Constance Wu on ‘whitewashing’: ‘Our heroes don’t look like Matt Damon’

“Fresh Off the Boat” star Constance Wu says she is sick of Hollywood “whitewashing” heroism.

In a letter posted to her Twitter account Friday, Wu said films like Matt Damon’s forthcoming “The Great Wall,” in which the star plays a warrior defending the landmark against ancient Chinese monsters, add to a problem that’s existed for too long in the industry.

“We have to stop perpetuating the racist myth that a (sic) only white man can save the world,” she wrote. “It’s not based in actual fact. Our heroes don’t look like Matt Damon. They look like Malala. Ghandi. Mandela. Your big sister when she stood up for you to those bullies that one time.”

Wu said typical reasons given for whitewashing films – like the lack of bankable diverse stars and the need to appease overseas investors – are no longer valid.

“Can we all at least agree that hero-bias & ‘but it’s really hard to finance’ are no longer excuses for racism?” she wrote in the tweet accompanying the long note. “TRY.”

The Taiwanese-American actress has earned critical praise for her role as Jessica Huang on ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat.”

In her letter, she pleaded for Hollywood to take the risk of casting actors of color as film leads.

“If nothing else, you’d get some mad respect (which is WAY more valuable than money),” she wrote.

Wu wrote that she wasn’t trying to apportion blame.

“Not blaming Damon, the studio, the Chinese financiers,” she wrote in a followup tweet. “It’s not about blame, it’s about AWARENESS.”

John Cho, who plays Hikaru Sulu in the rebooted "Star Trek" movies, featured in the recent #StarringJohnCho online campaign. The campaign was launched by digital strategist William Yu to highlight "the lack of representation of Asian-Americans in media."

Lucy Liu and Jonny Lee Miller in "Elementary." Liu's also known for her roles in "Kill Bill," "Charlie's Angels," and "Ally McBeal."

Korean-American actor Ki Hong Lee plays Minho in the 2014 movie "The Maze Runner." He also plays Dong Nguyen in the Netflix comedy "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."

Harry Shum Jr., born in Costa Rica, starred as Mike Chang in FOX's "Glee." He currently plays Magnus Bane in ABC's "Shadowhunters."

Ming-Na Wen stars as Agent May in "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Wen was the voice of Disney's "Mulan" and had a recurring role on "Two and a Half Men."

Steven Yeun plays Glenn Rhee in AMC's "The Walking Dead." Fans of the show have been left wondering about his character's fate after the sixth season's cliffhanger finale.

Kal Penn starred in the "Harold & Kumar" movie series and TV's "How I Met Your Mother." He also served as associate director for the White House's Office of Public Engagement.

Constance Wu stars in ABC's "Fresh off the Boat." You may also have seen her in the TV series "Eastsiders."

Randall Park is a comedian, actor and writer. He plays Louis Huang in ABC's "Fresh Off the Boat," about an immigrant family that moves from Washington's Chinatown to Orlando in the 1990s.

Vincent Rodriguez III is a New York-based Filipino-American actor who co-stars in the CW comedy "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend."

George Takei played Hikaru Sulu in the original "Star Trek" series.

Brandon Lee, the son of actor and martial arts legend Bruce Lee, starred in the 1994 movie "The Crow." He died in an on-set accident during the filming of the movie.

Asian American actors

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The trailer for “The Great Wall” was released Thursday. The movie, directed by Zhang Yimou, opens in February 2017.