Jaime Yao is a main character in the Disney+ original series American Born Chinese portrayed by Ke Huy Quan.
Background[]
Personality[]
Jamie Yao takes pride in his work, despite the problematic portrayal and long term effects it has had on him and his career. While he takes his role as Freddy Wong ins stride, it is very evident that it is not a role that he is too proud of. He maintains a strong sense of dignity and when given the option, he became very vocal about how he wished to be seen and the type of message he hopes to leave other young actors and actresses also struggling in the business.
Physical appearance[]
Jamie Yao is a middle aged man of Vietnamese descent who wears glasses and, when portraying Freddy Wong, a Chinese character, would don a long sleeved green sweater and a dark black bowl cut wig.
History[]
Season 1[]
In What Guy Are You, Jin Wang watches an episode of a controversial 90s sitcom called Beyond Repair which features a white blond haired character named Danny living in an apartment complex with a stereotypically Chinese neighbor named Freddy Wong who clumsily gets injured after exclaiming his catchphrase "What could go Wong?". Later, Anuj reveals that Jin's accident has become a meme, associated with the Freddy Wong character from Beyond Repair.
In Abracadabra, Jamie Yao, the actor who played Freddy Wong in Beyond Repair, fixes a refrigerator for his friend Mrs. Guardia. He offers that she attend a Shakespeare class he is teaching, but she politely declines, giving him some food as thanks for helping her. As Jamie leaves, he overhears Mrs. Guardia putting on an episode of Beyond Repair and Jamie chuckles to himself.
In Hot Stuff, Jamie is teaching his Shakespeare class and gets a call from his agent Marisa who informs him that he has until the end of the day to decide if he will attend the Beyond Repair reunion taping. Jamie is reluctant as he does not want to say the catchphrase, but Marisa informs him that he will at least get paid, which would hopefully lead to him getting his movie produced.
In Beyond Repair, Jamie decides to take part in the reunion, and while looking through the set of Beyond Repair, he runs into his costar Robin who is happy to see him. During the taping, Jamie happily reunites with the rest of the cast before the host shows them clips from the meme that came from his character. While everyone laughs, Jamie is noticeably indifferent; if a bit uncomfortable. The hosts asks him what it is like to be a television icon, but he seems to stall on an answer. Eventually he responds to the question and admits that he did not walk away from acting, he walked away from Hollywood. He had hoped to be cast in heroic roles, but he wound up getting cast as neighbors, nerds and ninjas instead. He hopes that the message he can send to young actors is that anyone can be a hero regardless of how they look or sound.
In The Fourth Scroll, Jin has a dream that he is on Beyond Repair talking to Freddy Wong, but is interrupted by the appearances of Christine Wang, Simon Wang, Anuj, and Guanyin.
Quotes[]
- "Fate is not decided up there, but down here."
- "Be brave, be bold, act."
- "I have to admit, I'm not on social media."
- "A hero can be a person with superpowers or they can just be someone who fights for something that matters."
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the original graphic novel, a character named Chin-Kee is featured prominently in the third story along with a white American teen character named Danny. The purpose of Chin-Kee was to act like an over-the-top stereotypical racist caricature of a Chinese man that one would commonly see depicted in old American sitcoms. Eventually, it is revealed that Chin-Kee is in fact Sun Wukong in disguise and that Danny is Jin Wang, with Wukong trying to remind him to embrace his heritage.
- For the Disney+ American Born Chinese series, the character of Chin-Kee from the graphic novel was reworked, and eventually became Jamie Yao, who is portrayed by Ke Huy Quan.
- Jamie Yao's speech somewhat mirrors Ke Huy Quan's 2023 Oscar acceptance speech.
- Oddly enough, the "Beyond Repair" episode was filmed before he had won the award, making the moment feel prophetic.
- Jamie never interacts with any of the main characters in the series, save for a dream sequence in "The Fourth Scroll".
Appearances: 7/8[]
- What Guy Are You
- A Monkey on a Quest
- Rockstar Status
- Make a Splash (Credit Only)
- Abracadabra
- Hot Stuff
- Beyond Repair
- The Fourth Scroll
References[]
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