You’ll know Hudson Yang best as the young star of ABC’s sitcom of the moment, Fresh Off The Boat. The show, which also stars Randall Park and Constance Wu, follows the trials and tribulations of a young Taiwanese family as they move from Chinatown in Washington DC to open a cowboy- themed steak restaurant in Orland, Florida. Yang won the role of Eddie Huang at the tender age of 11, and if his success so far is anything to go by, it’s fair to say we’ll be seeing a lot more of Yang in the years to come. To find out more about the rising star, read on.
1. His Early Years
Hailing from New York City, New York, Yang was born in October 24, 2003 to Jeff Yang, a Taiwanese- American writer, journalist, businessman and business/ media consultant, and Heather Ying, a Taiwanese- American physician’s assistance. Until 2015, Yang was a student of both NEST+M (New Explorations into Science Technology + Math) and The New York Performing Arts Academy’s “FutureStar” Program.
2. Fresh to the Industry
Given his talents, you’d be forgiven for thinking Yang had been in the industry for years. In fact, he began his performing career only 18 months prior to landing his starring role on Fresh Off The Boat. His first role came in the 2014 thriller, The Sisterhood of Night, in which Yang played the role of Henry Huang,
3. An Impressive Start
Yang became convinced his future lay in acting after a classmate told him of her experiences on a TV commercial. After some convincing, his father finally allowed Yang to try out for the movie The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete (2013). Although Yang ultimately lost out on the lead role of Pete to Ethan Dizon, the movie’s casting director was so impressed with his talents she urged him to purse his career further, even given him a referral to an acting agent.
4. Award Success
Despite his tender years, Yang already has an impressive number of awards and nominations under his belt, including several NAACP Image Awards nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Youth, Teen Choice Award nominations for Choice Scene Stealer in 2016 and Outstanding TV Comedy Actor in 2017 and 2018. In 2016, he picked up the Award for Leading Teen Actor at the Young Artist Awards.
5. Branching Out
Not content with restricting his talents to Fresh Off The Boat, Yang has demonstrated his acting chops in a number of other shows, including Family Guy, Sofia the First, Liv and Maddie, The Lion Guard and PBS’s Cyberchase.
6. A Musical Side Venture
Along with his roles on TV, Yang has also dabbled in music videos. In 2015, he portrayed indie rapper Jason Chu’s younger self in the artist’s acclaimed comic- book themed music video, “Marvels”.
7. Big Screen Success
While Yang’s most notable achievements have come via the small screen, he’s also carved out a successful career on the big screen. In 2014, he was cast as Henry Huang in the thriller The Sisterhood of Night, while 2017 saw him land a part in Hum, the directorial debut of Orange is the New Black co-executive producer, Lauren Morelli.
8. Hobbies
When he’s not stunning audiences with his performances, Yang loves nothing more than relaxing with a game of Minecraft. He’s also a fan of Karaoke, big breakfasts, TV (he cites Modern Family as a favorite show), dodge-ball, soccer and reading.
9. Angry Reader of the Week
In 2014, at the age of 10, Yang featured as the “Angry Reader of the Week” in an interview on the Angry Asian Man blog. When asked what he was about, Yang joked “it’s all about the bling – cha-ching, cha-ching”. During the interview, we learnt “A lot of stuff (makes him angry)”. Specific examples include: “War. Also, when my brother is annoying! I really love him, but kid, please”.
10. Social Media Following
Fans who just can’t get enough of Yang can sate their appetites via his active social media presence. His Instagram page (which goes under the handle hudsonyangfotb) boasts over 800 posts and 55.5k followers, while his Twitter account has amassed more than 20k followers since 2014. If that wasn’t enough, Yang even has his own dedicated Youtube channel.
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