Janet Yang speaks at Lisa Lu's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony

Transcript

00:00Hello Hollywood and Hollywood Boulevard. How are you all? What an honor to be here

00:06with this amazing woman in her resplendent gown. I'm dying to know where

00:10she got it made. We'll talk about that later. But I did want to say in Lisa

00:17Lou's many decades of acting across many continents in dozens of roles, one thing

00:25remains constant. Her grace and elegance. She seems utterly unflappable and

00:31formidable as she is today as you can all see. But especially in the recent roles

00:36where she has played a grand matriarch. From the last Emperor to the Joy Luck

00:43Club to Crazy Rich Asians, her quiet strength is at once intimidating but

00:49warm, fearsome but inviting. I feel like I have a special connection to Lisa not

00:57only because I worked with her but she attended the same University as my

01:01father. When I see her I sense more deeply my own ancestry and the

01:11generations that have come before me. The fact that Lisa has been able to break

01:17every barrier imaginable in Hollywood has been such a source of inspiration and

01:22courage for me. I am particularly grateful for her joining the cast of the Joy Luck

01:27Club for she perfectly embodies the character of Aunt May and how she navigates

01:35the deep scars of her tragic past. Aunt May's mother was in a forced marriage and her

01:42eventual suicide profoundly informs her character. She is determined to not let

01:49her daughter fall into a similar trap.

01:53I am going to wait for that truck to go by because it is loud. Like Aunt May, Lisa Lou is similarly tough and warm.

02:01At an amazing 98 years young, as we were just told, she seems to not ever skip a beat.

02:08Thank you Lisa for being a beacon of strength and wisdom and talent for so many of us.

02:16And congratulations on your incredible honor and your walk of fame. I'm so proud to bear

02:23witness to this historic and splendid moment.