The leading ladies of “ Crazy Rich Asians” completely winged one of the most hilarious lines in the movie.
Main character Rachel Chu is advised by her BFF, Peik Lin, to take a more direct approach in dealing with her boyfriend’s icy mother. Chu had just described her relationship with the woman as a game of chicken.
“You can’t swerve. You gonna roll up and be like ...,” says Lin, played by rapper and actress Awkwafina.
Chu, played by Constance Wu, interjects with “Bok bok, bitch!”
“OK, maybe like not as aggressive,” Lin responds.
Turns out that dialogue, which has generated many laughs since the movie’s trailer dropped in April, was improvised. In a BUILD Series interview with HuffPost on Tuesday, Wu revealed that she came up with the line.
“Jon wasn’t sure about it, but I was like, ‘Let’s just film, let’s just put it in! Gotta make a strong choice,’” Wu said, referring to director Jon Chu.
She added that she and Awkwafina “went deep” with their improv scenes.
“Jon Chu really trusted his actors and he let us improv,” said Awkwafina, whose real name is Nora Lum. “It’s hard to improv because when you take that liberty and do a line and the director yells, ‘Mmm, let’s just do it off the book,’ it’s like a small death occurs. Jon was not like that.”
Here’s to taking risks and not chickening out!