‘Freakier Friday’ Director Says Sequel Rectifies 2003 Film’s ‘Hurtful’ Asian Stereotypes

“Freakier Friday” director Nisha Ganatra said her upcoming “Freaky Friday” sequel will correct the 2003 film’s “hurtful” stereotypical portrayal of two Asian characters and Asian cultures.

While she recognized that “Freaky Friday” is a “beloved” film, she acknowledged that it depicted stereotypes “that were hurtful overall.”

“I remember watching it and feeling torn, mostly about the Asian representation, and also the soundtrack that was being used” in the scenes at the restaurant, Ganatra explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It was something I brought up right away when I had my first meetings with the producers. I had a moment of the presentation that was like, ‘problematic Asian representation!'”

The harmful depiction in question is related to the film’s general story plot of how Lindsay Lohan’s Anna and Jamie Lee Curtis’ Tess swap bodies. In the film, after watching the mother and daughter go at it in a verbal dispute in a Chinese restaurant, owner Pei-Pei (Rosalind Chao) and her mother (Lucille Soong) serve the pair a magical fortune cookie that forces them to switch into the other’s body.

Ganatra, who is of Indian descent, said the “Freakier Friday” team “owed it to audiences to make it right one this one.” “It was a different time and wasn’t done intentionally, but it’s a real thing … It’s something I, being Asian, was super conscious of.”

This time around, Chao and Soong will return to the film, but Tess and Anna will swap bodies as a result of a psychic’s spell.

For “Freakier Friday” star Manny Jacinto, who is set to play Anna’s fiancé in the sequel, having Ganatra in the director’s seat calmed his nerves about joining the cast.

“When I considered hopping on board, I remember watching the first ‘Freaky Friday’ and being like, this did not age very well, regarding the diverse characters,” Jacinto told EW. “Knowing Nisha and speaking to other people within our circles, I knew we had a captain who was very much aware of those archetypes, or those issues presented in the first one. I felt very well taken care of.”

“Freakier Friday,” which also stars Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Chad Michael Murray and more, hits theaters Aug. 8.

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