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In 'Boogie,' Eddie Huang tells his own 'definitive Asian American coming-of-age story'

"Our culture is like, if we're showing this to the outside world, it's got to be perfect, it's got to be no flaws. And I'm like, guys, we're all flawed. None of us are perfect," Huang said.
Pop Smoke, director Eddie Huang and actor Taylor Takahashi on the set of their film "Boogie."
Pop Smoke, director Eddie Huang and actor Taylor Takahashi on the set of their film "Boogie."Nicole Rivelli / Focus Features

In 2019, Taylor Takahashi was Eddie Huang’s assistant. One day, he showed up at work and his boss had a sudden request. "It was a Thursday. Eddie greets me at the door ... and he's like, 'Give me your phone and give me your computer.' And I was like, 'Eddie, am I fired?'" Takahashi said.

He wasn't in trouble. He was told that that day, he was going to audition for the lead role in Huang's new film, "Boogie," a coming-of-age tale about a teenage Asian American basketball player balancing on-court and family pressures.

There was only one problem: Takahashi had never acted before, and he hadn't planned on being an actor. But he did know how to play basketball. He and Huang play for the same team, the Mofufus, in San Gabriel, California. And getting to audition for "Boogie" was the film equivalent of a free throw. Takahashi spent three hours preparing a scene and recorded it the same day for his screen test. "By that next Monday, you know, I was Boogie," he said.

Taylor Takahashi as Boogie and Pop Smoke as Monk in a scene from "Boogie."
Taylor Takahashi as Boogie and Pop Smoke as Monk in a scene from "Boogie."David Giesbrecht / Focus Features

"Boogie" will be released in theaters Friday.

Takahashi may never have acted before, but Huang always believed his teammate could play the lead role in "Boogie," which is also the first feature film Huang has directed.

"There are very few Asian people that play basketball as well as Taylor, who's age-appropriate for this role," Huang said. He had auditioned other actors, but when Takahashi submitted his tape, it was no contest: Huang had wanted someone who could authentically portray Boogie, a lower-middle-class kid living in Queens, New York.

"This film is difficult, because it's not just an Asian American film," Huang said. "It's also as much, if not more, Black American culture, downtown New York culture, street culture, hip-hop culture, all of those things. It's a very intersectional film."

Taylor Takahashi as Alfred "Boogie" Chin and Taylour Paige as Eleanor in director Eddie Huang’s "Boogie."
Taylor Takahashi as Alfred "Boogie" Chin and Taylour Paige as Eleanor in director Eddie Huang’s "Boogie." Nicole Rivelli / Focus Features

"Boogie" is also a personal film for Huang, who minored in film in college. He started writing it in 2016, after the premiere of "Fresh Off the Boat" on ABC, which was based on his memoir.

Huang has publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the sitcom.

"I thought that when I wrote 'Fresh Off the Boat,' I had really busted this ceiling, not just for myself, but also for immigrants and Asian Americans," he said. While he wanted to write, direct and have some creative control over the show based on his life, the studio wouldn't allow it. "They just put another ceiling over my head. And it was quite frustrating," he said.

So Huang went off, made his own documentary television show, called "Huang's World," and wrote a screenplay inspired by his own life. Like Alfred, the main character in "Boogie," Huang grew up playing basketball and dreamed of playing for the NBA.

Huang fills Alfred with some of the same anxieties he faced as a young man, from dealing with his Taiwanese parents and their expectations to trying to fit in at school and on the basketball court. But it was important that Boogie not be quiet or a straight-A student. Instead, he has anger issues and gets in trouble.

"He's not a bad kid at all. He's just different. And people aren't willing to give him the space and the time to grow and change and make mistakes and be different," Huang said. "I wanted to make my definitive Asian American coming-of-age story. This is not everyone's Asian American coming-of-age story. But it's mine."

Huang said he isn't trying to speak for everyone, and he doesn't want to.

"People want to make these works that represent all of us and are, like, correct — no mistakes," he said. "Our culture is like, if we're showing this to the outside world, it's got to be perfect, it's got to be no flaws. And I'm like, guys, we're all flawed. None of us are perfect. Take it easy. Can we have more accurate representations or just different representations that aren't like that?"

The film has been a coming-of-age experience for Takahashi, as well. Before "Boogie," he said, he didn't have a clear direction in life. He had played basketball since he was 2, but a fractured ankle in college killed his dreams of playing professionally. When he and Huang met, he was working as a personal trainer and a yakitori chef. Now, "Boogie" has opened up other acting opportunities.

"It's a coming-of-age story within the film for Boogie, but I also came of age in that process," Takahashi said. "It's understanding that I have all the tools available to me in life. And if it's acting, if it's basketball, if it's, you know, taking out the garbage — I have all of the skills in me, and it's just about being able to tap in and mine those out and then release them."

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