RFK Jr. Sparks Outrage Over Autism Remarks & Elon Musk Slides Into DMs and Wombs | Nancy Kwan
Ronny Chieng covers Elon Musk’s mission to have babies over DM, Pete Hegseth’s Air Force diversity purge, RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine coded attack on autism, and proof he has never seen "Love on the Spectrum."
Michael Kosta & Ronny Chieng go head to head over Rory McIlroy’s Masters Tournament takeover, brand-new Barbie Lebron James, Bryce Harper’s on-field gender reveal, and Baltimore's oyster rebrand.
Hollywood icon Nancy Kwan sits down to discuss her trailblazing career and new book, "The World of Nancy Kwan: A Memoir by Hollywood's Asian Superstar." They talk about an accidental screen test that brought her to Hollywood, a friendship with Bruce Lee that began in Hong Kong, and Kwan offers her perspective on what the West can learn from the East.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Press play and read along
Transcript
Speaker 1 This is an iHeart Podcast.
Speaker 2 You're listening to Comedy Central.
Speaker 2
From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central. It's America's only source for news.
This is the Daily Show with your host, Ronnie K.
Speaker 2 Welcome to the Daily Show. I'm Roy Chan.
Speaker 2
We got so much to talk about tonight. Elon is sliding into your DMs and your wombs.
RFK Jr. is on the asshole spectrum.
And I watched golf, so you don't have to. You're welcome.
Speaker 2 But first, let's check in with the best cabinet ever in another installment of The Worst Wing.
Speaker 2 What a bunch of losers.
Speaker 2 Let's start with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., seen here greeting a supporter.
Speaker 2 It's always good to meet a fan, but RFK is known for his controversial health ideas like drinking raw milk and adding roadkill to the food pyramid.
Speaker 2 But the conspiracy theory that he's most known for is that vaccines cause autism. He's basically a health expert the same way Katy Perry is a rocket scientist.
Speaker 1 You never know how much love is inside of you, how loved you are until the day you launch.
Speaker 2 I have a teenage dream that she'd shut the f ⁇ up. So
Speaker 2 unsurprisingly
Speaker 2
RFK Jr. brought his anti-vax policies to the administration.
And yesterday he gave a speech about autism and people are pissed.
Speaker 3
Comments from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
that are raising eyebrows.
Speaker 3 During his first news conference as the nation's top health official, he addressed rising autism rates while calling the disease preventable.
Speaker 2
RFK Jr.'s bleak description of people living with autism causing outrage. Autism destroys families.
These are kids who will never pay taxes.
Speaker 2 Wait,
Speaker 2 that's what you're going to lead with like that
Speaker 2 That's the big tragedy for you these poor kids will never know the joy of attaching a Schedule K to a 1048
Speaker 2 It's not even accurate. I mean autistic people do pay taxes
Speaker 2 Are you thinking of art history majors
Speaker 2 But I mean
Speaker 2 Please give us more of your expert opinions about what autistic people can and can't can't do. They'll never hold a job.
Speaker 2
They'll never play baseball. They'll never write a poem.
They'll never go out on a date.
Speaker 2 What do you mean they don't date? I mean, does the candy compound not have Netflix? Okay, because David took Abby on a fing safari to Africa.
Speaker 2 And yeah, could Connor be a little more open-minded about dating blondes? Sure, but
Speaker 2 couldn't we all?
Speaker 2
I mean, mean, everything this guy said is ridiculous. Autistic kids will never write poems.
Well, who wants kids to write more poems?
Speaker 2 That's something we should be preventing.
Speaker 2
So it's no wonder why people are pissed at him. Most autistic people can do all that stuff.
And even the ones who can are still human beings.
Speaker 2 Who even made RFK the judge of what makes life worth living? I'm sorry, they'll never know the joy of planting bear carcasses in Central Park or holding 85% of the world's mucus in their throats. But
Speaker 2
whatever. This is a huge project he's taking on.
I mean,
Speaker 2 Lem spend the next two decades trying to figure it out. By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we'll be able to eliminate those exposures.
