Constance Wu isn’t "beating [herself] up" over her ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ rant.
The 37-year-old actress took to Twitter in May to launch an expletive-laden rant after the TV show – on which she plays protective mother Jessica Huang – was renewed for a sixth season, which seemed to indicate she was upset about the news.
She wrote at the time: "So upset right now that I’m literally crying. Ugh. F**k. F***ing hell."
And when a fan wrote: "Congrats on your renewal! Great news 🙂 (sic)" the star responded: "No it’s not."
Constance later explained that her rant was fuelled as the renewal of ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ meant she couldn’t take part in another project she had been excited about, and she has now said she’s thankful for the support she’s had in the wake of her rant – which garnered criticism from people who accused her of being ungrateful for her role on the show – because she knows her comments "don’t represent" her.
She said: "It was moving to me how many people from the show reached out to me, and even on set … to say, ‘Just so you know, we love you and we know who you are, and you didn’t deserve any of that stuff.’ Because they also know that I’m an actress – I can be dramatic. I’m emotional. But they also know that that doesn’t represent me because they have a hundred episodes of behaviour that proves otherwise.
"I’m not beating myself up for it because I know me. But I don’t think I realised that people were paying so much attention to my Twitter."
The ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ star even says she’s grateful for the criticism that came after her rant, because it allowed her to understand how much reach she has as a public figure.
She added: "It improved my awareness of what it means to be a … public figure. [I had] a back and forth about it. It’s the line between being a role model, but also authenticity."
Constance believes the backlash she received was also brought on by the seemingly flawless nature of social media.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, she said: "Nobody trips up. And sometimes I think, might it be good to see our heroes mess up a little bit and not always be perfect?"
Constance Wu: I’m not beating myself up over Fresh Off The Boat rant
