Jenn Tran, the first Asian lead of ‘The Bachelorette’ addresses the lack of Asian male representation
🌹 A follow-up to my previous post about the lack of Asian male representation on this upcoming season of ‘The Bachelorette’ which stars its very first Asian American lead, Jenn Tran.
When the show announced its final cast, there was only one apparent Asian male cast member — Thomas, who was confirmed to be Vietnamese American. It’s possible that there other male cast members are of Asian descent, but none have been confirmed.
Speaking of her connection with Thomas, Jenn said, “That was probably one of my favorite conversations, and I think back to it a lot because it’s not every day that you get to bond with somebody on your immigrant parents and you get to connect with somebody on that level because not everybody can understand that. That was a really special conversation for me because he really understood where I was coming from, and my family means everything to me. Knowing that my parents immigrated over here to give me a better life, the sacrifices that they made, and the internal battle that I have with giving back to them in everything and every way that I could but still trying to be independent...being a child of immigrant parents is something that not everybody can understand. And so, having that conversation with Thomas N. really meant the world.”
In my previous post about the show’s lack of Asian male representation, many people speculated that maybe Jenn doesn’t like or date Asian men, and that perhaps she voiced those preferences with the casting team and producers.
In this same interview with Glamour, she was asked if she wished there were more men who came from the same culture and background. “Yeah,” Jenn responded. “I can’t really speak to the casting process and the decisions that were made, but it is unfortunate that there weren’t a lot of Asian men this season.”
To ABC, producers, and casting directors — Asian men are just as attractive and desirable as any other group of men, and we’d like to see them represented in your little show.
