In the Heights director Jon M. Chu on Crazy Rich Asians sequel, cultural identity and his Chinese heritage
- Chinese-American director’s mother is from Taiwan, and he was treated like an outsider there – hence Crazy Rich Asians’ exploration of identity appealed to him
- When he began directing In the Heights, Chu was also an ‘outsider’ to the Latino community in New York, before being embraced by them
When director Jon M. Chu first went to see a production of In the Heights, he was blown away. At the time, he was in New York shooting 2010’s Step Up 3D – the follow-up to his dance-fuelled debut Step Up 2: The Streets – and one of his dancers was performing in the show.
Chu was intrigued by the story set in the Washington Heights borough in upper Manhattan. “I got a ticket to see it,” he recalls, “and I remember watching it and crying my eyes out.”
Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda – before he went on to create the worldwide phenomenon Hamilton – In the Heights may focus on a largely Latino population, its multi-generational story telling of working-class dreamers, but it immediately struck a chord with Chu.
“I’m from a family of immigrants that came over from China and Taiwan, and it was just at a time [in my life] where I was like, ‘This is the story of America that needs to be told.’”
While he was born and raised in California, Chu’s mother, Ruth, came from Taiwan, while his father, Lawrence, was born in Sichuan, southwest China. “My parents came here, didn’t even know the language, they started a Chinese restaurant,” he explains.
Together they own Chef Chu’s, a popular restaurant in Los Altos frequented by celebrities, which has now been open for over 50 years. Chu, meanwhile, made it to Hollywood. “Which is crazy … I didn’t have any connections,” he says.