editor’s note: i’m back! it’s been a while. phew. excited to get more regular on here to write and share stories for the rest of 2024. the world is afire and this year is an election year that everyone is dreading. been figuring out how i can create work that adds to your life. writing more substacks. indie podcasting? definitely continuing my monthly live show (and livestreaming online) SELF HELP ME: a competitive self-care comedy show. GET TICKETS FOR LOS ANGELES OR TO WATCH ONLINE!: http://jennyyang.tv (next shows are June 13th AND July 11th)
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just got back from three weeks in Taiwan and i realized that i never told you about the time my mom met Michelle Yeoh! january 4th was the premiere of The Brothers Sun so i had to bring her to witness this milestone with me.
we got ready and i was a pile of nerves. i was “secretly” writing on season 2 of the brothers sun and had a deadline the very next day! but mama was there and i managed to have my talented friend it girl cleo chung snap some behind the scenes photos of the getting ready process. so we had a cute little time.
i had this vision that my mom would be able to take photos with me on the red carpet but for some reason the netflix handlers were super gatekeepy and shit so we couldn’t do that. but here’s the moment i hit the red carpet i had no chill.
lol look at Corey creepin’ in the back. i wore custom Dan Z leather coordinates. styled by diana tsui. hair by brian fisher and makeup by hinako. i mean A LEATHER TRAIN.
snuck in a picture with michelle. (don’t ask me how to get the original this entire publicity machine is beyond me)
i recorded the moment when my mom saw me appear in the pilot speaking Mandarin. it was her first time seeing me act! i’ve never seen her so impressed in my life. you can see her mini shock when my scene partner Jon Xue Zhang cursed in Chinese lol. but seeing the wonder in her eyes made me tear up.
then we went to the after party and i let all the jackals have their time with Michelle before i approached her. i really wanted them to meet and for us to all take a pic together. to have my mom meet Michelle was WILLLLLLLD. QUEENS MEETING QUEENS.
Michelle is certifiable QUEEN MOTHER but my own mother is a Queen in her own way. my mom is so damn humble. she calls herself a country bumpkin and spent all her life taking care of others while working factory jobs. the clashing of these two worlds made me ABSOLUTELY WEEP. they spoke for a couple of minutes. i couldn’t hear them but this is how i stood there curtains of tears flowing out trying to hide that i was losing my shit. (i think they said some stuff about thanks for taking care of my daughter she’s really talented etc)
you can see my eyes are already puffy from tears. these photos from afar were taken by my buddy Helen Kim (wife of one of our The Brothers Sun Directors Viet Nguyen). SO CLUTCH.
then they went in for a hug. that’s when i lost it. lordt.
anyways. a moment i’ll never forget. my mom never does fancy things (as you my loyal reader of this substack knows) so i’m trying to treat her to as many things as i can. we can check this off the list of things i never knew i could even dream of.
i’ll be honest: this moment makes me a little sad. i am proud that it happened. but i’m writing this on May 15th, 2024 a couple months after hearing from Netflix that The Brothers Sun would NOT be getting a season 2. we found out late March when we had JUST finished writing the second season! all of the writers and actors were so heartbroken. i had to mourn for a minute before heading out to Taiwan for most of April. the cancellation comes at a time when all the chatter in the industry is that entertainment companies are cutting costs, restructuring like hell. that they don’t want to “take risks” and they will have a “higher bar” to have shows and movies that will reach a “global audience.” all this rhetoric REALLY bums me out because this is old hollywood language for a very narrow and conservative vision of whose stories should be told. the “diverse” stories are the first to go. work is hard to come by right now. not a lot of actors and writers are working and the mantra is “survive until 2025.”
so here i am. i will be working on my standup comedy. i will be working on Self Help Me and trying to make that a podcast and sell it as a TV show. i will be developing and writing more TV show and feature film ideas like a mad woman. i will be making more social media content again. i hope i can still find an audience again after such a long break to hibernate since the pandemic. thanks for rocking with me always.
did we get the photo? yes. face and eyes puffy from the tears and all.
okay that’s all. next post…SPOILER ALERT (stop reading if you haven’t watched all 8 episodes of the show!)
…will be about the time i choked out Michelle Yeoh lol
love you guys. try to space out your panic attacks and existential crises. and i’ll try to do the same.
my mom met michelle yeoh