The director of 'Crazy Rich Asians' regrets casting Brown actors in stereotypical roles after the film was criticized for whitewashing

• Jon M. Chu said he regrets casting South Asians in stereotypical roles for "Crazy Rich Asians."
• The 2018 movie was criticized for casting Brown actors in subservient roles.
• "That's a lesson that I did not understand until it happened," Chu told Insider last Friday.

"Crazy Rich Asians" director Jon M. Chu said he "should have" made the South Asian characters in the 2018 romantic comedy "more human" after being criticized for casting Brown actors in subservient roles.

Based on a 2013 Kevin Kwan novel by the same name, "Crazy Rich Asians" tells the story of a Chinese-American professor Rachel (played by Constance Wu) as she meets her boyfriend Nick's (played by Henry Golding) ultra-wealthy family in Singapore.

At the time of its release, some viewers criticized the box office darling for featuring East Asian actors as protagonists and for casting brown Asian actors in stereotypical domestic worker roles.

While promoting his latest film "In The Heights," Chu told Insider last Friday that he "totally gets" the criticism.

"That's a lesson that I did not understand until it happened," he said. "I was like, 'This is a book that exists and I'm making this book into a movie.' I can't add a new character into this book."

Despite Indians being the third-largest ethnic group living in Singapore, there are only a few South Asian characters in "Crazy Rich Asians," who are mostly armed guards working at Nick's sprawling mansion in the woods.

Chu said he wishes he could've made the Brown actors in 'Crazy Rich Asians' 'more human' by giving them more dialogue

When Rachel and a friend, Peik Lin (played by Awkwafina), get lost on their way to a party at the home, the guards circle the girls' car with large rifles as ominous-sounding music plays in the background.

"Looking back, I should have had a joke there [for the guards] being like, 'These idiots' [about the girls]," the director said about the scene. "There's stuff to do to make them more human instead of just like these guards."

Chu said he wanted to adapt that scene for his film because he "loved" that moment in the book.

"I didn't understand some of the other contexts to that. So hearing it from people, for me, it was a learning experience," he admitted.

He added that he "will pay more attention to that stuff" in future movies and, hopefully, "won't make that mistake again."

Chu also clarified that there were South Asian actors at the extravagant party that Rachel and Peik Lin attended at Nick's home, but that he didn't "accent it in any way" to make the background actors' presence known.

"They're just sort of there. I don't give them the space to be there," Chu said.

Chu said 'we need' more diverse movies and filmmakers so that inclusion doesn't 'rest on one movie'

The "In the Heights" director had previously spoke about the diversity in "Crazy Rich Asians," telling Deadline that it would be "unfair" for the film, which earned more than $238 million at the global box office, to represent all Asian people.

"One movie that represents [all] Asians - that's just ridiculous," Chu told the publication in August 2018. "However, if this can crack the door a little bit so that other stories can be told, and it spawns a resurgence in these stories getting shown at the highest levels possible - I would love to have this."

Chu echoed his comment about diversity while discussing "Crazy Rich Asians" with Insider last week.

"Listen, we need to have more movies. You need to have more filmmakers so that it doesn't rest on one movie," Chu said.

And it seems that Chu will soon get his wish.

"Crazy Rich Asians" author Kwan told Variety last Thursday that a sequel, based on his 2015 novel "China Rich Girlfriend," is in "deep in development" at Warner Bros.

The sequel novel, set two years after "Crazy Rich Asians" ends, continues to tell the story of Nick and Rachel and their contentious relationship with Nick's mother Eleanor (played by Michelle Yeoh).

Chu's latest film, "In The Heights," premieres on June 10 in theaters and on HBO Max.