![]() To many Asian Americans and children of immigrants, his character will strike a bittersweet chord, which is exactly why Ma hopes “Tigertail” reaches the viewers who need it the most. It’s a spotlight role some 40 years in the making. With “Tigertail,” the veteran actor finally gets to take his talents center stage in a multigenerational drama loosely inspired by writer-director Alan Yang’s own family. ![]() In person - or rather, via video chat from Pasadena, where he is sheltering at home after filming shut down due to the pandemic on the CW reboot of the 1972 TV series “Kung Fu” - he’s the opposite of so many of his film personas, ebullient and warm, quick with quips, and heavy on the booming New York accent he frequently sneaks into the vernacular of his characters. That is, if his characters would have been able to find them in the first place. “Julia Hsu, I’m telling you!”Īt 57, Ma has cultivated a place in cinema as the Everydad whose glances convey the kind of deep feelings that don’t need words. Forget everybody else,” he said with a grin. The real breakout star? Ma says it was 11-year-old Julia Hsu. He even reached back to 1998’s “Rush Hour,” the moment he figures this run of movie dads began, when he played the consul whose precocious Mariah Carey-singing daughter is kidnapped. “I wish more opportunities would come their way so audiences would discover how amazingly talented these women are.” Unlike most of the characters he’s played onscreen, Ma is effusive with his affection. Christine Ko of “Tigertail,” in which Ma stars as a Taiwanese immigrant wrestling with the ghosts of his own American dream, and many, many more. ![]() Yifei Liu, who anchors Disney’s upcoming live-action epic “ Mulan,” in which Ma plays the legendary warrior’s doting father. There was Awkwafina from last year’s “ The Farewell,” who won the Golden Globe for her dramatic debut in a story based on filmmaker Lulu Wang‘s life. True to that title, he showered praise upon his many movie daughters, his eyes lighting up. ![]() What say you, readers? Which Disney animated films would you like to see get the live-action treatment in the future? Sound off in the comments below.Over Skype on a recent afternoon as Tzi Ma was discussing “ Tigertail,” his first major leading role, the actor couldn’t help but veer into the proud paternal mode he’s embraced as Hollywood’s favorite Asian Dad. Other studios are working on new versions of The Little Mermaid so that might be well-worn territory by the time Disney gets around to it, but I think The Rock is onto something with his Bambi idea. Mulan is a great opportunity to highlight not only a female lead, but a Chinese one, adding some welcomed diversity to the blockbuster climate. But it won’t be the first time the character has gotten the live-action treatment, as China produced an adaptation of the legend in 2009 called Mulan: Rise of a Warrior.Īnd now it’s time to start guessing which animated Disney film will be next. ![]() Now we can add Mulan to the list of popular animated Disney films that are getting a live-action redo, presumably in 2019. The trend continues with Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book in 2016, Bill Condon’s Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens in 2017, and the recent news that Tim Burton is directing a live-action Dumbo (seriously). This news comes on the heels of the studio’s live-action Cinderella opening a couple of weeks ago to stellar reviews and solid box office, which itself followed 2014’s Angelina Jolie-fronted Maleficent. ![]()
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