Everything Everywhere All at Once star Stephanie Hsu has made her mark on the entertainment industry over the past few years — but her success has come with some highs and lows.
While reflecting on her experience in Hollywood with the New York Times, Stephanie revealed that she has been mistaken for fellow actor Lana Condor at times.
“This industry is weird,” she said. “You have moments like [being recognized by] Steve Buscemi, and then you also have moments where you walk on a carpet and people are like, ‘Lana Condor, Lana Condor!'”
Although it only happened once at an event, the experience left a mark on Stephanie, who is Chinese while Lana is Vietnamese.
“It was just once, but it was very pronounced,” Stephanie shared.
“In everybody’s defense, my mom also thinks I look like Lana Condor,” Stephanie continued. “She sent me a picture of Lana Condor a year ago and was like, ‘You look like this woman.'”
While everyone does have their doppelgängers, Stephanie’s experience also says something about the perception of Asian people in entertainment.
Stephanie added that shortly after being confused for Lana, another incident happened at a separate event where people assumed her publicist was in Everything Everywhere All at Once just because they were Asian.
“After the Lana Condor thing happened, we were at a screening in New York, and a bunch of people kept going up to my publicist and the Daniels’ publicist, who are both Asian, and they were like, ‘Congratulations, your performance is incredible.’ And they were like, ‘Huh?'” Stephanie said.
And while Stephanie says a lot has changed in the treatment of Asian actors in Hollywood over the years, there seems to be a ways to go.
You can read all that Stephanie had to say here.
