Constance Wu (born March 22, 1982) is a Taiwanese-American actress. She starred as Jessica Huang in the ABC television comedy ’Fresh Off the Boat’ (2015–2020), which was her breakthrough role. She has been nominated for two TCA Awards and four Critics’ Choice Television Awards for ‘Fresh Off the Boat’.
In film, Wu was further lauded for her role as Rachel Chu in the 2018 romantic comedy-drama film ’Crazy Rich Asians’, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, among others. She became the first Asian woman in over 40 years to be nominated for the former category, and the fourth ever female Asian nominee. In 2019, she starred in the crime drama film ’Hustlers’.
In 2017, Wu was included on the annual ’Time 100’ list of the most influential people in the world.
Career
In New York City, Wu got roles onstage and in independent movies. She made her screen debut with a supporting role in ’Stephanie Daley’ (2006). She later had supporting roles in ’Year of the Fish’ and ’The Architect’. On television, she appeared in episodes of ’Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’, ’Torchwood’, and ’Covert Affairs’, and had a recurring role as Laudine Lee on the ABC soap opera ’One Life to Live’ in 2007. In an interview, Wu stated that she impulsively decided to move to Los Angeles from New York in 2010 after a heartbreak. In Los Angeles, she was cast in Sound of My Voice, directed by Brit Marling.
From 2012 to 2017, Wu starred in the web series EastSiders. She won two Indie Series Awards, 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 in those same years.
In 2014, Wu participated in Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab with two emerging Asian-American directors, Yung Chang and Christopher Yogi, in what she felt was a unique opportunity to support fellow Asian storytellers.
In 2014, after landing a role in one unsuccessful comedy pilot, Wu won the leading role in the ABC comedy series ’Fresh Off the Boat’ alongside Randall Park. The series is loosely based on the life of chef and food personality Eddie Huang and his book ’Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir’.
The series premiered in 2015, and Wu received critical acclaim for her performance. E! named her a breakout star of the 2014-15 television season. For her role as Jessica Huang, she received four nominations for The Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series and two Television Critics Association TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy.
‘Time 100’
In 2017, she appeared in the Hulu anthology series, ’Dimesionn 404’, and was included on the annual ’Time 100’ list of the most influential people in the world.
In February 2017, it was announced that Wu had been set to star in Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of ’Crazy Rich Asians’, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Kevin Kwan. The film was released in the United States and Canada on August 15, 2018, by Warner Bros., and was 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 success and emerged as the highest-grossing romantic comedy in a decade, grossing over $238 million. Wu received critical acclaim for her performance and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, A Satellite Award, two Critics’ Choice Movie Awards and two NAACP Image Awards.
In November 2018, Wu starred in a short animated film ’Crow: The Legend’ as Skunk.
In May 2019, ’Fresh Off the Boat’ was renewed for a 6th season. On the show’s Instagram page when announcing its renewal in a post, Wu commented “Dislike” and then continued to voice her displeasure for the show’s renewal with profanity-laden Twitter posts, which led many to speculate about her reasoning. Wu later clarified her comments, saying that she felt like her role on ’Fresh Off the Boat’ had become “easy and pleasant,” and expressed disappointment that the show’s renewal had forced her to pull out of another project that she was “really passionate about.” She further stated that she loved her cast mates and harbored no animosity toward them.
In 2019, the actress starred alongside Jennifer Lopez in the crime comedy film ’Hustlers’, following a group of Manhattan strippers who rob wealthy men. The film opened on September 13, 2019, and became a box office success, grossing over $157 million worldwide and receiving positive reviews from critics. Wu worked at a strip club undercover to prepare for the role. Also in 2019, Wu starred in the independent drama film ’I Was a Simple Man’.
Upcoming projects
Wu revealed on ’The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ that she has signed on to reprise her role as Rachel Chu in both sequels to ’Crazy Rich Asians’ titled ’China Rich Girlfriend’ and ’Rich People Problems’ set for back-to-back filming in 2020.
In June 2019, it was announced that Wu would play the leading role in a film titled ’Goodbye Vitamin’, based on the debut novel of Rachel Khong. The film will be distributed by Universal Pictures and Wu will serve as an executive producer on the film.
In March 2021, Wu was cast in the Amazon Prime thriller series ’The Terminal List’. More recently, she signed a first look TV deal with Entertainment One.