Glee’s second episode of the season is on tonight! And this being the Britney episode, we know it’s going to be a good one.
However, it was last week’s episode that was an unforgettable one to our writer, Camelia.
Here are her thoughts.
As an admitted gleek I had been waiting all summer for last week’s season two premiere of the Fox hit show Glee. As a Filipina American I was eagerly anticipating seeing 18-year-old singing sensation Charice belt her heart out for the world to hear. Charice’s appearance on Glee is a huge deal for the Filipino/Filipino American communities, but it is also a huge deal for the Asian/Asian American communities as a whole because she is continuing to put Asians/Asian Americans on the map in big ways.
The fact that Charice landed a role on an über popular primetime television show is a big deal to me, personally, because I grew up rarely seeing any Asian Americans on TV. However, when I did see an Asian American they were usually the bad guys beating people up with their karate moves; the nerdy guy or girl in the background; or the outcast foreigner with a thick accent and only speak broken English. What’s even more exciting to me is that on Glee Charice, a girl born and raised in the Philippines is playing the role of a Filipina girl born and raised in the Philippines who “totally” speaks English, as she told Rachel Berry.
As soon as Charice’s character Sunshine Corazon began singing her breathtaking version of “Listen” from Dreamgirls, tweets about Charice exploded on Twitter and people immediately updated their Facebook statuses to praise the young vocal prodigy. YouTube star AJ Rafael tweeted to the singer, “Charice, I love you. You make us singers proud. And most importantly you make us Filipinos proud.” Hundreds of Filipinos instantaneously retweeted Rafael’s message in support of their fellow Filipino.
The fact that individuals like Charice, Harry Shum, Jr., Jason Wu, AJ Rafael and Manny Pacquiao can become household names here in the U.S. shows the positive shift going on in our society right now. More and more people are recognizing the talents of Asian Americans and are no longer limiting them to just being intelligent and hard working. We’re slowly moving away from further perpetuating stereotypes about Asians such as being the “model minority” and it is FREAKING AWESOME. It’s awesome that young Asian Americans growing up right now can look up to musicians, dancers, fashion designers and athletes who may have similar backgrounds to theirs and look like them.
Glee airs on FOX Tuesdays at 9PM.
The Event
One of the most highly anticipated new shows coming out this season is NBC’s The Event. A high-octant thriller about an Everyman named Sean Walker (Jason Ritter, The Class) who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée Leilia (Sarah Roemer, Disturbia) and accidentally begins to expose the biggest government cover-up in U.S. history, affecting the lives of several strangers including the newly elected U.S. President Martinez (played by Blair Underwood of Dirty Sexy Money) and Sophia (Laura Innes, ER).
Ian Anthony Dale plays detective Simon Lee
One of the key characters in the show is detective Simon Lee, played by actor Ian Anthony Dale (of Japanese, French and English descent.) If you recognize Dale’s exceptionally sculpted face, it’s probably because the actor, 32, has been all over television, including shows like CSI, Cold Case, Without a Trace, Bones and 24.
The hype surrounding the show adds to the casts’ publicity workload, with Dale having to make numerous press appearances, from San Diego’s Comic Con to the Emmy’s. Despite his frenzied schedule, the actor took some time to chat with Audrey.
How are you doing these days, Ian?
For the last couple of months, been pretty exciting and really busy. My life went from being pretty laid-back to pretty hectic.
It’s awesome that you were able to land a part on The Event. How did that happen?
I heard of the job from Jeffrey Reiner. Just last year, I was lucky enough to do a guest star role on Trauma which Jeffrey Reiner was also exec producing/directing. I got some pretty good opportunities to do some good work and I must have done a good job cause he then started pushing me for the role of Simon Lee for The Event. This is a really exciting opportunity.
Did you always know you wanted to act?
When I was a junior in high school, I had never done any acting and my friend says why don’t we try out for this one act play? I was trying to get over my fear of public speaking so I thought why not? I was lucky enough to get a speaking part and I quickly discovered theatre and performing was something I enjoyed. I actually shifted gear when I went to college because I was so disillusioned with Asian American roles. The odds were stacked against me. However, over my four years in college, I saw the landscape begin to change. You saw Lucy Liu on Ally Mcbeal and I thought, why don’t I give this a shot? So after I graduated, I packed my bags and headed to LA.
