Simu Liu addresses reason why he will never be James Bond

Simu Liu, who stars as Shang-Chi in Marvel Cinematic Universe, reveals why Hollywood won’t let him be James Bond.

The Canadian-Chinese actor also shared his experience on lake of Asian representation in the film industry.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the interviewer asked him about his thoughts on, while people often asks questions of whether they’d ever cast a Black actor for James Bond, why no one asks the same question about Asian actors.

“No, we’re a couple rungs down the ladder. Fighting for representation for all marginalised communities is important, but it can sometimes suck if you’re not a part of that conversation,” he said.

Taking example from his new role in The Copenhagen Test season one, he added, “Knowing that I would never get an opportunity to play a role like Bond, something like the Alexander Hale character is such a blessing because his cultural identity is really baked into his character.”

Liu went on to talk about the unique struggles and cultural challenges he and his character is facing, specifically as first-generation immigrant.

“You feel it in the pilot episode, with his superiors not trusting the fact that he comes from a first-generation immigrant family,” he said. “These are things that the James Bonds and the Ethan Hunts of the world wouldn’t have had to deal with.”

Liu also expressed the bittersweet reality as an Asian actor, that many of the legendary directors he admires will likely never casts him in their projects due to biases towards ethnicity and colour.

"Once I kind of made peace with it, the next step for me was to go, “Are we gonna be in our circles and talk about how frustrated we are? Or are we going to do something?" he explained. "I’m really grateful for having developed kind of skills here that I think will help me in getting my own projects made, thinking more strategically and entrepreneurially."

The Copenhagen Test is slated for release on December 27.