Bling Empire: New York just debuted on Netflix. What have been the reactions so far?
It came out at 3 a.m. I really need to mute my phone. My friends are texting me, which is really sweet. It’s been an insane week. I’m normally on your side of the equation, so I’m concerned about how I’m presenting myself in these ways. We have absolutely no clue how it’s going to be perceived. I can only be myself–which is hopefully how I come across in the show.
Talk to me about being the only openly queer member of the show.
I’m definitely the only openly queer Asian person in reality shows. It’s a weird position to be in. I don’t necessarily imagine myself to be an activist. My queerness is just only a part of my identity–I don’t think about it. I don’t think about who I’m sleeping with or who I want to date. My work, my life and my friends; that’s what’s important to me.
How did you want to make that apparent in the show?
I wanted to make it clear with the producers as we were filming that the way they showed my story was as authentic, real and true to my story. I never came out nor had a coming out story. It didn’t really matter to people, I’m not super focused on it. I’m just gonna date whoever I want and be interested in whatever I want. I think that’s really important as a queer person and for the queer community. There are so many narratives that are fed around shame or confusion. I’m open to dating whoever and I’m really hoping that that is clear in the show.
Many older generations, especially in non-Western regions, are very traditional. On and off the show, have you ever had trouble being your true self?
Not really on the show. There were moments when Lynn’s husband, who is in his fifties, abruptly asked me, ‘Are you gay?’ Lynn said, ‘No he’s queer.’ You don’t really ask those kinds of things anymore. But reflecting on that, I guess it’s just different generations that might not get it. Sadly, it’s kind of our responsibility as young people to lead by example. My mom never questions, she just tells me to do my thing and tells me that she wants me to be supported and loved.
How do you balance the show with your acting, modeling and journalist careers?
Since it’s a reality show, we have to kind of live our lives as we live our lives and fit filming around it. I will not say I’m a model…well…I’ve only just recently been a model, I guess. I’m here for it. I write at the magazine and it’s my main gig as a journalist. I’m at-large so I have a really flexible schedule and there’s always ways to patch things together.
You played Thomas in China’s popular show Meteor Garden. How does this contrast to Bling Empire: New York?
Being a scripted show like Meteor Garden, you know what you’re doing the next day. You have to prepare, go on set, rehearse, film and retake. With Bling Empire, there’s none of that. They want to put us on ice. We don’t rehearse, but they say where we’re gonna meet and what we’re gonna do. Oftentimes with the producers, we’ll spend a few hours prior to filming, talking about our lives so they can really understand who we are, what point of view we come from and what kinds of things are coming up in our lives in the next few months so that they can play into what’s always going on.