Speaker 2 So you think you're going to have a pretty good idea, huh? We will know by September.
Speaker 2 By September? Wow, that was quick and very specific. I mean, I ordered a couch that isn't going to come by then.
Speaker 2 But good to know when I'm watching the wicked sequel this fall, I can focus on the plot instead of wondering what causes autism.
Speaker 2 I mean, why are you even pretending to study it? We all know you're going to blame vaccines, okay? This whole thing is more rigged than a golf championship at Ma-a-Lago.
Speaker 2 I mean, just look at who he hired to do the research.
Speaker 4 Kennedy has tapped a previously discredited vaccine skeptic, David Geyer, as a senior data analyst.
Speaker 4 Geyer was previously fined $10,000 by the Maryland Board of Physicians for practicing medicine without a license.
Speaker 2 You know, when commercials say nine out of ten doctors agree?
Speaker 2 This is the tenth doctor.
Speaker 2 I mean, this guy looks like the reason second opinions were invented.
Speaker 2 But enough about RFK. Let's move on to Elon Musk, living proof that autistic people can do anything, including
Speaker 2 including destroy the government.
Speaker 2 And as far as his dating life goes, Elon isn't lacking there either.
Speaker 6 According to the Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk followed cryptocurrency influencer Tiffany Fong on X and began liking and replying to her tweets.
Speaker 6 Around November of last year, Musk sent her a direct message asking if she was interested in having his child, according to people familiar with the matter. The two had never met in person.
Speaker 2 Elon, can you just be a normal person and send a dick pic? All right.
Speaker 2 This is why you should switch the settings on your DMs to followers who don't want to impregnate me only.
Speaker 2 I mean,
Speaker 2 you haven't met this person and you're already trying to raw doge her? Like,
Speaker 2 I have to work up the courage to put the moves on my own wife, alright? Like,
Speaker 2 hey, if you're not doing anything later, maybe you could like, I don't know, like, kiss or whatever.
Speaker 2 Never mind, it's stupid. But
Speaker 2 let's start thinking about Elon's Sperm and get back to actual government stuff.
Speaker 2 Specifically, the Pentagon, where Pete Hegseth, Defense Secretary and guy whose tattoos are somehow embarrassed by him, just scored another victory in his war on thinking.
Speaker 8 The Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs has been ordered to purge its library of books related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, along with some topics related to race and gender.
Speaker 8 The Naval Academy Library tossed out nearly 400 books, including titles on feminism, civil rights history, and the Holocaust.
Speaker 8 Speaking of, at the Naval Academy, Hitler's Mein Kampf made the cut and is still available to read.
Speaker 2 That's where you draw the line? Like, yeah, I don't want one of those woke social justice books. I'm looking for more of a beach read.
Speaker 2 Do you have Mein Kampf?
Speaker 2 This type of censorship is outrageous and un-American, and this has got to be the most disgusting thing Pete Hegseth has ever done.
Speaker 10 If Pete Hegseth would have a bagel with cream cheese, he would drop it, it would land upside down, the cream cheese on the floor, and he would pick it up. I'm like, wait, is there any hair on there?
Speaker 2 Oh, no.
Speaker 10 It was so gross, and he would just pop it in his mouth.
Speaker 2 Okay, well, I think we just found the cause of autism.
Speaker 2 This.
Speaker 2 This.
Speaker 2 This is the worst thing I've ever heard a defense secretary do, and I'm including Vietnam.
Speaker 2 I know it's caught in everything, bagel, but you're supposed to draw a line somewhere, okay?
Speaker 2 Anyway, this whole anti-DEI thing is getting out of control.
Speaker 2 They're pulling books about minorities out of schools, scrubbing stories about women and gay people from websites, and Disney can't even put out a new Snow White without people trying to deport her.
Speaker 2 And that's just the beginning. To take advantage of this shift in the culture war, the White House has just launched its own streaming service.
Speaker 11 Hey, movie fans, do you wish your favorite films had less DEI? Introducing the White Tyrion Collection, a new home video service from the Trump administration.
