Jon M. Chu Quotes

I think a lot of people, even if you’re not Asian, you go to your place of origin where your family comes from, and you get this sense of, ‘Wow – people look like me and talk like me and treat me like their son in the stores and like a cousin in the restaurants.’

I think that true love, fairy tales, the positive messages of positive stories – I don’t think those ever die. Sometimes we like to hide them in sarcasm or irony, but they are still there, and they still move us.

When I was growing up, Asians weren’t known for dancing. I knew all my older aunts and uncles did, like, ballroom dancing and stuff. And then you saw all those dance crews, like Quest and Jabbawockeez, and now they’re, like, known for dance.

I loved ‘The Social Network.’ I think it’s one of those movies that will stand the test of time.

I had to see if I’m a real filmmaker. I mean, I have proven myself in movies and franchises, but am I an artist? Can I contribute something to a medium that I love so much?

It’s called ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’ but it’s really not about crazy rich Asians. It’s about Rachel Chu finding her identity and finding her self-worth through this journey back into her culture. Which, for me as a filmmaker, exploring my cultural identity is the scariest thing.

I don’t understand why we’re all connected wirelessly via a little machine that goes in our pocket, to everybody in the world, and you have to have reels for a movie.

Hollywood listens to money and to controversy.

I love Chinese movies.

The American culture is pursue your own happiness, follow your dreams. The Chinese side is sacrifice everything for your family; it’s all about the group. Those conflicting ideas were always a battle in my head.

I remember going to Taiwan for the first time and… I didn’t realize that everyone looked like me here and what that’d feel like.

When I was finishing ‘Now You See Me 2,’ I remember thinking about exploring the Asian-American identity side of my brain.

Once you see dance as a weapon – and everyone has a different weapon – it makes dance really interesting.

Fear is a destruction of creativity.

Things happen in weird, serendipitous ways.

I just feel so lucky to tell stories and make up stories and share them with people.

Stephen Chow is one of my favorite filmmakers, and so groundbreaking.

Everyone who shoots dance sequences does it in a different way. Everyone who shoots fight sequences does it in a different way.

When you’re the only Asian in the room, the last thing you want to do is to point out you’re Asian. And be the Asian dude.

I always told myself after ‘Jem,’ I don’t want fear to change my choices.

I love ‘Dr Strangelove.’

I love 3-D, and for certain movies it can be really great, and for certain movies it can be poison.

Representation means having characters with layers, showing them as human beings, so we can relate or have mixed emotions for that character.

‘Black Panther’ is a phenomenon – it is all right in its own thing.

I get a lot of emotion from my family and my friends. I think it’s just communicated in a different way. When my family feeds me, they’re saying they love me. They pick me apart to show that they care. One look from my mother says so much.