Jimmy O. Yang

“Immigrant characters now are getting much more well-rounded, and they have personalities, which is important because we do need to portray immigrants in a humanizing way.”

“I was actually fairly athletic and coordinated, but I never played any organized sports.”

“Certain stories, like my mom leaving when I was 15-years-old to go back to China because she didn't quite assimilate like we did, that was a moment that was very sad in my life.”

“It's maybe a better thought to change the perception of an accent than to avoid it all together.”

“Nico Santos I've known from Bay Area stand-up, and he lives right by me so we hang out all the time.”

“To get noticed you need to work a lot and have a bit of luck. And I'm here to say that it's possible.”

“I'm generally pretty excited about new gadgets, new tech, A.I., stuff like that.”

“I came to this country when I was 13 years old, I couldn't really speak English, and I had an accent.”

“I'm excited to share my experience as an immigrant assimilating to a new country and an outsider stumbling my way into Hollywood.”

“The great thing about the comedy world is that everybody is somewhat of an outsider. That's the community where outsiders feel like they're insiders.”

“I was doing stand-up at the Improv and when the host introduces you, 'OK, the next comedian, you've seen him on 'Silicon Valley.' People always clap. They really watch the show and they are fans of it. And then they said, 'You are also going to see him in 'Crazy Rich Asians,' and I did not expect this, but the applause was even louder.”

“I think you have to experience life and then pull certain experiences into your act and your character's life, whoever you play, so you're full.”

“As far as stand-up, a lot of Asians and Chinese are not as apt to stand-up, especially the older generation since they don't even know what stand-up is.”

“You'd see Asian faces on TV, but it was so rare, especially in the comedy space - that for me was Ken Jeong doing stand-up... it's amazing that I can call him a friend now and a colleague.”

“I studied economics and thought I wanted to play with the stock market - my dad was a financial adviser - and I was going to go down that path. I was an intern at Smith Barney.”

“One of the hard things coming from an immigrant family - or any family that doesn't believe in the arts - is that you have to disappoint your parents. That's hard for people to do if you're a good kid.”

“That's what's great about standup comedy: the instant feedback. You get up on stage, you tell a joke, if it doesn't work, come back the next day with a better version of it.”

“My dad played my dad in 'Patriots Day' and that's why he thinks that's a good movie.”

“You know something like 'Patriots Day' that I did a few years ago, which is a drama, is very different than comedy. That was super rewarding. I want to do more of that and also my own writing.”

“I was always pretty good with making deals. When I was in sixth grade, when Pokemon cards were hot, I might have started with, like, three or four cards, and then at the end of the year, through trading with my friends and everything, I ended up with the biggest card collection in my school.”