'Gossip Girl' actor Yin Chang says her character was stereotypical in nature

Yin Chang, who had played the role of Nelly Yuki in the original series, was not happy with the way her character was written.

In an interview with a global magazine, the actress-turned-editor-in-chief talked about how her character was based on various kinds of stereotypes that the Asian-American community is usually associated with.

“The audition for this role came at a time when characters specifically written for Asian American women were so few and far between and I was under the impression, via the sides given for Nelly Yuki’s first episode, that the role had more complexity and nuance than most other auditions I had seen. Tis was back in 2008, and the initial impression of the role gave me hope that the industry was changing and moving forward in the right direction for Asian American representation.”

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But, things changed pretty soon and the “overachieving and effortlessly ‘confident’ and ‘sexy,’"became "timid’ and ‘submissive." She said that the "cultural stereotypes of ‘the model minority’ and this age-old isolating idea that ‘there can only be one’ Asian American individual existing in the same world."

She added, “I want to underscore that there’s nothing shameful about wearing glasses or having a shy personality, but it is of concern when a pair of glasses is used as a prop to differentiate between two Asian Americans and furthering that point by altering the character’s initial description/personality.”

“I was caught in a position where I simultaneously felt both deeply grateful to have an opportunity as a working actor and upset by the show making Nelly Yuki’s portrayal reductive almost immediately,” said Chang.