dreamcasting YIN YANG LOVE SONG
my #1 and #2 on a call sheet
When Lunar Love came out, a question I often got asked in interviews and podcasts was: “Who would you cast as Olivia and Bennett?”
As a film major, a byproduct of rom-com movies, and a visual person, I love this question. I wonder about this question often, for my own work and others’.
But it was always one of the hardest questions for me to answer.
As a mixed-race Chinese American, I didn’t see people on screen who looked like me or my family. I also didn’t see much representation in books, which is a big reason why I started writing novels. It’s so important to not only watch and read about the lives of those who are different than us, but it’s also critical that we see ourselves. Our faces, our cultures, our food, our languages, our families.
And so often, I don’t see myself.
By diversifying what we watch and read, we open our minds, expand our empathy. We realize we’re more alike than we might’ve originally imagined.
Now there’s a little more media with representation. But there’s not enough.
Now, a couple years and books later, my answer has evolved. Kind of. There are movies and TV shows that have included more mixed-race actors, but mostly, they’re in side character roles. It’s always a thrill to see someone who looks like me on a screen or on a page, but I want to see more mixed-race actors as #1 on a call sheet! (Not to mention more representation behind-the-scenes, too.)
A little progress is still something…and now I do have better answers when people ask me this question. With Yin Yang Love Song, I had people in mind while drafting pretty early on. I like to find my characters’ voices first so that they are uniquely their own, and then once I get to know them a bit, an actors’ face sometimes pops into mind.
For YYLS, the two actors I imagine as Chryssy and Vin just feel so them. I was watching a show the other day that my Vin dreamcast is in and I was like, “Hey, it’s Vin!” He was the secondary villain in that show, but I’ve seen him in a rom-com so I know he’s got range. 😆
Here’s who I had in mind as Chryssy, Vin, the aunties, and The Wildflower Inn…