In October of last year, Anna May Wong became the only Asian American and fifth woman to appear on the U.S. quarter as a part of the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters™ Program. Anna May Wong is one of the better known early Chinese American movie stars. She was the first Asian American actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She received it in 1960, the inaugural year of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Anna May Wong was regarded as a fashion icon in the 1920s and 30s, and was also politically outspoken. In May, Barbie announced the release of an Anna May Wong Barbie doll for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
To talk about the life and times of Anna May Wong I’ve reached out to Peilin Kuo a Taiwanese filmmaker who’s made a few short films about Anna May Wong and has plans to work on a biopic about the actress. Peilin also talked about some of her recent film projects, her love of martial arts films and her next film project that will be set in Taiwan.
This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association.
NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:
- to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women’s dignity,
- to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,
- to fully develop women’s potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,
- to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,
- to reach out and work with women’s organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.
To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:
- How Anna May Wong became the only Asian American and fifth woman to appear on the U.S. quarter as a part of the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters™ Program in October 2022
- Anna May Wong was the first Asian American actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960
- In May, Barbie announced release of an Anna May Wong Barbie doll for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
- Taiwanese filmmaker Peilin Kuo who’d made a few short films about Anna May Wong
- Peilin’s interest and start in filmmaking
- Peilin’s connection and upbringing in Taiwan
- What made Peilin decide to move to New York City
- How Peilin first learned about Anna May Wong and what impressed her about Anna May Wong
- Peilin’s approach to in creating her short films about Anna May Wong
- Peilin’s plans to make a biopic about Anna May Wong
- What set Anna May Wong apart from other Chinese American actresses
- Anna May Wong appeared in 50-60 films
- The stereotypical characters that Anna May Wong portrayed and the discrimination and anti-miscegenation laws she had to deal with
- How Anna May Wong was a fashion icon and politically outspoken
- Chinese press and government were critical of Wong but, Peking University awarded the actress an honorary doctorate in 1932.
- Later in life Anna May Wong was outspoken about better film roles for Chinese Americans
- Anna May Wong was passed over for the character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl Buck’s book, The Good Earth; MGM cast Luise Rainer to play the leading role in yellowface, later Rainer won an Oscar for her performance
- Other stereotypically Asian character played by non-Asian actors in yellowface like Mickey Rooney’s character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
- Anna May Wong’s visit to China in 1936
- How Anna May Wong passed away at the age of 56 before she was supposed appear in the film, Flower Drum Song
- How there are no recordings of TV show Anna May Wong appeared in called the Gallery of Madam Liu Tsong
- Liu Tsong was Anna May Wong’s birth name
- Peilin’s next film project which will be set and shot in Taiwan
- Peilin’s other film projects in the sci-fi and martial arts genre
- Peilin’s love of martial arts films
- How Peiln’s short film Once Upon A Time In The Bamboo was inspired by the film, A Touch of Zen (by director King Hu)
- What Peilin loves about filmmaking
- What she would be doing if she wasn’t a filmmaker
- Peilin’s approach to filmmaking
- Peilin’s advice for others who want to pursue filmmaking
Related Links:
Peilin Kuo’s website: https://www.letmethinkproductions.com/
Museum of Moving Image: https://movingimage.us/
“Where East Meets West” (an introductory short reel for the developing biopic ‘A Thousand Deaths- The Story of Anna May Wong’): https://vimeo.com/88680528
“To Die or To Dream” (Chinese American actress, Anna May Wong, is caught in a dark alternate celluloid reality): https://vimeo.com/140677682
Anna May Wong: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_May_Wong
Anna May Wong to Appear on U.S. Quarters (an article from Town & Country): https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a41517440/anna-may-wong-us-quarters/
Barbie unveils Anna May Wong doll for AAPI Heritage Month (an article from AP News): https://apnews.com/article/anna-may-wong-barbie-doll-313733970f9acb4505c29d53e8cf5c3b
Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-miscegenation_laws_in_the_United_States
Piccadilly (film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccadilly_(film)
Shanghai Express (film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Express_(film)
Pearl S. Buck: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_S._Buck
The Good Earth (film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Earth_(film)
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Earth
American Women Quarters™ Program: https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/american-women-quarters
The U.S. Mint’s Anna May Wong quarter coin: https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-women-quarters/anna-may-wong
Need Some Met Gala Inspiration? Look No Further Than Anna May Wong (from Vogue magazine): https://www.vogue.com/article/met-gala-fashion-inspiration-anna-may-wong
Anna May Wong’s Lasting Legacy (an article from Vanity Fair magazine): https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/12/anna-may-wongs-lasting-legacy-awa
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_at_Tiffany%27s_(film)
About the character that Mickey Rooney portrayed in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._Y._Yunioshi#
Flower Drum Song (film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_Drum_Song_(film)
Once Upon a Time in the Bamboo (film): https://www.letmethinkproductions.com/myfilms?wix-vod-video-id=18bc28733e374722b0435447b08e6481&wix-vod-comp-id=comp-ktn0v8rd
A Touch of Zen (film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Touch_of_Zen