May’s Asian Pacific Heritage Month started off perfectly as Lucy Liu received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
And many Asians on the internet had no chill. Whatsoever.
The actress received her star on Wednesday, when it was placed next to the star for Asian American trailblazer Anna May Wong, who’s known as the first Chinese American movie star in Hollywood and will reportedly be featured in Liu’s upcoming series “Unsung Heroes.”
In her speech, Liu paid homage to Wong. She explained that Asians “have been making movies for a long time.”
“We just weren’t making them here because we weren’t invited to the table,” she said. “If my body of work somehow helped bridged the gap between the stereotypical roles first given to Anna May and mainstream success today, I’m thrilled to have been part of that process.”
Liu and Wong are now the only two Asian women who have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. So it’s no wonder people were insanely excited for the actress’ big day.
While Liu’s accolade received love across the internet, sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen also pointed out how there are “plenty of Asian women long overdue for stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame” ― especially considering that not even 1% of approximately 2,600 stars belong to women of Asian descent.
Amen.