Catching up With Ludi Lin, the New Black Ranger

With all the current fervor over diversity in Hollywood , the new film reboot of the popular 90’s tv show Saban’s Power Rangers couldn’t have come at a better time. Premiering Friday, March 24, the film follows five ordinary teens who “must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat.” Boasting a wildly diverse cast, most notably the first LGBT and on-the-spectrum power rangers, the movie is hoping to show that #togetherwearemore.

A hashtag that we in the Asian American community can get behind right?

While the core Kollaboration team was making us proud in Austin, Texas during this year’s SXSW Conference & Festival, I had the chance to chat to chat with Chinese-Canadian actor Ludi Lin, one of Asia’s rising stars, who plays Zack the Black Ranger in the new iteration of the original Power Rangers team.

Lin told us that he was extremely excited and eager to show Hollywood what Asians can do on the big screen. “I mean it’s like winning the lottery,” he says, “Do you have a weight of going to claim your money? I mean not really because I had so much to say about Asians.”

For Lin, playing Zack wasn’t just about representing the Asian community but also a chance to grow as an actor.

“For Zack I just wanted to really delve into who this person really is-like he’s going through this double life that he has to live. He’s just a person within the world right?”

Of course we as Asians are not naïve enough to believe that people don’t see ‘Asian’ when they see us. But just like Zack in the film, “being Asian is a part of [us]”. Just like Zack, “there’s so many different aspects of [us] and how they relate to each other.”

As Lin so eloquently put it, “I think that each person is a book and he should have the chance for other people to be able to read that book and understand him.”

So what’s a young aspiring Asian American actor to do?

“Welcome people who want to pigeon-hole you, that want to stereotype you because that’s the chance for you to surprise them and break that stereotype.”

Similar to the film’s theme of accepting yourself, flaws and all, Lin believes that one can not a good actor until he discovers and accepts who he is.

“Have fun,” Ludi told us. “Use whatever injustice you feel and have fun with things. Because entertainment is suppose[d] to be fun.”

Some sound advice Ludi!

See Ludi Lin in action in Saban’s Power RangersNow playing!

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Pictures courtesy of Lionsgate

Wong Fu Productions Announces Principal Cast for Their First Movie

After crowd-funding over $300,000 and 3 months of intense pre-production planning, Wong Fu has finally announced the start of their principal photography and revealed the principal cast for their first feature film.

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Wong Fu Productions Crowdfunds Their First Movie

Fans of Wong Fu Productions will soon see Phil, Wes, and Chris with blue, yellow, purple or red hair.

The new ‘dos are just one of many promised perks from their indiegogo.com crowdfunding campaign for their first movie. The perk was partially to support Ted, who’s had to answer questions on why his hair is white (it’s genetic, he’s had that hair since he was 14) but mostly to add another fun perk in the last few days of their highly successful online campaign.

It began on Feb. 6, setting the goal at $200,000, and ended on March 19 with $358,278. They offered 26 different donation perks ranging from a $1 High-Five of Awesome all the way up to a $10,000 Executive Producer credit and VIP treatment. Several of their perks sold out quite fast, so as the limited perks began to sell out and donations kept coming in, Wong Fu added more along the way. In the end, Wong Fu raised nearly double their intended goal in only 40 days.

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Check Out Ki Hong Lee in Maze Runner trailer

The official movie trailer to the latest book-to-film adaptation has been released! Written by James Dashner and directed by Wes Ball, the Maze Runner trailer was recently shown on MTV during an episode of Teen Wolf.

The two-minute clip shows the main character Thomas, portrayed by Dylan O’Brien (who’s also in Teen Wolf), first appearing in what seems to be a caged elevator. He is lifted to “the maze,” where he meets dozens of other boys, including Minho, played by a familiar face – Ki Hong Lee! Their mission, it would seem, is to get out of the maze… before time runs out. 

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