Henry Golding was working as a travel show host in Singapore when news broke that "Crazy Rich Asians" was going to be a movie. The city, he remembers, was abuzz about a major Hollywood production coming to Southeast Asia.
"I thought, 'Wow that's going to be amazing...for someone else,'" Golding, 31, said recently. "I was so excited for someone else, it was weird."
Even with his chiseled good looks, undeniable charisma, acting ambitions and comfort in front of a camera after nearly a decade of hosting shows for ESPN Asia, BBC and Discovery Channel Asia, he never imagined that he would ultimately end up being in, let alone co-leading the film — his first ever — as the debonair, Oxford-educated heir Nick Young.
In this Aug 4, 2018 photo, actor Henry Golding poses for a portrait at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. to promote his film "Crazy Rich Asians." (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)
"I knew I wanted to be an actor I just figured they wouldn't want to take a chance when there are so many amazing actors and all these super handsome male models in China who would translate to acting I'm sure," Golding said. "And I was like, 'Man, they're going to get it and I'm happy for them. But it's not me.'"
Crazier yet is how Golding got in the running. A studio accountant working in Malaysia had met Golding years ago at a party. He had made enough of an impression on her that she suggested him to a line producer, who then recommended him to director Jon M. Chu, who was nearing the start of production and running out of time to find his Nick.
Chu was intrigued after a deep dive into Golding's online presence (Instagram, YouTube, the works). He had the look, the right accent and a star quality worthy of a major studio production. The only problem? Golding wasn't picking up his calls. Undeterred, Chu realized they had a friend in common on Facebook, the venture capitalist Steve Jang who got hold of Golding on vacation in Tokyo and told him to make time for a Skype call with Chu.
In this Aug 4, 2018 photo, actor Henry Golding poses for a portrait at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. to promote his film "Crazy Rich Asians." (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)
"I thought maybe it's a cameo, maybe it's a side character," Golding said. "We get on Skype and he's like, 'I want you for Nick.'"
Producer Nina Jacobson knew they'd found the perfect heartthrob to lead this modern-day fairy tale.
"You could really understand him in both worlds: A guy you could go have a game of pickup basketball with but also a guy who could walk into his family's estate and be expected to be the heir apparent and be as at home in either," Jacobson said. "Henry naturally had those qualities ... He has an inner confidence and a sweetness and a humility that really spoke to the character."
In this Aug 4, 2018 photo, actor Henry Golding poses for a portrait at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. to promote his film "Crazy Rich Asians." (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)
On set, although nervous, Golding said the producers and director left him to his own devices.
"I was freaking out a little bit like, 'I don't know if I'm doing it wrong, if I'm doing it right.' I'm like I guess I'll just keep doing what I'm doing," Golding laughed.
And he must have been doing something right, because Golding didn't even get a chance to pause before he was fielding a call from another Hollywood director, Paul Feig, looking to cast him. Feig was hunting man to play opposite Blake Lively in "A Simple Favor," out Sept. 14. He'd become aware of Golding through his wife, Laurie Feig, a "Crazy Rich Asians" fan who encouraged him to take a look at this intriguing newcomer. And right before the "Crazy Rich Asians" press tour swung into high-gear, Golding was in Vietnam shooting another movie, the drama "Monsoon," which is expected to be at film festivals next year.
Suffice it to say, it's been a while since Golding has been home, and he and his wife Liv Lo are adjusting to this new reality — glamorous Vanity Fair shoots, meetings with Anna Wintour, screenings and press junkets across the country.
"Nina Jacobson said, 'I'm paying you 50 percent to do the movie, 50 percent to market the (expletive) out of it,'" Golding said, laughing. "That's the deal."
As Golding charts out his burgeoning career, he's looking back to the classics for inspiration, citing Paul Newman, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck and Clark Gable as models he'd like to emulate.
"There hasn't been that type of leading man coming out of Asia," Golding said. "I want to bring that back."
Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: : www.twitter.com/ldbahr
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas militants, according to U.S. officials familiar with the talks.
The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive exchange, said that the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the U.S. administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out a military operation in Rafah despite warnings from President Joe Biden and other western officials that doing so would result in more civilian deaths and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.
The Biden administration has said there could be consequences for Israel should it move forward with the operation without a credible plan to safeguard civilians.
“Absent such a plan, we can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what’s acceptable,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday at the Sedona Forum, an event in Arizona hosted by the McCain Institute.
Some 1.5 million Palestinians have sheltered in the southern Gaza city as the territory has been ravaged by the war that began on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
The United Nations humanitarian aid agency on Friday said that hundreds of thousands of people would be “at imminent risk of death” if Israel moves forward with the Rafah assault. The border city is a critical entry point for humanitarian aid and is filled with displaced Palestinians, many in densely packed tent camps.
The officials added that the evacuation plan that the Israelis briefed was not finalized and both sides agreed to keep discussing the matter.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday that no “comprehensive” plan for a potential Rafah operation has been revealed by the Israelis to the White House. The operation, however, has been discussed during recent calls between Biden and Netanyahu as well as during recent virtual talks with top Israeli and U.S. national security officials.
“We want to make sure that those conversations continue because it is important to protect those Palestinian lives — those innocent lives,” Jean-Pierre said.
The revelation of Israel's continued push to carry out a Rafah operation came as CIA director William Burns arrived Friday in Egypt, where negotiators are trying to seal a cease-fire accord between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is considering the latest proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release put forward by U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who are looking to avert the Rafah operation.
They have publicly pressed Hamas to accept the terms of the deal that would lead to an extended cease-fire and an exchange of Israeli hostages taken captive on Oct. 7 and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Hamas has said it will send a delegation to Cairo in the coming days for further discussions on the offer, though it has not specified when.
Israel, and its allies, have sought to increase pressure on Hamas on the hostage negotiation. Signaling that Israel continues to move forward with its planning for a Rafah operation could be a tactic to nudge the militants to finalize the deal.
Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israeli forces would enter Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’ last stronghold, regardless of whether a truce-for-hostages deal is struck. His comments appeared to be meant to appease his nationalist governing partners, and it was not clear whether they would have any bearing on any emerging deal with Hamas.
Blinken visited the region, including Israel, this week and called the latest proposal “extraordinarily generous” and said “the time to act is now.”
In Arizona on Friday, Blinken repeated remarks he made earlier this week that "the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas.”
The Chahine family prepares to bury two adults and five boys and girls under the age of 16 after an overnight Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 3, 2024. An Israeli strike on the city of Rafah on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip killed several people, including children, hospital officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)
FILE - Palestinians line up for free food during the ongoing Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip in Rafah, Jan. 9, 2024. A top U.N. official said Friday, May 3, 2024, that hard-hit northern Gaza was now in “full-blown famine" after more than six months of war between Israel and Hamas and severe Israeli restrictions on food deliveries to the Palestinian territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali, File)
Palestinians rescue a woman survived after the Israeli bombardment on a residential building of Abu Alenan family in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, early Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)
President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House as he talks with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Washington, after returning from a trip to North Carolina. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