Speaker 11 Get ready for 12 years of what have you, Marvel's Panther, and really hidden figures. They're behind the armoire.
Speaker 11 And Brokeback Mountain, the inspiring story of two Wyoming cowboys who herded cattle and nothing else. And hey, sports fans, we've got all your favorite films from the Gridiron and the Court.
Speaker 11
Like, White Men Can Jump the Best. Remember that one Titan.
And Cool Runnings, the inspiring true story of an Olympic bobsled with no one in it. And of course, who can forget Disney's Encanto?
Speaker 11 You can, it doesn't exist anymore. Get your favorite Trump-approved movies from the White Tyrion Collection today and act now because watching the originals will soon be considered domestic terrorism.
Speaker 2 When we come back, we'll fight about sports, so don't go away.
Speaker 2 Welcome back to The Daily Show. I think I speak for everyone when I say politics, drools, and sports rules.
Speaker 2
For a full recap of the biggest stories in the world of jocks and straps, we turn to sports war. Get ready for battle.
It's time for sports war.
Speaker 2 Brought to you by Gambit, Gambler. Now with better odds than the stock market.
Speaker 2
What's up, Baltax? I'm Ronnie Shan. And I'm Michael Costa.
This is Sports War, the show where we are legally not allowed to agree with each other. For example, if I say UFC needs to be more violent...
Speaker 2
Oh, well, then I say fighters need to sell their differences peacefully with a licensed therapist. Yeah, well, I'd like to introduce you to my two therapists, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.
Oh, yeah?
Speaker 2 Well, I should go to therapy. See, that's how I'm obsessed with your mom.
Speaker 2 Yeah.
Speaker 2 Yeah, man, exactly. You need to explore those feelings with a licensed medical professional.
Speaker 7 I'll send you some names.
Speaker 2
Hey, let's talk golf, okay? Short game, amateur, handicap, ball washer. These aren't just Ronnie's nicknames, they're golf terms.
And this week was a historic one on the links.
Speaker 9 Tonight, Rory McElroy is now one of only six golfers to win all four major golf championships, winning the Masters for the first time.
Speaker 12 The kid who grew up in Northern Ireland, overcome with emotion, winning his first green jacket 11 years after winning his last major championship.
Speaker 2
Wow, congrats to Roy McElroy. It took him 11 years to get a new green blazer.
And as someone currently serving a 20-year ban from the men's warehouse, I can totally relate.
Speaker 2
This is totally different, you idiot. Rory was trying to accomplish one of the hottest things in all of sports.
You just took a dump in a fitting room.
Speaker 2
Well, but they guaranteed I was gonna like the way I looked and breaking a verbal contract has consequences. The point is, I'm happy for Roy McElroy.
Oh, yeah, well, I'm not, okay?
Speaker 2
I don't want to seem happy. Everyone knows that Irish people are at their best when they're depressed.
Haven't you ever read James Joyce? Hell no, I'm a Frank McCourt man.
Speaker 2 Well, he's Irish American, dumbass. Check your stats, bro.
Speaker 2 McCourt was raised in the slums of Limerick and he spoke to the soul of Irish suffering like no man since William Butler Yates, dumbass, which brings to our eyes Irish Eyes Ben of the Night.
Speaker 2
What will make Roy McElroy cry in public next? As always, brought to you by gambling. Gambling.
The only thing you're really addicted to is having a good time.
Speaker 2
And moving on, the NBA playoffs start Saturday. But if you're a little girl with a big imagination like Hosta, you also have a reason to be excited.
Move over, Ken.
Speaker 2 LeBron James is the first male athlete to be part of the new Ken Basseter line of Barbie dolls.
Speaker 7 Look at them. The message on the back of the box says, a true MVP, our LeBron James Ken Basseter's doll represents resilience, hope, and pride for the city of Akron.
Speaker 2 This is the dumbest toy ever.
Speaker 2 I hope it comes of a Brawny James doll that you're forced to play with, even though it sucks.