And now, you’re on one of the hottest shows this season, The Event. The show has been getting comparisons to Lost and Heroes. How do these comparisons make you feel?
I think it’s nice to draw those kinds of comparisons ‘cause you’re talking about shows that have been on air for a really long time. I think people are going to have a lot of high expectations but they don’t want to be hung out to dry because a lot of people felt like their lives were wasted from the ending of Lost. Our show will try not to repeat the mistakes of that show and questions will get answered but I don’t feel any personal pressure but the pressure really rides on the shoulders of the producers and writers because they have to come up with engaging stories week in and week out. I’m just enjoying the chance to get to work with amazing people.
Catch Ian Anthony Dale in The Event tonight on NBC.
You know you’re hot when pictures of you are upsetting malls all over America.
Too Sexy For Malls?
Posters of Nikita star (and former Audrey cover girl) Maggie Q- and her smokin’ guns and gams -have been pulled off several malls and shopping areas across America as supervisors are afraid of the images being too sexy and fiery. According to Variety, the shots of Q in a leather outfit seated with machine guns have been turned down by various shopping outlets, including the Grove in LA. Places in New York, Chicago and Illinois also passed on the image, allowing a replacement ad of the actress wearing a long red gown, holding a machine gun to be shown instead.
I dont particularly find these images too revealing. Victoria’s Secret ads show more than this! What do you think about all this brou ha ha? Much ado about nothing or a justified cause for concern? Either way, generating more buzz for the already killer-looking show is sure to be good for Nikita when it premieres on the CW on September 9.
More coverage of Maggie Q and her new show can be found in Audrey’s Fall issue.
“The public is screaming for Asian American talent,” CAPE director, Jennifer Sanderson tells me. “Screaming for Asian American talent. I get calls on a daily basis asking for Asian American writers and talents. I want our communities to know about these opportunities and just really go for it.”
A diverse crowd came out to support CAPE
Judging by the numerous submissions that CAPE received from the United States and all over the world (including Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan), it seems like the talents are responding. The prestigious 11th annual CAPE New Writers Awards, in both Screenwriting and Television Writing categories packed the Japanese American National Museum’s (JANM) theater with industry newcomers and pros alike.
CAPE honors Jaffar Mahmood with this year's Screenwriting Winner Award
This year's Television Writing Winner, Randall Park & wife
The event, produced by CAPE (the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) Foundation, Inc., and Fox Entertainment Group (with support from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association), honored Jaffar Mahmood as the Screenwriting winner for his script, How to Throw a Party in Pakistan. Mia Riverton’s script, His & Hers and Ann. N. Truong’s script, So I Married a Black Guy were 1st and 2nd runner up, respectively. Randall Park took home the Television Writing award for his original script, Erasists. Leonard Chang’s Isa’s Return was 1st runner-up and Becoming Kate by Leonardo Nam and Sara Drew was 2nd runner up.
If many of these names sound familiar to you, it’s probably because they are familiar faces.
Ceremony producer Leo Chu remarks, “About half of our finalists this year have been actors so apparently, they have been busy acting as well as writing.” He goes on to joke, “Some of them, it’s the first script they’ve ever written which is pretty astounding and disheartening to me as a writer.”
And even more impressive is the fact that whereas in the past, winners have been scripts that were adapted from shows currently on air or movies that have already been made (for example, last year’s Television Writing Winner, Aaron Ho’s script was his version of a How I Met Your Mother episode), all 6 of this year’s scripts were original.
After the awards were handed out, the audience was treated to readings of last year’s winning scripts. Amusing, heartfelt and very well-written, the works definitely carry merit.
“Writers are king, “ Sanderson says, “We have to develop these talents.”
Future projects CAPE has in store for aspiring writers include a “Writing for Mainstream” workshop which Sanderson feels will be an amazing way for writers to get their work out.
If you’re interested in CAPE or its activities, please check out their site. Video of the event can be found here.
Photos courtesy of Steven Lam
