This was a wonderful wonderful wonderful day in my life and career and it is the culmination of a number of events and seeds I've planted over the years.
See, when I was first starting out as a photographer...back in like 2005...I was scrounging around trying to get whatever work I could. And I happened to watch the very first season of America's Got Talent and there was an all-Asian boyband on there, At Last, who ended up finishing in second place. I did a little research on them and came to find out they were managed by Ming-Na and her husband Eric.
Well, through some really amazing googlemania, I got Eric's contact info and asked him if the band was in need of photos, as I would loooove to take their pictures, thinking it'd be great publicity for me if the photos got used anywhere. (When you're just starting out, you really have nowhere to go but up.)
Well turns out they did like the pictures. But nothing really came of it... everyone's busy....Blah blah blah.
Then three years later, in 2008, I was semi-established in the LA headshot scene. And Ming's husband Eric needed headshots since he was getting back into acting. So he hired me to take his headshots. And he loved them. I think he loved them. I mean, we're still friends, so he must've liked them.
So now we have a semi-working relationship together. And he, knowing what a die-hard Joy Luck Fan I am, invited me to attend the Joy Luck Club 15 Year Reunion in San Francisco as their honored guest. (Fine, just regular guest, but I FELT like an honored guest.) So that's where I finally met Ming for the first time. And she was sooo nice. And soooo beautiful.
Fast forward another two years to 2010. And FINALLY Ming needed updated pictures (although she does. not. age.) so she finally asked me to do her headshots.
So now we're all like Best Friends. (In my mind anyway.) But I haven't heard from them in a while.
And then out of the blue a couple of weeks ago, Eric called to ask if I was free to photograph the 20-Year Joy Luck Club Cast Reunion. And it just so happened to coincide with my already-happening LA trip!
FATE!!!!!!!
So a few weekends ago, while I was in LA. (This is the morning after Perez Hilton's B'day Party and I was NOT feeling 100%.) I cruised up to Ming and Eric's palatial home in Calabasas (I think they live down the street from The Kardashians) where they were hosting the cast and crew of the movie over for an afternoon eatparty.
Waverly (aka TamlynTomita) was the first to arrive. Of course she is 47-years-old and as beautiful and young-looking as the day she starred opposite Ralph Macchio in Karate Kid Part II.
Then came Kieu, who played Ming's mom in the movie and rolled up in a Rolls-Royce, and LaurenTom, also known as Julie, Ross's girlfriend, from Season Two of Friends.
It was all super casual. We chilled and chatted and munched in the kitchen while Ming and her real mommy finished cooking all the foods.
People kept arriving. Many hadn't seen each other in 20 years!
It was a lovely lovely time.
Real mommy!
Movie mommy!
The spread of wines and foods for the occasion was amaaaazing.
Of course no Joy Luck Feast would be complete without DUMPLINGS!
And moonpies.
And little baos.
Joy Luck YUM!
Everyone brought their families as well. Ming's son Cooper is adorbs.
And her daughter Michaela looks like a mini-version of her and already has a very successful voiceover career. (She probably makes more than you and me combined.)
It was her first time meeting a lot of the members of the Joy Luck Club family!
Everyone was amazed by how beautiful and well-spoken she is.
The last to arrive, of course, was Auntie Lindo (aka Tsai Chin). She is a little curmudgeon-y and pretty much exactly like her JLC character. It was like she had stepped right off the screen and into real-life!
There were lots of other crew members and actors on-hand but I'm sure you don't care about those people.
It was a very surreal experience!
Here are all the cast members (moms and daughters) who were on hand for the reunion. (Some of the others were filming elsewhere and couldn't make it. Sad sad.)
Waverly and Auntie Lindo were adorable though. (Fun fact: Tsai, AKA Auntie Lindo, is the sister of MichaelChow (AKA Mr. Chow) and Aunt of China Chow.)
Joy Luck ladies LOVE a giant!
Here's a group shot of everyone!
THESE LADIES DO NOT AGE. They are all almost 50 or above!
Ming's mom had laid out a collection of old photos from their Joy Luck days. The movie is super meaningful to all of them because it pretty much launched all of their careers!
Everyone kept snapping and tweeting pictures and I couldn't help but think, "Stars. They're just like us!"
And then we had a delicious cake.
Another fun fact. When I was growing up, the only movie I was allowed to watch (other than "Winnie The Pooh Says 'No' To Drugs" was this TV-movie called "The Girl Who Spelled Freedom".
It was a movie about a Cambodian refugee who is adopted by an American family and becomes a spelling-bee champion. I'm not even joking. I've seen this movie at least 100 times. And it is the SOLE reason for my life-long obsession with good spelling.
Anyway, Kieu (pronounced "Q"), who plays Ming's mom in JLC, was one of the stars of this movie. So basically in my mind she is like the Asian Meryl Streep. Basically I told her all this and she thought it was hilaaaaaarious and gave me a hug.
Anyway. It was a lovely lovely afternoon. I made many new friends. Everyone added me to their twitters. (I still kind of hate twitter, but it IS slightly more fun when you have semi-famous friends.)
Oh and they did on-camera interviews, which I hope will be on the 25th Anniversary DVD of Joy Luck Club, if they make one!
And they had the movie playing in the background because some of the kids had never seen it! So cute!
I LOVE watching DVD Director's Commentaries...so you can imagine how much fun it is to get a cast and crew commentary as you watch it LIVE!
In closing, if you've never seen this movie before, ADD IT TO YOUR FRICKING NETFLIX QUEUE.
It is one of the greatest movies of all time, and by far the greatest Asian-American movie EVER. (If there was an Oscar for Best Asian Movie, it would have won it long ago and nothing since has ever come close.)
But truly it is a story that transcends race and time. Which is why all these people still feel so connected to it, even after 20 years.
I love you Ming-Na and Eric and all you Joy Luck Ladies.
Thank you so much for inviting me to capture and share in this special day!
"Everyone say 'Best Quality'!!!!!"
WAVERLY!!!!!!!!!!!!
