The ‘Hustlers’ and ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ actress, whose memoir will be released this fall, wrote while she was “afraid to return to social media because [she] almost lost [her] life from there,” she wanted to share her story to start a broader conversation with Asian Americans about mental health.
After her ABC sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat” was renewed for a sixth season in May 2019, Wu seemed overwhelmed by the news, tweeting, “So overwhelmed right now I’m literally crying. Ugh,” followed by swearing. She later said that she sent the tweets “in the wake of a tough day and being untimely (with) the show news”.
But the backlash was quick and severe, Wu said in his new statement on Twitter. Countless users, including some other actors, have criticized him for appearing ungrateful to the success of his series, which was one of the very few sitcoms with an all-Asian cast in central roles. When another Asian actress messaged her saying she had “become a blight on the Asian American community,” Wu said she felt like she “didn’t deserve to live anymore.”
She survived her suicide attempt and took time off from acting to focus on her mental health for the past few years, she said. But she is now returning to social media, she explained, “to share (her) story so she can help someone with theirs.
“If we want to be seen, really seen … we have to leave everything of ourselves, including the parts we are afraid of or ashamed of – parts that, imperfect as they are, require care and attention,” she wrote.
Wu has returned to acting, recently appearing in the Amazon Prime series “The Terminal List” alongside Chris Pratt, and she’s starring in the upcoming children’s film “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” with Javier Bardem.