Everything Everywhere's Stephanie Hsu says she was mistaken for Babylon's Li Jun Li
Oscar-nominated actress Stephanie Hsu has said she was recently misidentified as Li Jun Li, who is also of Chinese descent.
Hsu, who played the dual role of Joy Wang and Jobu Tupaki in multiversal mind-boggler Everything Everywhere All at Once, discussed the experience while speaking to TheWrap.
"I really do feel like we have been making a lot of big steps in the last five to ten years, but then this morning I was having a live televised interview," she began.
"They were like, 'You're so incredible in Everything Everywhere, and also just have to say what an incredible turn for you in Babylon as well'."
Related: Everything Everywhere's Ke Huy Quan gives tearful speech after historic win
Recalling her reaction, Hsu added: "It happened so fast. And I was like, 'Wait, did that just happen?'"
Li is a rising star, having just brushed shoulders with the likes of Margot Robbie, Jean Smart, Brad Pitt and Tobey Maguire in director Damien Chazelle's Golden Age of Hollywood drama Babylon, where she played Lady Fay Zhu.
Hsu continued: "Sometimes I think when you're walking around as a person of colour or any marginalised group, you're like, whatever I'm feeling I'm probably making it up or I might be over-analysing something.
"And then when things like that happen, you're like, 'No, every micro-aggression or just even discomfort that I feel is still very real'.
Related: Jenny Slate responds to Everything Everywhere antisemitic criticism
"What makes me so sad about that is that in that moment, the first thing that they see is my identity or my race and how that is different. They're not seeing the whole scope of what I have brought to this role or to the industry.
"They're conflating me as a person who's rising, who is in that category of people. And that is hard. It's sad, it's funny, it's ridiculous. I wish it didn't happen."
Earlier this year, Hsu also spoke about being mistaken for To All the Boys star Lana Condor.
"It was just once, but it was very pronounced," she recalled to the New York Times at the time.
Hsu and the Everything Everywhere All at Once cast won big at the Screen Actors Guild Awards over the weekend, including the award for best film ensemble.
The movie is currently seen as the frontrunner for Best Picture at this year's Oscars.
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