In her book ‘Making a Scene,’ Wu shares her life journey through a collection of vignettes. From her Virginia upbringing as the child of immigrants, to her days as a young actress in New York City, and finally, her breakthrough role in the television series ‘Fresh off the Boat.’ The book delves further into her encounters with social media missteps, while also exploring her personal quest for reconciliation and forgiveness within her own family.

Actress Origin Story

Growing up, books were Wu’s first love and she thought she’d have a career as a writer. That was until her English teacher accused her of plagiarizing material in a report. Apparently the report was too good for an 8th grader and the teacher thought Wu could not have produced that material on her own. Other teachers were brought in to vouch for Wu’s intelligence. The only teacher that stood up for her was the Drama teacher. After that English was out, Drama was in.

Most Surprising Reveal

Wu was accused of sexual harassment on the set of ‘Fresh off the Boat’. Every time her character was seen writing on screen she was actually writing the word penis. Members of the production complain which ultimately lead Wu to stop.

Are there pictures?

Yes, quite a few. Including those from childhood plays Wu acted in, as well as her pet bunny Linda Rose.

Is it worth your time?

Wu once spent two hours with an orange as an acting exercise. An act, which in her telling, not only sounds logical, but an earnest and poignant pursuit. It is a gifted storyteller that can pull off that feat and she takes the same critical intensity to the other moments in her life. If she can make an orange sound interesting, wait until you dive into the rest of Wu’s inner world. The work reads like a cathertic exercise, touching and reflective with visuals that put the reader right into her frame of mind.

It is a rare accomplishment to make the reader empathize with her stories while Wu’s own likability is questionable. In her memoir she brings up such incidents as publicly stating her dislike for her show being renewed. Or, being called mean by her sister for how Wu treated  her growing up. Lastly, she touches briefly on a five-year estrangement with her mother, recounting the events with a matter-of-fact tone, leaving readers to ponder why. These unexplored moments, whether intentionally left untouched to prevent old wounds from reopening or to avoid shouldering accountability, leave the reader with the sense of lingering curiosity.

Despite these few instances of narrative brevity, at the end of this well-told-tale readers will be left wanting to hear just a little bit more, and it is clear that the wait for Wu to become the writer she always dreams she’d be was well worth it.