What attracted you to Persuasion? It was my first time doing a period drama/comedy, and it allowed me to be back home [in England]. The quarantine had just finished, and I hadn’t been home for two years. It was a chance to see my family and bring my baby [his 14-month-old daughter with wife Liv Lo, a yoga instructor and television host]. Tell us about your character, Mr. Elliot. He doesn’t have a care in the world. He has his own ambitions, and that’s mainly to get laid; he’s a man of his vices. He’s not afraid to go out there, mess around with the beehive and get stung a few times. Whatever takes his fancy, whatever whim he feels, he just dives headfirst into it. This version of Persuasion has a more modern feel to it because of the language. How modern is it? It feels not too modern, which is exactly what we wanted. [Director] Carrie Cracknell and the team, they didn’t want us to be beholden to classic RP [role playing], which you would find in traditional Jane Austen literature or movies. I think there’s so much more character, especially with our amazing ensemble cast of accents and the vocabulary that they use. It’s a really approachable version of Jane Austen. Is it also an homage to Bridgerton with its diverse cast? No, it was always the idea of portraying a very un-boring version of the time. I think it just makes it so much more. What we really want to do is make Jane Austen agreeable to everybody. And nowadays, people want to see their faces, or they want to be able to imagine themselves in those stories. So I think it doesn’t detract at all from this wonderful storytelling, which is I think the goal. We wanted to make it as seamless as possible, and to do that I think we had to paint the picture of what we know society as right now. You filmed in the city of Bath. Is a lot of that preserved and looks the same as it did in the 19th century? Yeah, a lot of the traditional buildings and some architecture are still there. Obviously, the baths themselves still exist, but it’s also the country manors and the location by the ocean that played a big role. England’s wonderful like that. They’re able to keep their heritage and heritage sites very traditional. Do you have a favorite Jane Austen book or a movie? I always go back to Pride and Prejudice. I think that’s just because it’s been wholly adapted so many times that I’ve seen iterations and the different variants of all the characters. It’s classic literature that can be told in contemporary ways, which is what we wanted. We want it to transcend that of just being the traditional. You were a TV personality when you landed Crazy Rich Asians. How did you make the jump from television to film? I set out to live in Asia and be a presenter for travel shows and things like that. But then I always wanted to get into acting and learn the craft. So three years previous to Crazy Rich, I went to an acting class and a seminar. And then I got a job offer to be a host on a show called The Travel Show. And I was like, “Oh, I guess it’s not meant to be just yet.” So I put it on the backburner, but then the opportunity came for Crazy Rich and I jumped at it. Crazy Rich Asians turned your life around because you moved from Singapore to Los Angeles. With the pandemic, have you had time to experience L.A.? What do you like about living there? I absolutely love it. The weather, it really gets you. We live near Venice, so we have access to the ocean, we go out for hikes. Generally, it’s the diverseness of L.A. A lot of people get wrapped up in the whole showbiz side of things, but actually living in L.A. is beautiful. It’s like a massive garden of all sorts of things you can do. You have several tattoos. Tell us about them. It’s a part of my culture from Malaysia, where traditionally we use tattoos to tell stories or to mark significant moments in life. So, for me, it’s a heritage thing. They’re markers of different chapters in my life. This year was your second Father’s Day. How special is that now for you to be a girl dad? To be honest, it’s the best, a girl dad. She literally can throw a tantrum and hate us, and I just look at her and think, Oh, my God, as challenging as this is, I would do anything and everything for you. So she gets away with murder, pretty much. She’s only 1 and 2 months, but she’s figuring out her opinions and her likes and dislikes, so she’s very vocal about it, just like her mom. She’s figuring out her power about how to wrap dad around her little finger. Oh, yes. If Mommy says no, she’s started looking over at me and climbing over and giving me a hug. Because usually I’m No. 2. Mom’s definitely No. 1. But when she starts coming to No. 2, I know something’s up. You attended the Met Gala this year, which is high fashion and invitation only. What’s it like for you now to deal with the fame? It was my second time at the Met Gala. This year we had the joy of being invited by Mr. Ford, and so my wife and I were wearing Tom Ford that evening. It’s a very surreal event and it’s often quite awkward in some respects, because it’s the biggest bunch of people that you recognize and know but you don’t actually know. It’s interesting in the sense of a lot of small talk and hi’s. It was phenomenal, to be honest. It was really nice to be able to share it with my wife because it’s very rare you’re allowed a plus one, but she looked absolutely ravishing in Tom Ford that evening. We had a very good time. So do you enjoy that aspect of the fame? I guess it’s one of the perks for sure. It’s not the driver of all of this, but it is fun to have a mommy and daddy day out, or a night out, which is rare. You have used your fame to get involved with the Stop Asian Hate initiative. The outrageousness of the gun violence, especially towards the Asian community…it’s despicable, it’s disgusting. I don’t know how to stop it all, but what we can do is raise awareness, especially within our own community. It’s an ongoing battle. Very, very sad.