Speaker 2
Wrong again, boy toy. I happen to love LeBarbie.
He has every...
Speaker 2 He has what every little girl wants in a doll, pride for the city of Akron. Now, they can play until their heart's content with a middle-aged man dressed like a 14-year-old, no notes.
Speaker 2 They should expand this to other NBA legends like Dennis Rodman the worm the first doll in Barbie history with a pierceable scrotum or my favorite my favorite from childhood Will Chamberlain there are hundreds of different Barbies and he can have sex with all of them which brings us to our extremely random endorsement deal better the week presented by Joanne Fabrics which athlete will sign the next extremely random endorsement deal brought to you by gambling gambling Gambling, they're doing amazing things with wheelchairs now.
Speaker 2
Look, let's go to the diamond. Baseball is a sport where you have to know your signs, right? Curveball, pitching change.
I'll take four beers. No tip.
Speaker 2 But this week, Bryce Harper took that to the next level.
Speaker 1 Philadelphia Philly slugger Bryce Harper is about to take another swing at fatherhood, and he got creative with the baby's gender reveal during last night's game.
Speaker 13 Harper asked shortstop Trey Turner to hand him either a blue or a pink bat before he went up to hit as a gender reveal.
Speaker 13 He found out right before he stepped up to the plate that he'll be having a baby boy.
Speaker 2
This is awesome. Baseball needs more medical tests revealed during games.
I want to see a runner slide into home and the umpire yells, you are safe from Tay-Sachs disease.
Speaker 2 Costa, you're out of your mind, all right? This is ruining the game. You can't be doing gender reveals at the plate.
Speaker 2 Gender reveals are supposed to be for a close group of loved ones that you're hoping to injure with explosives.
Speaker 2 Ronnie, I got your agenda reveal bat right here.
Speaker 2 Surprise, it's brown since you're a piece of shit.
Speaker 2 Well,
Speaker 2 Costa. Yep.
Speaker 2 For those of us who've had sex, this is a disaster, all right? Baseball is the thing you think about when you're not trying to get someone pregnant. Get your family planning out of my sports, okay?
Speaker 2 Can we please see a baseball story that has nothing to do with sex?
Speaker 2 The Baltimore Orioles AA affiliate, the Chesapeake Bay Sox, decided to unveil an alternative team identity to help them gain traction with new audiences.
Speaker 2 That included the new alternative name, the Oyster Catchers, along with a brand new logo, this logo, which, at least to many, seems to depict a baseball glove catching an oyster.
Speaker 2 Others interpreted it a bit differently. The team took the criticisms to heart, deleting their own announcement within minutes, but later they unveiled a new logo showing a bird holding a bat.
Speaker 2 God damn it.
Speaker 2 I'm never gonna be able to slip an oyster off a baseball glove ever again
Speaker 2
and that's the only way I like them. What are you talking about Ronnie? The oyster logo is great.
If anything the new logo is the one that's perverted.
Speaker 2 That bird is clearly flying away with some guy severed penis. And you know what? That poor guy, but those lucky baby birds, what a lunch.
Speaker 2 This whole thing just confirms my belief that baseball teams should get rid of logos entirely, okay? If they're not sexualizing oysters, they're pissing off Native Americans.
Speaker 2 Every team should just name themselves after their city, like the Philadelphia Phillies, the Boston Bostonys, the Cleveland Clevelandies, the Detroit, Detroit titties. Nothing sexual, okay?
Speaker 2
I disagree, Ron. All team names should be sexual, but educational.
Sex ed in this country is a joke, but if the Philadelphia fallopian tubes play the Cleveland Steamers, well now we're learning.
Speaker 2
Which brings us to our four-karat diamond bet of the week. What baseball mascot will Ronnie have a wet dream about tonight? Brought to you by gambling.
Gambling, tons of cultures sleep outside.
Speaker 2
All right, that's it for Sports War. Join us next time when we debate what act of war Jean Morant should mine for his next celebration.
