begin. Wu appeared in Crow: The Legend as Skunk, a short animated film released in November 2018.

In 2019, the actress appeared alongside Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers, a film about a group of Manhattan strippers who rob wealthy men. The film opened on September 13, 2019 and became a box office hit, grossing over $157 million globally and receiving praise from critics. Wu spent time undercover at a strip joint to prepare for the position. Wu appeared in the independent drama film I Was a Simple Man in 2019. Wu would appear in a film called Goodbye Vitamin, based on Rachel Khong's debut novel, in June 2019. Universal Pictures will distribute the film, and Wu will act as an executive producer on the film. Wu was cast in the Amazon Prime thriller series The Terminal List in March 2021. She signed a first glance TV contract with Entertainment One more recently. In the forthcoming film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, which will be published in theaters on October 7th, 2022, she plays Mrs. Primm. She will also be seen in the debut of the play 2:22 A Ghost Novel in the United States.

In October 2022, Wu published her first book, Making a Scene.

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