Author Kevin Kwan on how Crazy Rich Asians ‘changed perceptions’ of Asians in America

Reflecting back on the success of Crazy Rich Asians, author Kevin Kwan says at the time he couldn’t quite grasp “what had happened”.

Kwan published the book back in 2013, a satirical romantic comedy following Chinese-American professor Rachel travelling to Singapore with her boyfriend, Nick – only to realise he’s part of one of the wealthiest families in the country.

In 2018, it was adapted into the first major Hollywood movie featuring an all-Asian cast in 25 years, starring Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Michelle Yeoh and more, and was a critical and commercial hit – earning 25 million dollars (£19.3 million) over its opening weekend in the US alone.

“I don’t think I quite realised what had happened,” Kwan, 51, says of his journey with Crazy Rich Asians.

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“When you’re in the storm, you can’t really see through it. That’s a bad metaphor, but I’m just living my life – I don’t go around thinking, oh, Crazy Rich Asians changed the world. I’m too close to it, in a way.”

And yet the success of Crazy Rich Asians – and the cultural impact it had – still follows LA-based Kwan.

“I recently made a trip to Oklahoma City to give a speech, and it was amazing to meet local people there in the Asian community. So many people were so excited and eager to share with me stories of how their lives had changed since the movie.

“This guy – he has a local business – he said his business has doubled since the movie. Another told me, ‘My neighbours talk to me – in the past, they were always quiet’, [and] ‘My children are popular in school for the first time ever’.

“It was really stunning and meaningful for me to meet people who were sharing their real-life stories of how their lives have changed, because the perception of Asians has changed in America.”

Now, Kwan is working on bringing the Crazy Rich Asians musical to life, there’s a film adaptation of his book Sex And Vanity (the first of what he dubs the ‘city trilogy’) in the works, and he’s just released the second in this trilogy: Lies And Weddings.

In typical Kwan style, the book focuses on the rich and famous, spanning a country pile in England, a lavish LA mansion, a luxury Hawaiian resort and more. Half-Chinese, half-British Rufus Gresham, the future Earl of Greshambury, is in love with the girl next door, doctor Eden – but that won’t quite do for his mother, who would much prefer him to marry for money and status – particularly to help hoist the family out of debt.

Over-the-top weddings punctuate the book, including one particularly memorable scene where a well-heeled couple get married above the city of Marrakech, the couple and their guests floating in a series of hot air balloons.

Kwan – who comes from a privileged Singaporean background – admits these opulent weddings come from “a seed of something that one gets from a real experience, but from that I supersize it”.

And he can understand why weddings have traditionally been such a massive opportunity to show off your status. “It really is an ancient tradition – you see it cross-cultures,” Kwan muses.

“Weddings bring together families and clans and tribes. It’s where people gather. It used to be a business deal. So it’s always been a bit of a display of why you deserve to be in this family. I think that’s translated in modern times with social media and media chronicling the weddings the rich and famous. It’s the way you stake your claim.”

Growing up in Singapore, a former British colony, Kwan says: “We were steeped in the knowledge of England and the traditions of England. My grandfather was knighted by the Queen. So from an early age I was conscious of the royal family – I remember waking up in the middle of the night to watch Princess Diana’s wedding as a young child.

“Talk about a crazy rich wedding – the British royal family does it better than anyone else on the planet in terms of pomp and pageantry, and the decadence of weddings – really everyone else is just trying to compete and don’t ever come close.”

Kwan moved to the US when he was 11 and is now based in LA, but is still an Anglophile – citing Jane Austen, Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Trollope as inspirations for his writing.

Kwan suggests his background helps him relate to both the main characters in Lies And Weddings. Like Eden, he feels “very much an outsider of this world”, able to peek into the lives of the privileged, but knowing “you’re not really accepted by them”.

And he can also “relate” to Rufus’ problems, too. “I grew up in fortunate circumstances as well, and I also feel this pull between East and West. I was born in Singapore, but I moved to the States when I was 11 years old – so I understand the different obligations and duties that come with being both Chinese and Westernised, and the duality of that.”

Kwan’s busy schedule doesn’t give him much space to think about his legacy, a word that he says “scares me”.

“You really have no control over what happens in the future and how people are going to perceive your work,” he reflects.

“It’s really such a game of chance – who’s going to be remembered? There were so many amazing authors in the 18th century, in the 19th century. Why is it that Jane Austen endured? Why did the Bronte sisters endure?

“Of course, they wrote damn good books – but they weren’t the only ones. Something about those stories connected through the ages, so will my books be as loved 100 years from now? Who knows.”

Lies And Weddings by Kevin Kwan is published by Hutchinson Heinemann, priced £18.99. Available now.