Worth The Wait rejected Hollywood pressure to cast white actors

Producers on the US-Canada romantic comedy-drama Worth The Wait wanted their movie to showcase Asians falling in love, navigating awkward encounters with former lovers and coping with loss.

- John Lui

But they faced pressure from Hollywood financiers, who suggested a change they thought was minor, but was anything but to Rachel Tan.

The Malaysia-born, Los Angeles-based producer says they wanted to add a white male to the cast rather than letting the film be an all-Asian ensemble.

"They gave me a list of white guys we could cast. If we could give one of the roles to them, we could get funded. It was so tempting," the 43-year-old recalls.

She was in town with her producing partner and husband, Chinese-American Dan Mark, for a screening of their film — which the couple also co-wrote — at Tanglin Club on July 10.

The investors held the belief that, except for genres such as martial arts, Asian male characters are not bankable, with little appeal for Western audiences, she says.

Tan and her team ignored the suggestion, completing Worth The Wait without watering down their goal of an all-Asian cast in stereotype-breaking stories.