It's gotta be hitting the nuclear button, man.
Speaker 2 Hit that button.
Speaker 2 Welcome back to the Daily Show.
Speaker 2 Hey, my guest tonight is a trailblazing Hollywood icon who has written a new book called The World of Nancy Kwan, a memoir by Hollywood's Asian superstar.
Speaker 2 Please give a very big welcome to the one and only legendary Nancy Kwan.
Speaker 2 Thanks for coming.
Speaker 2 Thanks for coming, Nancy Kwan.
Speaker 2
Thank you. Yeah, thanks for coming on the show.
Hello, everyone. Yeah.
Speaker 2 It's the Hollywood legend. How are you doing?
Speaker 14 I'm doing fine. How are you doing? I'm okay.
Speaker 2
I'm okay. Yeah, so you were born in Hong Kong.
Yes. Sorry, Lesi Gongonoa.
Speaker 2 No, hi, Malaysia.
Speaker 2 What's scaring the white people now? We probably should talk about it.
Speaker 2 From Malaysia. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 We were discussing how great it is to be in the West.
Speaker 14 And
Speaker 2 yeah,
Speaker 2 so you started in Hong Kong, you were born in Hong Kong,
Speaker 2 then from there, that's kind of where you started acting. And you didn't even start out wanting to be an actor?
Speaker 14 No, I wanted to be a ballet dancer. I was going to the Royal Ballet, very serious about being a ballet dancer.
Speaker 14 I was back in Hong Kong for summer holidays, and they were testing, making screen tests for some of my favorite Chinese actresses for the world of Suzi Wong in Hong Kong.
Speaker 14 So I went up to the studio to watch my favorite actress at work. And I was standing there and
Speaker 14 somebody says to me, you want to do a screen test? I said,
Speaker 2 no,
Speaker 14
I'm a ballet dancer. I have nothing to do with it.
I'm just here watching my favorite actresses. And he said, why don't you do a screen test?
Speaker 14 I said, well, what's that? They said, well, just sit in the chair. So I said, okay.
Speaker 14 So I sat in the chair and he asked me questions, how old I am. And every time he asked me something, I burst out laughing like an idiot.
Speaker 2 I mean, I laughed the whole way through.
Speaker 14
And then when I got home, I said to my father, I don't know, but this guy wanted me to do a screen test. And I just giggled all the way.
He said, well, never mind, you're a ballet dancer, forget it.
Speaker 14 Few weeks later,
Speaker 14 my father gets a letter from Ray Stark, the producer of the World of Social Story World.
Speaker 2 A letter, what's that?
Speaker 14 You know, one of those, those, you know.
Speaker 2 Like a piece of paper. Like a piece of paper,
Speaker 14
yes, yes, yes. And a contract.
They said, well, you go like to go to Hollywood for six months, and I even get paid for it. I said,
Speaker 14
I've also been a student, so I've never been paid. I said, oh, I would love it.
I would love it. I've never been to America.
And that's how I started. Right.
Speaker 2
And so that was in Hong Kong. You went to go see your favorite actress, and then you end up replacing her.
No, no. On the movie.
Speaker 14 Well, no, that was much later. I don't.
Speaker 2 Well, that's how I got this job. I was just
Speaker 2 standing around as a ballet dancer and tripping.
Speaker 2 Like, you know, both of us, yeah. Yeah, and then that was your first time in America, right? And then you started doing movies in America?
Speaker 14 Well, first time I came
Speaker 2 early.
Speaker 14 The studio system was just phasing out. Right.
Speaker 2
So this was Hollywood in the 60s in America. Yes.
Right, and what kind of drugs were they doing back then?
Speaker 2 What were you doing? What was I doing? Oh,
Speaker 14 I don't do drugs in the hole. Oh, I don't do drugs either.
Speaker 2 Okay, good. Okay, cool.
Speaker 2
Tell me in Cantonese what drugs they do. Okay, so this is the 60s.
This is like golden age, you know, once upon a time in Hollywood, like that period of movies.
Speaker 2 And you were there right in the middle of it.
