Meng'er Zhang
#SPOTTED: SIMU LIU, JEREMY LIN, KIM LEE, CHARLES MELTON, RONNY CHIENG + MORE IN TORONTO FOR 2022 CCYAA CELEBRITY CLASSIC
It was one for the books as the second CCYAA (Canadian Chinese Youth Athletic Association) Celebrity Classic powered by Virgin Plus, took place last night at the University of Toronto‘s Goldring Centre! Headlined by and featuring guest appearances by the likes of Simu Liu and NBA star Jeremy Lin, Comedian Ronny Chieng, Comedian Hasan Minhaj, Bling Empire star Kim Lee, Shang-Chi star Meng’er Zhang and more, the weekend was highlighted by a series of events leading up to the match. The event raises funds for the Jeremy Lin Foundation and the CCYAA’s new Community Centre.
Among the festivities this weekend were three Comedy Shows at Yuk Yuk’s with Comedian Julie Kim headlining. Kim recently wrote the Script for the JUNOS, hosted by Liu, and is confirmed for the upcoming Just for Laughs Festival! There also was a Youth Jam held at Goldring Centre, plus a four-day vendor Festival, FRESH FEST, at indoor Asian Night Market, SUPERFRESH in the Annex. For one day only, popular California Bubble Tea Chain BOPOMOFE CAFE did a pop-up shop which saw at one point, a 90-minute queue outside the hotspot.
As expected, Lin strut his stuff at the tournament, not to be outshined by Content Creator Mike Wu, whom many were saying deserved MVP! Fans went wild seeing up-close and personal some of their Asian-Canadian/American idols!
We were out and about and so thrilled to get to meet some of the stars in-town for the affair celebrating North American Asian Excellence.
See who we spotted, with a little help from beanie!
This event is amazing and hoping in coming years it remains an annual thing! So important to celebrate the accomplishments of this Community!
Learn more about it here.
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
#SPOTTED: JULIE KIM AT TORONTO’S COMEDY BAR
It’s been years since we’ve enjoyed some live Comedy! Scarborough’s Julie Kim continues to make waves in Comedy and Toronto was so lucky to get her back for two shows tonight on her current Tour, after having supported Funnyman Ronny Chieng on his Hope You Get Rich Tour. Though she’s based now in Vancouver, Kim‘s ties to Toronto continue to remain strong and she’s currently working closely with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu, as he hosts the Juno Awards in the City next month.
For those who aren’t familiar with Kim‘s Comedy, she looks at motherhood, marriage and also more so of late, race relations being a mother of a bi-racial daughter. She delivers a set that is unfiltered, hilarious and relatable, often poking fun at men and other women who are judgmental.
Kim headlined her own show at Comedy Bar on Bloor West, filling the club for two shows tonight – one at 7 PM and one at 9 PM. She worked the room, building to a crescendo. She ponders her life has a mother, whether it be breastfeeding, or her choice to “save the v” by doing the “c”, a Caesarian section. She admits she never thought much about race much growing-up, but this been on her mind of late as we group people by terms like “Person of Colour” or “BIPOC”, plus also seeing that many of her daughter’s classmates like her are bi-racial. She also makes funny observations about the “fetishization” of Asian women by white men.
Kim‘s ability to storytell is her strongest suit and in addition to being a sharp Comedian with a great command of the stage, her writing also is tight and edited. Inasmuch as the people in the front tables get picked-on a lot, we’re sure they love being in on the joke.
She was supported by some up-and-coming Canadian talent including Marito Lopez, who had the crowd cackling as he jokes about being a Latino Comedian from Calgary, and the height difference between his girlfriend and him, proclaiming himself a “Short King”.
Charles Demers emceed the night, the JUNO-nominated Comedian joking about being outnumbered by gay men in in his family and also being married to a Chinese-Canadian wife, something Kim wanted him to share seeing that some of her Comedy is inspired by her interracial marriage also.
Toronto’s Joe Vu also supported, reflecting on his experiences as an Asian man trying to date outside his race, with humour.
And there were some very special guests in the audience tonight, including Run the Burbs and Kim’s Convenience‘s Andrew Phung, plus also Meng’er Zhang who stars in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Zhang has just been announced to star in THE WITCHER as Milv, a Huntress with great skills in Archery. She is a good friend of Kim‘s! What a treat!
Learn more about Julie Kim‘s Comedy here, including her videos on YouTube which have garnered over 20+ million views.
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
#INTERVIEW: “SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS”
The buzz is feverish for Marvel Studios’ SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS! Starring Toronto’s own Simu Liu, the Action-Fantasy takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Shang-Chi (Liu) was trained at a young age to be an Assassin and after living a normal life in San Francisco, he’s draw-in to the Ten Rings organization, having to face again a part of his life he left behind. The Film is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Just Mercy) and stars a notable Cast including Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina, Sir Ben Kingsley, Meng’er Zhang and Ronny Chieng.
We got to sit-in on on the global Press Conference for the Film and joining us were:
Kevin Feige – Producer Simu Liu – Shang-Chi
Awkwafina – Katy
Ben Kingsley – Trevor Slattery
Meng’er Zhang – Xialing
Ronny Chieng – Jon Jon (Moderator)
Destin Daniel Cretton is asked what drew him to take on directing SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS.
