We’ve talked about the incredible cast in the upcoming film, White Frog.

BD Wong, Joan Chen, Harry Shum, Jr., BooBoo Stewart...talk about star power!

Here’s the trailer for the film.

White Frog follows an Asian American family dealing with the death of Chaz Young (Shum), a brother, son and friend. The story centers around young Nick (Stewart) who also has Asberger’s.

What are your thoughts on the trailer?

“Making someone laugh is the best. Laughter is the best medicine in the world.” — Dilshad Vadsaria

ISSUE: Summer 2011

DEPT: Personalities

STORY: Jennifer Chen

Greek actress Dilshad Vadsaria aims to please in the summer comedy 30 Minutes or Less.

For a girl whose first name means “happy heart,” Dilshad Vadsaria knows how to deliver one-line zingers.

And audiences will get a chance to see her do so as she made her film debut in 30 Minutes or Less this past August, playing fellow South Asian American Aziz Ansari’s sister and Jesse Eisenberg’s love interest, along with funny men Nick Swardson and Danny McBride.

Was Vadsaria, fresh from her role as Rebecca Logan (Becks, to fans) on ABC Family’s hit show Greek, intimidated to be working with such a funny cast of characters for her very first film role? No, she was too busy flying back and forth from Los Angeles to Michigan, shooting the final season of Greek and
filming her first scenes with Eisenberg. “There wasn’t time to think about it,” she says. But she did love every minute of it, especially since Kate, her 30 Minutes character, is the polar opposite of wealthy sorority girl Rebecca. As Vadsaria puts it, “Rebecca is filthy rich and has a jet. Kate, on the other hand, is working her way up and pursuing a career.”

It’s something Vadsaria could probably relate to. Born in Pakistan, Vadsaria decided to pursue a career in acting despite her parents’ desire that she become a doctor. So instead of telling her family she was taking acting classes in New York City, she told them she was “looking for a job.” After landing a starring role in Greek, she finally admitted she was moving to Los Angeles to be an actress. It was her first acting job, playing the girl everybody loved to hate. “I like to say she is misunderstood,” quips Vadsaria.

From teenage angst to grownup comedy, Vadsaria learned a new skill set watching her 30 Minutes comedian castmates on set — improv. “I couldn’t stop laughing,” she says. “Coming from TV where you have to stick to the script, here these guys were, throwing stuff in. It was so cool.” For this would-be doctor turned actress, Vadsaria has already learned what no degree can bestow: “Making someone laugh is the best. Laughter is the best medicine in the world.”

— Jennifer Chen

More stories from Audrey Magazine’s Archives here.

“When I see someone like a Harry [Shum, Jr.], I get excited. I think about me as a kid — like, ‘oh my god, I want to be cool like that.’” — Jon M. Chu on Asian role models.

ISSUE: Spring 2011

DEPT: Personalities

STORY: Katrina Guevara

Jon M. Chu may be known for directing dance films, namely Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up 3D, but don’t pigeonhole him just yet. The 31-year-old says he’s just a modern fairytale story- teller, whether it be through dance, superhero stories, or an old fashioned boy-meets-girl romance. He even considers his latest film, the 3D musical documentary, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, a modern-day fairytale. “[It’s] about a kid from a small town who follows his dream, has Usher as a mentor, finds his way and is anointed by the king,” says Chu.
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Being a recent postgrad myself and having moved back home since my plans for summer abroad fell through, I feel somewhat stuck.

Here I am, with an expensive degree, at home, hopelessly looking for a job that will see me through at least the summer. I can’t exactly move out because I don’t have any real funds to sustain me for long, but being at home has made me revert back to a weird “upgraded” (updated?) version of the self I was before I ran off to college on the other side of the continent. I’ve come from cooking my own dinners and cleaning my own bathroom to piling up my laundry for my mom to do while rotting my brain with episodes of Dexter, with intermittent breaks to go to the gym or meet up with friends. Then there are the showdowns I face with my mom as we struggle to one up each other as we argue about curfew, my social habits, or the quality of the clothes I’ve scavenged from thrift stores and sales racks.

It’s tough being in “adultolescence” with a Tiger Mom.

Which is the very conflict directors Vicky Shen and Zoe Bui and producer Eleonore Dailly tackle in their 90-minute film, Adultolescence.

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Check out the official trailer for director Wayne Wang‘s (The Joy Luck Club) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan featuring Li Bing Bing (The Forbidden Kingdom), Gianna Jun (My Sassy Girl), and Hugh Jackman.

“I don’t strive for more in a way that makes me feel bad. I strive for more in a way that keeps me excited and having fun.” — Randall Park

ISSUE: Spring 2011

DEPT: Personalities

STORY: Janice Jann

In recent years, Randall Park’s mug has been all over the place. On TV, he’s either awkward-ing it up in KY lubricant commercials, or on House as a patient undergoing a lobotomy. He’s raking in laughs as the lovelorn Carlton in the indie film The People I’ve Slept With and as the silent Henderson in Dinner with Schmucks. He’s gone viral online in quirky short films, often ones he’s written and produced. The 36- year-old Korean American talent is used to wearing a lot of hats. Continue Reading »

This year’s Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival was bigger and better than ever before.

I know people use that phrase to advertise things all the time but in this circumstance, it was actually true!

I’ve attended this film fest for a couple of years in a row. Supporting my fellow Asian American artists and filmmakers, some whom I have the honor of calling friends now.

This year, I’m able to truly reflect how far we’ve come as Asian Americans working in the film and entertainment industry. And we’ve come far. Just take a look at these two AA institutions: Wong Fu Productions and Angry Asian Man.

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Every now and then, a book comes along that transforms my body and soul–in the literal sense too because I starve and sleep-deprive myself in order to finish reading as soon as possible. There was The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Eyes of the Dragon, Food for Millionaires, Life of Pi, A Great and Terrible Beauty, My Sister’s Keeper, Eat Pray Love, The House of the Spirits, The Harry Potter series and much much more but I am terrible at remembering titles.

The Hunger Games is no exception. In fact, if anything, it is like all my favorite books rolled into one fantastic trilogy. There’s the love story, the action, the drama, the mystery, the conspiracy, the humor, the meaningful message that stays with you on the state of our world.
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Indian-born beauty and former Audrey cover-girl Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) sheds her cute girl-next-door to show some serious acting chops in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly director Julian Schnabel’s latest political drama, Miral. Pinto plays an orphaned Palestinian girl growing up in the wake of Arab-Israeli war who finds herself drawn into the conflict.

The film explores how one woman’s defiant belief that education will pave the road to peace and will hit theaters Friday, March 25.

Check out Miral’s trailer below:

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Teen shows seem to offer richer opportunities for young Asian American actors these days. But what’s it like actually being “that Asian on that show”? We find out from actresses Ashley Argota (True Jackson, VP), Jolene Purdy (Gigantic) and Nikki Soohoo (The Lovely Bones) in our teen roundtable.
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