Speaker 14
It was, yeah, no, the studio system was phasing out and independent films were coming in. Really, that was an exciting, very exciting time.
Okay. And kind of
Speaker 2 sounds like what's happening right now too, but I guess history repeats. But sorry, yeah, okay, so in the 60s.
Speaker 2 The studio system was phasing out and then
Speaker 14
independent films were coming in. And so, I mean, I was just caught in that, but Ray Stark had me under contract.
So I did quite a few films
Speaker 14 for seven years, actually, under contract.
Speaker 14 And different films. And at that time, you know, with Asian actors,
Speaker 14 before then, Asian actors did not get the good roles,
Speaker 14 really the roles that could
Speaker 14 advance the career.
Speaker 2 I guess history really does repeat itself because that's still the case.
Speaker 14 No, no, no, no, it's much better now. It's getting better and hopefully.
Speaker 2 Tell that to my agent, man.
Speaker 2 All right, I will.
Speaker 2 And you were mixing with kind of Hollywood icons at this time, right? Terry Brand.
Speaker 14 That's right. That's right.
Speaker 2 I think you were hanging with Dean Martin. Yes, and
Speaker 2 Mr.
Speaker 14 Glenn Ford. I worked with quite a few of them.
Speaker 2 Mr. Bruce Lee.
Speaker 14 Of course.
Speaker 2
My good friend. Your good friend, Mr.
Bruce Lee, yeah.
Speaker 14 Bruce also came from Hong Kong.
Speaker 14 And
Speaker 14
Bruce went to La Sa, which is a Catholic school, and I went to Marina, which is a kind of a Catholic school, a convent. But Bruce used to hang around.
Marina just to look at the girls. Okay.
Speaker 2 Maybe we shouldn't be talking about that part of the story.
Speaker 14 He was the Cha-Cha King of Hong Kong at one time, Bruce. He was a what?
Speaker 2
Cha Cha King. Oh yes, he was the Cha Cha King, yeah, yeah.
What was he like? Was he a cool guy?
Speaker 14 Very cool, very nice, good friend. And he also wanted told me, he said, actually, I worked with him on the wrecking crew with Dean Martin and Sharon Tate.
Speaker 14
And we had, Sharon Tate and I had a fight scene, a martial arts. So Bruce was called in to show us what to do.
And that's how I met him.
Speaker 14 And when I got to know him,
Speaker 14 Bruce said to me, you know, Nancy, I'm going back to Hong Kong to become a big martial arts star.
Speaker 14 That's what I'm going to do. And I believed him.
Speaker 14
Yeah, I mean, he was so determined. Right.
And he had such energy and conviction that he was the best. And he was.
Speaker 2 And he was.
Speaker 14 And he introduced martial arts, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 2 And so he wanted to go back because of a lack of opportunities in America at the time.
Speaker 2 Did you also feel that way?
Speaker 14 Well, I was on the contract, so I was lucky.
Speaker 14 I was one time, Ray Stark put me in a film where I played an English girl with English parents. So all the
Speaker 14 actors in England were complaining. I said,
Speaker 14 what is this Chinese girl or the Asian playing an English girl?
Speaker 2 And you tell them the subject?
Speaker 14 I did the film and got reviews, good reviews.
Speaker 2 Oh, you all agree with that.
Speaker 2 Do you remember what film it was?
Speaker 14 The Wild Affair, The Wild Affair.
Speaker 2 This is why I was so excited to have you on because you're one of the rare persons in Hollywood and in the world who actually has this perspective on Hollywood because you've been there for quite a while now and you've seen many different errors.
Speaker 2
A long while. Yeah, a long while.
And you've seen kind of, you know, I guess,
Speaker 2 have you recognized any patterns?
Speaker 2 appearing in terms of the business.
Speaker 14 I know with Asian actors and I have a lot of good Asian friends who are actors, very good actors, that never got a chance to really show their talent.
Speaker 2 I'm trying my best, all right?
Speaker 2 Keep trying, okay. Keep trying.
