Making the unfamiliar accessible to all

As Peter Chiarelli walked into the theater in casual attire, his black-framed glasses lent him an unassuming appearance that contrasted with the words "crazy", "rich", and "Asian" — the title of the 2018 blockbuster movie adapted from the best-selling book by Singapore-born American novelist Kevin Kwan — the screenwriter cowrote with Malaysian author Adele Lim.

As Hollywood's first major studio release with an all-Asian cast in 25 years, the film was a huge success, both commercially and culturally. The romantic comedy, made on a $30 million budget, grossed $239 million worldwide, and is widely regarded as a milestone in breaking Hollywood stereotypes about Asian men, thanks to its well-educated, attractive male lead.

It won multiple honors, including two Golden Globe nominations, and is the story of Rachel Chu, a Chinese American economics professor at New York University, who travels to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick Young, to attend his best friend's wedding, only to discover that her university history professor boyfriend comes from one of the most wealthy and prominent families in Asia.

While recently attending the second Macao International Comedy Festival, Chiarelli, whose film industry career spans over two decades, reflected on his involvement in an interview with China Daily.

Describing himself as somebody who was "very ignorant about Singapore and its culture", Chiarelli, an American, was captivated by Kwan's story, and set out to explore it in detail.

To help the Washington native better understand Singapore, a place depicted in the book as a playground for the super-rich, the producers arranged for him to meet residents of the island country.

"They introduced me to residents of different neighborhoods in Singapore. I spoke to a lot of people over two weeks, meeting about two people a day — one in the morning, one in the afternoon," Chiarelli says of his intense schedule.

Thanks to their insights, he developed a deeper understanding of Singaporean culture, which helped him refine small but meaningful details — such as choosing the East Coast Lagoon Food Village, a beachside hawker center, as a location for a casual outing in the film.

"What I found interesting about Singapore is that it's an incredible melting pot. It isn't very big, but you have Chinese, Malay, Filipino, Indian — all these cultures living together in one place. You'll find an Indian hawker stall with Malay and Chinese food stalls right next to each other. That's one of the things I love most about Singapore — how it's this wonderful blend of people," he says.

While the lavish lifestyles — exemplified by the opening scene, in which a tycoon's wife buys a luxury hotel after being prevented by snooty receptionists from checking-in to her reserved suite because she turns up rain-soaked — were among the film's most captivating moments, Chiarelli says he discovered something more meaningful through the writing process.

"The film feels like a dream world, one you can enter even if you can't live it in real life. Though it's like an invitation into the super-rich world … what interested me the most was the idea of how similar everyone is, money or no money. Money lets you do fun things, like ride private jets, but at their core, people are people. That's something I really believe in, and I think it's one of the reasons I keep coming back to writing about these things."

For a Chinese audience, the film's most familiar face was Michelle Yeoh, the first Asian woman to win an Academy Award in 2023 for Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once. In the film, she plays Eleanor Young, Nick's strict, intimidating mother.

Chiarelli is full of praise for Yeoh. "She's a force of nature. You can't take your eyes off her. In real life, she's the warmest, most loving, kind person."

When asked about the key to writing a successful comedy, Chiarelli — who is also known for blockbusters like Now You See Me 2 — explains one of the challenges he faced. "It's funny — when I was writing, I wanted as many people as possible to enjoy the film. Some phrases were funny in English but not in Chinese, or they might even be offensive in Chinese."

So he imagined writing the film for his aunt — a person who knows little about Singapore — and set the simple goal of making her laugh, an approach he says gave him confidence that the script would resonate with other international moviegoers, too.