Cretton: I feel the stories I am drawn to are a combination of humour and optimism, but also not shying away from the very real darkness and pain that we all experience as humans. I think this Movie really does encapsulate a lot of the things that I believe in.
Sir Ben Kingsley talks about cultural conversation and social impact of his Oscar-winning role in Gandhi and whether Shang-Chi in terms of storytelling and society will have similar impact.
Cretton: When you hear Destin‘s intentions behind this story, they are crystal-clear, lucid, pure motives. They are life-enhancing and not patronizing, because they do introduce in a beautiful way, memory, ancestry, loss and families torn apart, reunited and reconfigured. All of this is from Destin‘s heart, Kevin‘s heart and the Writers’ hearts. And if your motives are pure as a storyteller, the angels will come to assist you with that story.
This story ultimately will be healing because it’s not propaganda, it’s just a really beautiful story. I as an Actor, Trevor (reprising his Iron Man 3 character) of course is a Shakespearean actor and he finds himself transported into a completely exotic environment, but he survives. And thanks to the welcome Kevin, Destin and my beautiful colleagues gave me. I have done 17 out of Shakespeare‘s whole canon of plays, so I’m sort of a Shakespearean actor. As soon as I arrived on-set, the fact that my colleagues were of a different culture was immaterial and irrelevant. We are Actors together and we live on empathy and transformation and this is our currency. All the rest is irrelevant. If we can demonstrate that energy, ultimately it will be healing and soothing.
Meng’er Zhang talks about stage acting and film acting, playing Shang-Chi‘s estranged sister, Xialing.
Zhang: Oh, it was so different because this was my very first film experience and I am so lucky to work with all of them. Sir Ben, I asked him a lot of questions on-set. As he said so beautifully, when we are on-stage, we are landscape artists and when we are in front of camera, we are portrait artists. And I felt that gave me a very clear image. I literally took notes!
Kingsley: I thought you were just correcting my spelling!
Zhang: I also remember when we were doing some stunts, it was so different from stage acting. I remember the makeup team doing the final touch-up on my fringe to make sure everything was perfect. Someone came to tell me ‘Meng’er, there’s going to be a bit of wind and water’, so I said ‘Okay!’ and I was ready. Then, 3-2-1, action! And then the wind was like… (making aggressive wind sounds). And then okay, reset! (laughing).
Awkwafina talks about physicality of her character Katy, a close friend to Shang-Chi.
Awkwafina: I’d say this was slightly more physically demanding. But not physically-demanding as in like wind, but more like I was falling as a team with gravity. When I fall, my neck kinda gives out. It’s kind of a ‘me issue’ as I don’t have the will power to lift it up.
I actually went to a race track and learned how to drift, which was really fun but probably not practical in any scenario. And I learned how to shoot a bow and arrow.
Simu Liu comments on working with some of the Film’s heavy hitters.
Liu: It was like Impostor Syndrome every single day. Truly, it was such a treat. I did all I could do not to mess it up. When I was first cast, I did my final screen test with Nora (Awkwafina) and she did such a wonderful job putting me at ease. My nerves were sky-high. I was an Actor from Toronto and never had ever allowed myself to imagine being part of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). I mean, it’s the craziest dream someone could possibly dream. Nora did a great job putting me at ease. And just being in the moment with me. We had such a beautiful chemistry. This bickery, old couple chemistry right from the get-go. As I met more members of the Cast like Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh and Sir Ben, every day it was like waking-up to another dream. And then having Meng’er come join us too when we were all in Sydney, it was fantastic. She was great. I can’t wait for people to watch the Movie because who you are in real life and in the Movie, they are really parts of you, but really so polar opposite.
Ronny, you were fine. We were shut down for four months during the pandemic. Ronny, was living a couple floors above me.
Awkwafina: Ronny, would come with me and sneak into the gym and say ‘I’ve been working out with Simu!’
Chieng: I’m trying to get that free Marvel workout. You know what? I’m going to use this pandemic to get super-ripped and I end up doing 10% of the weights Simu was doing every day!
Simu Liu talks about on his casting. Is it true he Tweeted at Marvel and got the role of Shang-Chi?
Liu: When you Tweet at Marvel, you’re thinking it’s going to some 19-year-old intern and nobody’s gonna ready that or care what I have to say! Maybe they did!
Feige: I did not see that! Unfortunately Simu, it was not your Tweeting. It was your acting ability and constant professionalism and multiple reads and meetings that you did. Now did Sarah Finn our Casting Director see that, that I don’t know! That’s a cosmic wonder!
Daniel Destin Cretton comments on the use of Mandarin-Chinese in scenes in the Film.
Cretton: The conversation behind which language they should be speaking was always rooted in the logic of the character and who would naturally be speaking what language. So that started in the Writers’ Room and once our Actors came in, it was always a dialogue. These are bilingual, trilingual, quadrilingual characters who could speak whatever made sense at the time. So we were constantly having the conversation what made sense for the scene.
Feige: One moment I particularly like is where Simu‘s character speaks to Awkwafina‘s character and says ‘Oh no, my Chinese isn’t good’ and Simu’s character says, ‘Don’t worry, I speak ABC!’.
Awkwafina: That was really a big moment. Culturally, you just never see that.
Liu: ABC means American-born Chinese but it’s the first time in a Movie where someone just calls it out!
Marvel Studios Canada release SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS Friday, September 3, 2021.
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