Speaker 2 She meant that as a nice thing. You guys,
Speaker 2 you guys read it like she was talking shit. She was saying, keep going.
Speaker 2 It was encouraging.
Speaker 2 Okay. Anyway.
Speaker 2 But what are the patterns? Because, okay, here's the thing.
Speaker 2 I think like what we're all in 2025 now. Is it 2025 Benny? No, no, no, it's 2025.
Speaker 2 Okay.
Speaker 2 Okay.
Speaker 2 But whatever year we're in,
Speaker 2 we're in a period where we keep thinking of the past. We kind of romanticize the past in terms of films, you know, we're like, oh, you know, this era of films kind of sucks.
Speaker 2 The 90s was when the peak of Hollywood, you know, and then we go back to the 80s was when things were cool. And we keep thinking that way.
Speaker 2 I mean, you are one of the few people who actually lived through it all. Is it true that we live in the worst era right now?
Speaker 2 Has it always been the case that we always look back with rose-tinted glasses?
Speaker 14 I think you're right. Both.
Speaker 2
Oh, so we suck and we also don't suck. Yes, that's right.
Exactly right. Okay.
Yes. So what sucks about now?
Speaker 2 Other than... Have you seen the films? Yeah, I mean...
Speaker 2 Have I seen them? I'm in some of them.
Speaker 2 Yeah, but what do you...
Speaker 2 you don't want to talk shit about anymore, but like what is like, what do you think is your main problem right now? You should have to say in general.
Speaker 14
I don't think it's the main problem. I think audience have changed.
You know, the thought. I mean, in the old days, okay, I mean, my days, in the 60s.
Speaker 2 The early 1500s.
Speaker 2 It's mean.
Speaker 2 No, it's a comedy show. You got a sense of humor.
Speaker 14 No, but they, I mean, my favorite director was David Lean, who did great films, based on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia. They don't do that kind of films anymore.
Speaker 2 They really don't.
Speaker 2 And
Speaker 14
I wish they would come back to that. And maybe they will, because everything goes around.
That's life, isn't it?
Speaker 2 Sure. So
Speaker 2 cylindrical. But is that, I don't want to put you on the spot, but do you think there's a reason you could point to why that's the case, that they don't make it like that anymore?
Speaker 14
No, it's not a reason. I think it's just a phase.
Maybe one day we'll go back to it. But now it's just.
Speaker 2 Well, what do we need to do to get back to that? Do we need people to put down their phones? What is it?
Speaker 14 I wish I knew.
Speaker 2 I mean, they're trying their best to do films.
Speaker 14
And films are not. I mean, television's taking over.
And, you know, people don't go to movies in a movie house anymore. They don't.
Speaker 14 You know, so that's another reason too.
Speaker 2
Yeah, it's their problem. That's them.
That's a them problem. But, okay, and then you said that's kind of like the problem.
Like, you said that's why we're not good.
Speaker 2 Why are we in a good era then?
Speaker 2 Yeah, because you said, you know, well, currently it's both. What era are we in? We're in an era that's bad and it's also good.
Speaker 14 I think it was, I mean, this too shall pass. And how do you know? Maybe some great directors, producers will come up with some great ideas and we'll start again, another kind, on another level.
Speaker 2 Okay, well, let me put it this way then, because we romanticized the past. What sucked about the past? So let's get it on the record, you know, that what was bad about it?
Speaker 2 Like, what was bad about the era that you were coming through? You know, What did you not like about it?
Speaker 14 I didn't think it was bad.
Speaker 2 Oh, okay, it was perfect. Okay, great.
Speaker 2 No, it wasn't perfect.
Speaker 14 But I thought they did very interesting films during my time anyway. And I got a chance to play non-Asian roles.
Speaker 14 I mean, I played an American Indian and a Western, you know, and I played English girls, I said, or a circus performer with no nationality. So at least I had a chance to do that.
