A parade of stars dressed in glamorous gowns and heritage black tie came out to the annual Gold Gala on Saturday, May 11, to celebrate the continued success of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in Hollywood, culture, and society. Hosted by Gold House—a nonprofit that “unites, invests in, and champions Asian Pacific leaders,” according to its website—the third annual Gold Gala honored Lucy Liu; Padma Lakshmi; Steven Yeun and Lee Sung Jin from Netflix’s Beef; singer Saweetie; Cynthia Erivo, for her allyship in supporting the AAPI community; and more. Many of the gala’s honorees and guests have attained success in Hollywood, but realizing their dreams has been a long and hard-fought battle.
Jon M. Chu, director of the upcoming, two-part film adaptation of Broadway’s Wicked, recalled being denied entry when visiting the studio lots early in his career. “The guards would stop me and say, ‘Oh no, the deliveries are on the other side.’ It probably was because I was Asian or I was young,” he told Vanity Fair on the arrivals carpet for the gala, held at the expansive Music Center in Los Angeles.
“Now, to be able to go to the studio and roll into a perfect parking spot means a lot. But what really has changed is the idea of seeing Asians as filmmakers, seeing us as actors,” Chu continued. “And that means there’s roles, there’s content and there’s a respect and a value to our stories. When I started, it wasn’t quite there—so much that I was worried to cast myself as an Asian director, because they would put me in a slot that was limiting. But now, I’m proud of it, and it actually helps in all situations, and shows that we have a unique perspective. Witnessing that change has been really amazing. It’s been a long journey, and a lot more to go.”
Michelle Yeoh joined Chu at the gala to present Erivo with the Gold Ally Honor. Yeoh will be singing in Wicked alongside Erivo, who plays Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. The Emmy-, Grammy-, and Tony-winning actor and singer also spoke out about the trials she faced in Hollywood when she began her career.
“It was hard. It’s still tough. I’m a dark-skinned Black girl who wants to create and there’s still limited opportunities,” Erivo said during a red-carpet interview with VF. “It takes years and years to chug away and be brave enough to keep putting yourself out there and put yourself forward.” Despite everything, Erivo has a positive attitude. “I don’t think there’s anything else that I was meant to do. I know that within my heart this is what I’m supposed to do—to create and to put out music, and to be the vessel through which other women’s stories are told,” she said. “It’s about sharing stories that haven’t been shared, and I’m determined about that and it keeps me moving forward.”
Regina King made an appearance at the gala to hand out the Gold Legend Honor to her friend Liu. From Ally McBeal to Charlie’s Angels, Kill Bill Vol. 1, and TV’s Elementary, Liu has made an impact, though she admits to feeling isolated as one of the very few Asian American actors on the screen in the ’90s and early 2000s. “When I started over 30 years ago, there weren’t a lot of choices that I could make for myself, and that is difficult when you’re starting out,” Liu said while accepting her award. “There are a lot of decisions that one makes because of the limitations, and I love that we are all here tonight because there is no ceiling, and I’ve never seen that for myself. I want us all to collectively understand how special this moment is that we are together as a community.”
Sarayu Blue, who costars with Nicole Kidman in this year’s acclaimed Amazon Prime limited series Expats, has been continuously working as an actor for over 20 years. She recalled that early in her career, many of the roles she auditioned for required a stereotypical Indian accent, “because that’s a funny joke in their eyes. In the grand scheme of things, we never want to be mocking an accent and using it as humor,” Blue told VF during a red-carpet interview. “That’s not funny. There’s been growth in these areas, but racism to some extent is still there. I can’t say it’s gone. No doubt there’s still subconscious hang-ups, and maybe they aren’t voiced. Those are the things that I’m trying to be vocal about to break past them. For so long, it’s been such a fight, but to be in this moment where I get to see so many from our community finally being recognized and seen, it feels so surreal.”
Rising star Hoa Xuande, the lead actor in HBO’s The Sympathizer, has been acting for a decade. That breakout role marks his first major US production after years of toiling for parts. “In the beginning, for me to have a great acting career, I would try to be the token Asian. And if I could do that, I felt like I could make a career out of it. Because for a long time, we weren’t seen as palatable or inspirational, or we didn’t possess these aspiring qualities to be the leading character. And it’s really dehumanizing,” the Vietnamese Australian star told VF, before taking the stage to receive the New Gold Honor from his Cowboy Bebop costar John Cho. “I hope younger Asian actors look to the people that have come before us and think of themselves as significant and more than just as a token.”
Lakshmi, the host of the Hulu series Taste the Nation, was given the Gold Legend Honor. While delivering her acceptance speech, the culinary icon explained how growing up in California’s San Gabriel Valley, she always felt on her own. “I had to translate who I was and explain my culture to everyone I met…at times it was a burden to be from another culture with a whole extra set of rules and expectations,” she said. “I wished I was a plain old American…so that I could just blend in. But now, I wouldn’t have the career that I do. I wouldn’t have made the impact that I’ve been lucky enough to be able to make if I didn’t have my Asian culture to rely on.”
Lakshmi also designed the Gold Gala’s dinner menu with executive chef Vijay Kumar. The two curated a South Asian, three-course meal inspired by her home state of Tamil Nadu, India, and served with custom Martell Blue Swift cocktails for over 600 guests. The list included Glee’s Harry Shum Jr., singer Halsey, Oscar winner Youn Yuh-Jung, Beef’s Joseph Lee, former Queer Eye host Bobby Berk, Élodie Yung from The Cleaning Lady, fashion designer Prabal Gurung, Mean Girls star Reneé Rapp, and Joel Kim Booster, the actor-writer-comedian from Hulu’s Fire Island. Booster, an adoptee from South Korea, appreciates the constant support he received from the community.
“When I have a show, no matter where it is in the country, Asian people show up. Asian people support, and Asian people are there to make sure that we are all uplifted,” he told Vanity Fair. “I’m not for everybody, yet I still have people coming to my shows who don’t want to hear about my sex life, but they are there to support an Asian person going after it. It’s really special.”
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