美国国家公共电台 NPR A Superstar In China, Daniel Wu Emerges In His Native California

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Recent Hollywood productions like "The Mummy," "Ready Player One" and "Transformers: The Last Knight 1" have done better box office in China than the U.S. That's part of the reason Asian-American actors are starting to land more leading roles in U.S. films and TV shows. Here's Chloe Veltman of member station KQED with the story of one Chinese-American who's a big star across Asia and starting to match that fame here.

CHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE 2: In the dystopian AMC TV action series "Into The Badlands," Daniel Wu stars as a lethal 3 warrior 4 on a quest to discover the truth about his past.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "INTO THE BADLANDS")

DANIEL WU: (As Sunny) When I say go, we'll work our way up the opposite sides of the street. Arthur, you're with me. Bajie, take the girl.

VELTMAN: Over two decades, the 43-year-old has played leading roles in everything from romantic comedies to Kung Fu costume dramas. He's become a celebrity 5 across Asia. But "Badlands" is the first starring role in the U.S. for the California native.

WU: As a kid growing up in the '70s, '80s and a person of color, I didn't see a future for that. In my field, there was a roadblock. And so I basically had to go to Asia and get successful there in order to come back here to have success here.

VELTMAN: Daniel Wu grew up in the Bay Area, the son of emigrants 6 from Shanghai. He went to the University of Oregon, thought he'd become an architect. But in 1997, after graduating, he traveled to Hong Kong where he was spotted 7 in a bar by a talent scout 8 for a TV commercial. It just so happens that Hong Kong film director Yonfan caught the ad and gave the chiseled 9 20-something his first big break.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BISHONEN")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, speaking Cantonese).

VELTMAN: The director taps the novice 10 to star in his romantic drama "Bishonen." But there were challenges.

WU: I've never acted before. And my Cantonese was not good at the time, so I turned it down.

VELTMAN: But Yonfan wouldn't let go.

WU: By the end, I was like, OK. If you don't blame me for screwing it up, I'll give it a shot.

VELTMAN: This is the start of Wu's fast rise to stardom in China, though it didn't happen overnight.

WU: I came to Hong Kong as a foreigner. Even though I'm the same skin color, same hair color, same culture, I was treated differently at first.

VELTMAN: But after a couple of years, Wu says he was welcomed.

WU: These are my people, my own culture. And they're accepting me. I think that's the most touching 11 thing that's happened to me.

VELTMAN: Over the years, Wu says he returned to the U.S. for occasional, mostly disappointing meetings with movie executives.

WU: They don't really know what they're looking for. They're just looking for someone Chinese, you know, or Asian.

VELTMAN: But slowly, Wu started to find opportunities...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS")

RZA: (As Blacksmith) When you forge your weapon, you need three things.

VELTMAN: ...Like the American-Chinese co-production "The Man With The Iron Fists." Rapper and movie director RZA shot the movie in China in 2011. RZA casts Wu in a small role and says he was surprised when his local crew saw the actor as the biggest celebrity on set.

RZA: I'm telling you nobody gave two cent [expletive] about none of us. When Danny came on the set, everybody went crazy. And all of a sudden, I was making a movie, you know what I mean?

VELTMAN: These days, Wu's spending more time in California to be with his family. And after two decades of superstardom in China, he's finally landed a major role in the United States. He trains at a gym near his home in Oakland. He needs to stay in shape for "Into The Badlands" where he says he's been in more than 30 fight scenes in three seasons.

WU: In "Badlands," everything is very carefully choreographed 12.

VELTMAN: Wu says, while he and a few fellow Asian-American actors are starting to get more lead roles in the U.S., there's still plenty of room for growth.

WU: It's still not at the point where I'd like it to be.

VELTMAN: And he says it's going to be a slow transition to true multiculturalism 13. For NPR News, I'm Chloe Veltman.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)