Speaker 14 Unfortunately, for Asian actors, they're not there yet. You know, I wish we would have more
Speaker 14
Asian directors, writers, producers writing for Asians, making films for Asians with great roles for them to play. There's so many talented Asian actors out there.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 And and sorry, I I I I cut you off a little bit. You're kind of explaining the studio system was ending and when you was
Speaker 2 so what what does that mean? Like what what
Speaker 14
they didn't uh actors were no longer under contract. They were, you know, getting their agents together, being handled by lawyers, making their own deals.
So it was a whole big change in that time.
Speaker 14 And I don't know if it's good or bad, but I think it's just another phase in life that we go through.
Speaker 2 And
Speaker 14
maybe things will come back again. Better, better movies, more interesting movies.
Okay.
Speaker 2 So the last thing I want to ask you was like,
Speaker 2 you were born and raised in the East and you've been working and living in the West for a while now,
Speaker 2 much like myself. And
Speaker 2 do you have any comment on this current kind of civilizational clash between the East and West right now? Is there like what is your perspective on this thing?
Speaker 14 I think there will always be political clashes. That's what makes the world interesting.
Speaker 14 And
Speaker 2 okay, well then we are in a very interesting period there because shit is going down right now.
Speaker 14 And you know, you never know what comes up. So
Speaker 2 there's a, you're saying there's a silver lining to this end of civilization?
Speaker 14
I didn't say it was end of civilization or silver lining. Okay.
I just think it's going through changes. Okay.
Like life. Okay.
You're going through changes, aren't you?
Speaker 2 I am, yes, I am. I'm.
Speaker 14 What kind of.
Speaker 2
I think my voice is breaking. I don't know.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 All right. so.
Speaker 14 What are you smoking and what kind of drugs are you smoking?
Speaker 2 Yeah, I'll tell you in Cantonese after the show.
Speaker 2 So what is your perspective on this East-West thing? Like, is anything can speak to anything that
Speaker 2 the America continues to misunderstand about the East, or vice versa? You know?
Speaker 14 I think it will always be so. I mean, I really...
Speaker 14 Even the, like, you talk about the East.
Speaker 14
You know, you come from Malaysia. I come from Hong Kong.
And And there's Thailand, and there's all these Southeast Asian countries.
Speaker 14 Not everyone gets
Speaker 14
on all the time. They don't get along, but we learn to live with each other.
And I think it's like the West. I mean, we have to, we will go through phases and political things,
Speaker 14 bad or good, but we learn from it, hopefully. And from those lessons,
Speaker 14 you know,
Speaker 14 something good will come out of it, I hope. I mean, I like like to look at the good side of things.
Speaker 2 I really am not a negative person, so okay, I think you might be in the wrong era then. Because this is
Speaker 2 I know, yeah, okay. So, I was really hoping for
Speaker 2 you're saying that this is you've seen it go up and down, and that we'll come back and we'll be friends again in
Speaker 2 always.
Speaker 2 I hope so, I hope you're right.
Speaker 14 I mean, I like to think of the positive, so yeah, okay.
Speaker 2
Um, I gotta say thank you so much, Nancy Kwan. I think you're the best.
Thank you for representing Asian People in Hollywood. Thank you for making the films that you made.
Speaker 2
And thanks for coming on the show. And thanks for representing all of us with dignity and class.
We appreciate everything you do.
Speaker 2
Hey, the award of Nancy Kwan comes out April 22nd and it's available to pre-order now. Nancy Kwan, everybody, we're going to take a quick break.
We'll be right back after this.
Speaker 2 Hey,
Speaker 2 that's our show for tonight. Now here it is, your moment of Zed.
Speaker 5 It's that time of year to decorate Easter eggs, but with egg prices soaring, some families are turning to substitutes.
Speaker 2 How about rocks?
Speaker 5 Yep, rocks from the yard.
Speaker 14 Just paint them, and you've got Easter egg rocks.
Speaker 2 Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching The Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 Watch The Daily Show weeknights at 1110 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Faramount Plus.
Speaker 14 Paramount Podcasts.
Speaker 1 This is an iHeart Podcast.