Simu Liu said he was told he didn't have the "it factor" for a role in "Crazy Rich Asians ."- The Marvel star said on the "How To Fail With Elizabeth Day" podcast that he auditioned four times.
Marvel star Simu Liu said he was "devastated" after being told that he didn't have the "it factor" during the audition process for "Crazy Rich Asians."
The 2018 movie, based on a book of the same name, was a box-office success and was praised for its positive Asian representation. Last year, Liu told Interview magazine that he auditioned for the movie "four times," but was rejected all four times.
During an appearance on a new episode of the podcast "How To Fail With Elizabeth Day," Liu recalled that he asked his agent to get an explanation as to why he missed out on the roles because he originally had "really positive feedback."
"Through some sort of broken telephone, whether it had gone through a studio exec or a casting director before it got to our side, we got, 'Well Simu doesn't have the x-factor. The it factor,'" the "Kim's Convenience" star said. "And that was just such a crushing blow for me."
Liu added: "It felt like someone was telling me that I just wasn't good enough. That I just wasn't likable. I didn't have that thing that made people want to watch it. It was at a time that was very difficult for me, I was trying to figure out whether I could be the lead character or whether I could only be a supporting character for my entire career."
Liu also said that this rejection happened soon after he moved to LA in order to become an actor in Hollywood. Although he said he was "devastated at the time," Liu told the podcast's host, Elizabeth Day, that he was "so grateful" for the advice and was "truly happy" when the movie came out.
"It forced me to take a step back and realize that maybe I wanted it too badly," the actor said. "Like maybe I was too desperate and that desperation was showing in my work. There had to be an element of confidence in what I was doing and self-assuredness. I had to trust I was talented and I was watchable and I was good."
Liu later found his own success when he was cast as the lead in the Marvel blockbuster "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" last year, which broke box office records for Labor Day upon its release.