Saturday, October 08, 2005

Meet Cho Chang

Aidan Smith interviews Katie Leung for The Scotsman. The woman who would be Cho, Leung is an eighteen-year-old Scot of Chinese decent. She has no prior acting background and was busy studying for her Highers during the filming of Goblet of Fire. It's a nice article if you're interested in the Goblet of Fire movie. What struck me, however, is the fan reaction. Smith writes,

"After she landed the part, some 'I hate Katie' websites sprang up and encouraged criticism of her. "I hate her because she gets to kiss Daniel Radcliffe," was probably the entry that got closest to the problem for these 'fans'." Wow! Also, most interestingly, "Some of the website vitriol came from fans of established Chinese and Korean actresses who mocked Leung's Scottish accent; but she can hardly be blamed if, as seems the case, the producers chose her precisely because of the Scottish-Asian mix."

Exactly. Rowling never said Cho Chang had an accent.