Jimmy O. Yang
I was competitive ping-pong player. I played in youth tournaments, under the age of 13.Collection: Age
Growing up, my dad was 'get a real job, don't go pursuing your dreams, that's how you become homeless.' So, do I pick my family or do I pick my own happiness, and how much does my own happiness depend on my family?Collection: Dad
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.Collection: Sad
I don't know why people feel the need to do this to me, but my friend asked my dad, 'Aren't your proud of Jimmy now that he's a successful actor?' And my dad was like, 'No, not really. I wish he was a scientist.' I guess scientist is more noble in the Asian culture.Collection: Dad
My Chinese name is Man Shing which means 'ten thousand success.' It's a name that's sure to set me up for failure.Collection: Failure
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.Collection: Dad
A lot of people go on this journey of finding themselves and then eventually realize that their true self wasn't on the outside but it's always been there.
I went to college as an economics major because that was the easiest major that could still please your Asian parents, and then, much to their dismay, I became a stand-up comedian.
I'm a big Clippers fan. I have season tickets to the Clippers. That's the only team I really root for in any sport.
My mom worked as a manager at a high-end fashion place, so she was always a pretty stylish woman.
When I became an American citizen, nothing's changed because I'm still Asian.
My dad played my dad in 'Patriots Day' and that's why he thinks that's a good movie.
I always have to brace myself when I visit my parents. My mom often greets me with a slew of nonconstructive criticisms: 'Jimmy, why is your face so fat? Your clothes look homeless and your long hair makes you look like a girl.' After 30 years of this, my self-image is now a fat homeless lesbian.
Usually when you're Asian and you're on set, you're the only Asian there. Either you're the token Asian or you're the Asian sidekick.
Why is it when a white actor or even a black actor does a British accent, it's considered art?
I understand the whole constant foreigner stereotype, but for me it's important to portray immigrant characters like Jian-Yang and Danny Meng with humanity.
For once in my life, I wanted to flaunt my Asian side instead of hiding it to fit as somebody else... 'Crazy Rich Asians' made me want to get in touch with my roots, instead of running away from them.
When I came to America, it was Dave Chappelle and a lot of comedians on ComicView. That was my first exposure to stand up comedy, actually.
I'm generally pretty excited about new gadgets, new tech, A.I., stuff like that.
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.
But my comedy hero was Stephen Chow. His deadpan comedy, all the stuff he wrote like 'From Beijing with Love,' it's incredibly funny.
I know Asian actors out there won't even audition for a role that have an accent. But for me, I was the kid with an accent. I still have an accent to some degree.
It's a fine line between hack and good comedy.
Nico Santos I've known from Bay Area stand-up, and he lives right by me so we hang out all the time.
Normal people don't become stand-up comedians.
I went back to Hong Kong for the first time in 17 years and I was culture shocked in Hong Kong.
But I try to play everything very authentically, even if it is an accented immigrant, Jian Yang, that I play on 'Silicon Valley.'
When you're 1 out of 5 Asian people on TV, all the pressure is on you and you have to represent.
If you think about writing a book, or when I did, it seems daunting, but when I began writing, it just started flowing.
I've learned to not have expectations. I think the first movie I did, I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm going to win an Oscar!' You can't do that, you're going to let yourself down.
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.
When I was graduating college with an economics degree, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was kind of scared. So I was just trying everything.
I worked at Big 5 Sporting Goods, selling shoes and stuff like that, for a couple of summers.
I guess I've lived my whole life as an outsider.
I came to this country when I was 13 years old, I couldn't really speak English, and I had an accent.
I've heard other actors saying they don't want to play a character with an accent at all. To me, that's kind of an insult to somebody like me who did have an accent.
It's maybe a better thought to change the perception of an accent than to avoid it all together.
I think in China they have a camera for every street corner, and if you jaywalk, they don't give you a ticket. They put you on the big TV screen to shame you.
I tried to be a rapper. I tried to make beats before I got into comedy, and that's still one of my hobbies.
Silicon Valley,' I mean, the comedy is amazing, and it's one of the best-written shows with some of the best talent. I'm really happy to be a part of it.
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 have some scripts, I'm putting a couple of projects together with people I want to work with. I think that's the most exciting part, when you can hopefully create your own content and find the people that you love that you get to work with.
I went to school for economics, and especially in Asian culture it's not really a viable job for my family to be an artist.
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.
Other Asian actors, especially American-born actors, sometimes shy away from immigrant roles.
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.
I hope I can get to more and more of the Chinese audience and kind of lead the way to maybe, y'know, inspire seems like a big word, but y'know... inspire to get people into entertainment because I think we can be just as good as anybody else.
Whatever ethnicity you are, yes, absolutely you have to be proud of who you are man. I am really really proud to be Asian, I got to say.
I love everyone on 'Silicon Valley.'