Daniel Dae Kim sat down with Ronny Chieng on The Daily Show to discuss his role in David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face, which is currently in previews on Broadway.
Kim plays a fictionalized version of Hwang in the play, which is inspired by real-life events beginning during the controversial casting of Miss Saigon in 1990. In the interview, Kim discusses the genesis of the play and also highlights why the subject matter is so important.
“We’re in a situation now where there are so many great Asian-American performers…so there’s absolutely no reason why Asian performers should not be playing Asian characters,” Kim said. “The thing that gets a little bit more nuanced now is whether we should be nationality specific among Asian-Americans and that is an interesting question too.” Watch the full interview with Daniel Dae Kim now!
Yellow Face follows a playwright’s fictionalized doppelgänger as he protests yellowface casting in Miss Saigon, only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play. The Obie Award-winning and Pulitzer finalist play is a laugh-out-loud farce about the complexities of race.
Directed by Leigh Silverman, Yellow Face will begin preview performances on Friday, September 13, 2024, and open officially on Friday, October 1, 2024, at the Todd Haimes Theatre (227 West 42nd Street) on Broadway. This is a limited engagement through Sunday, November 24, 2024.
The creative team for Yellow Face includes Arnulfo Maldonado (Set Design), Anita Yavich (Costume Design), Lap Chi Chu (Lighting Design), Yee Eun Nam (Projection Design), and Caroline Eng and Kate Marvin (Sound Design & Original Music).
