Maybe Happy Ending continues to be the subject of casting drama following the musical's original star, Darren Criss, being replaced by Andrew Barth Feldman.
When it was announced in July, Feldman's casting as Oliver caused an uproar in the AAPI community, given that the Broadway show takes place in South Korea and originated with a mostly Asian cast. Now, actress Constance Wu has uploaded an Instagram story saying that she spoke with Feldman about the controversy.
Earlier this week, the Crazy Rich Asians actress shared a text post to her stories, explaining that she had spoken with Feldman over the phone about Asian American representation and erasure in theater. The call was peaceful, and it was followed up by emails and text messages, which she said made her feel hopeful. However, she said, he recently sent her a voice note that left her feeling "disappointed" and "pretty discouraged."
"It's hard to keep speaking up when it feels like no one is listening anymore in this new era," Wu wrote. "It's exhausting and increasingly lonely. Once again, Asian Americans are left unheard, unacknowledged, and invisible. Sadly, we're used to this. A dozen or so folks at [Maybe Happy Ending] have remained silent perhaps in the hopes that this would all fade away and you know what? It has."
She acknowledged that Feldman has been put in an unfortunate situation, being saddled with the responsibility to answer for his casting. "But sometimes we don't choose our responsibilities, they choose us," the actress wrote at the end of her post. "So the question that remains is: what are you choosing to do with it? Silence is a choice."
Wu also uploaded two more Instagram stories, in which she continued to call on Feldman to speak out and wrote that his silence, which she described as ignoring "an entire population," was "cowardly, disrespectful, and just really sad."
Feldman has yet to make a public statement regarding the controversy, but his costar and real-life girlfriend, Helen J. Shen, shared her thoughts in a post on Instagram. In the post, she described "an immensely challenging moment" within her home with Feldman but also called him "perfect" for the role.
After the controversy surrounding Feldman's casting reached a larger audience, it was announced last month that Criss wouldn't be leaving the show permanently. Instead, after taking a nine-week break, he'll be returning to the role after Feldman's run ends on November 5.
