Simu Liu's role in the Barbie movie: a form of 'tokenism'?

He stars as Asian Ken in the new Barbie movie by Greta Gerwig. Simu Liu's rise to fame may have been affected a little by his recent spat with several TikTok influencers and some prominent voices in the Asian American community. Let's have a look at his origin story and the latest controversy.

(Image: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Simu Liu is a Canadian-Chinese actor who became internationally known for his appearance in CBC’s popular sitcom ‘Kim’s Convenience’. He then marked a record by moving from the small screen to the big screen and becoming Marvel Studios’ first Asian lead superhero in ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.'

Image: Marvel Studios

Born on 19 April 1989 in Harbin, China, Simu Liu, and his family moved to Canada when the actor was five. Simu Liu is based in Ontario and graduated with Honors in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario.

Image: simuliu / Instagram

Initially, Simu Liu was working as an accountant at Deloitte. However, according to NBC, the now-actor was laid off from the job after eight months due to his poor work performance.

NBC recounts that Simu Liu started applying for background acting jobs on a spur of the moment. He chanced upon openings for Asian extras to star in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pacific Rim,’ and that gig was his first-ever acting role.

Image: simuliu / Instagram

The grandeur of the set and filming process awoke a new passion in Simu Liu. He wanted to be part of the film industry as an actor, as he found it more meaningful than his previous work experience at a desk job.

Image: simuliu / Instagram

Captivated by his experience on set as an actor in ‘Pacific Rim’, Simu Liu then took up all sorts of acting assignments. According to NBC, the actor would take up assignments ranging from background roles to participating in student films.

Image: simuliu / Instagram

In a stroke of luck, Simu Liu managed to score a lead role in the Canadian TV crime drama ‘Blood and Water’ in 2015. He was cast as Paul Xie. In his interview with NBC, Simu Liu recounted that he landed the role because he was the only actor who was able to converse fluidly in Mandarin and English.

Image: simuliu / Instagram

NBC reports that a year later, Simu Liu’s experience in ‘Blood and Water’ helped land him a role in ‘Kim’s Convenience.’ His experience in TV allowed him to audition regularly for roles in other TV series.

Furthermore, his previous hard work in taking all sorts of acting gigs had gotten him a chance to meet with Ins Choi, the co-showrunner and writer of ‘Kim’s Convenience.’ Ins Choi saw Simu Liu’s talent and made the final decision to cast him for the CBC sitcom, NBC reports.

Did you know that Simu Liu does his own stunts? This is because he has a background in not only martial arts but also gymnastics!

Image: simuliu / Instagram

The release of ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ in September 2021, marked a significant milestone in the Marvel franchise. They had their first Asian superhero to grace and lead the big screen. The movie features Simu Liu as the titular Shang-Chi, and this is the biggest role Simu Liu has ever played after his breakout role in 'Kim’s Convenience.'

Image: Marvel Studios

‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ was supposed to be released during the 2021 Chinese Lunar New Year, but the release was delayed understandably due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Image: Marvel Studios

This will come as a surprise, but Toronto Life reports that Simu Liu might have landed the role by just tweeting at Marvel when they announced they were looking for actors for the filming of Shang-Chi in 2018.

Image: simuliu / Instagram

Of course, his solid acting background and a stellar performance in his role as Jung in ‘Kim’s Convenience’ was the key to getting Marvel to follow up on the tweet by giving Simu Liu the casting call, Toronto Life reports. This gave the actor the chance to prove his acting skills and his suitability to play the role of Shang-Chi - which Simu Liu eventually was invited to do!

‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ is about the journey of superhero and martial artist Shang-Chi, who is drawn back into the mysterious organization from his past, the 'Ten Rings,' whilst trying to begin a new life in San Francisco.

Image: Marvel Studios

Did you know? The original Shang-Chi in the original Marvel comics publications was modeled after Hong Kong film legend and martial artist Bruce Lee.

Perhaps it was a perfect decision to cast Simu Liu as Shang-Chi to play Shang-Chi on screen, as the actor similarly practices martial arts like the titular character and Bruce Lee himself.

Image: Marvel Studios

CBC reported that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige had planned to make a film with a “98% Asian cast” for the longest time. This would be the second Marvel film with a predominantly non-white casting and theme after ‘Black Panther’.

Simu Liu too added in Time Magazine that the making of ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ was only possible due to the roaring success of ‘Black Panther’. It signified that audiences were eager to watch films featuring a more diverse cast and thematic focus.

Image: Marvel Studios

Other than Simu Liu, ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ starred fellow North American actress Awkwafina and Hong Kong showbiz A-listers Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh. Other prominent stars cast in the film included the US-based comedian Ronnie Chieng and Hong Kong-based actress Fala Chen.

Image: Edko Film and Warner Bros. Pictures

With ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ being a multi-million production from Marvel Studios with a rich Asian cast, the film became the biggest Asian-centric production since the release of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ in 2018. It is thanks to achievements like this one that Simu Liu continues to defend Marvel against critics in Hollywood.

Image: Marvel Studios

The 'Marvelization of Hollywood' has been a topic among filmmakers for a few years now. It once again became the topic of debate when Quentin Tarantino appeared as a guest on the podcast 2 Bears 1 Cave in November 2022 to criticize this movement.

As one of Marvel's newest superheroes and the series's largest star of Asian heritage, Simu Liu punched back at Tarantino's remark in defense of the multimillion-dollar franchise. He claimed that Marvel's creative approach is why he was given an opportunity to play in the franchise as an Asian actor from humble origins.

Image: SimuLiu / Twitter

And it is precisely because of his time at Marvel that Simu Liu now has the platform to advocate for Asian representation in Hollywood. Now, he has a new role in Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie,' continuing to break down screen barriers.

(Image: Warner Bros. Pictures)

According to NBC News, the decision to cast Simu Liu was largely due to Greta Gerwig's creative direction, where she made the conscious decision to include Barbies of diverse racial backgrounds. In addition to Simu Liu as East-Asian Ken, Ritu Arya will portray South-Asian Barbie in the film.

(Image: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Simu Liu's fiery response to Quentin Tarantino's clapback was not the last, as the actor publicly responded to HuffPost writer Ian Kumamoto's opinion piece that his casting in the new Barbie movie was more akin to 'token-ism' than true Asian representation on his Facebook page. The post has since been taken down.

Image: simuliu / Instagram

Following his response to Ian Kumamoto, several TikTokers have come forward to criticise Simu Liu, resulting in several of their videos being saved and re-uploaded with personal commentary on the actor's own Instagram page.

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Simu Liu's move has resulted in the harassment of several of his TikTok critics by his fan base. According to The Daily Dot, Simu Liu has since been called out for purposefully exposing his detractors for attack by his three million social media followers, as he publicly included their handles.

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Unfortunately, Simu Liu's actions have only served to prove his critics' point, as the actor's original weakness, according to @parisbynightcore, was that the actor could not handle any form of criticism well.

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Regardless of what's going on, it will definitely be refreshing for audiences to see how Simu Liu's new role in 'Barbie' plays out, alongside Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

(Image: Warner Bros. Pictures)