As Peter Chiarelli walked into the theater in casual attire, his black-framed glasses lent him an unassuming appearance that contrasted with the words "crazy", "rich", and "Asian" — the title of the 2018 blockbuster movie adapted from the best-selling book by Singapore-born American novelist Kevin Kwan — the screenwriter cowrote with Malaysian author Adele Lim.
As Hollywood's first major studio release with an all-Asian cast in 25 years, the film was a huge success, both commercially and culturally. The romantic comedy, made on a $30 million budget, grossed $239 million worldwide, and is widely regarded as a milestone in breaking Hollywood stereotypes about Asian men, thanks to its well-educated, attractive male lead.
It won multiple honors, including two Golden Globe nominations, and is the story of Rachel Chu, a Chinese American economics professor at New York University, who travels to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick Young, to attend his best friend's wedding, only to discover that her university history professor boyfriend comes from one of the most wealthy and prominent families in Asia.
While recently attending the second Macao International Comedy Festival, Chiarelli, whose film industry career spans over two decades, reflected on his involvement in an interview with China Daily.
Describing himself as somebody who was "very ignorant about Singapore and its culture", Chiarelli, an American, was captivated by Kwan's story, and set out to explore it in detail.
To help the Washington native better understand Singapore, a place depicted in the book as a playground for the super-rich, the producers arranged for him to meet residents of the island country.
"They introduced me to residents of different neighborhoods in Singapore. I spoke to a lot of people over two weeks, meeting about two people a day — one in the morning, one in the afternoon," Chiarelli says of his intense schedule.
