Michelle Yeoh, Harry Shum Jr. and Natasha Liu Bordizzo attend the Premiere of Netflix's 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny' at AMC Universal City Walk in Universal City, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Tibrina Hobson)
"Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments" star Harry Shum Jr. is one of the celebrities of Asian descent who took to Twitter to slam "Madagascar" star Chris Rock over his Asian jokes at the Academy Awards 2016. The awards ceremony was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 28, Sunday.
Lazy, uncreative joke after a brilliant monologue @chrisrock #DiversityMyAss #ISomehowMissedThisPart https://t.co/fDZMcCLHdo
— Harry Shum Jr (@HarryShumJr) February 29, 2016
In a skit during the awards ceremony, Rock brought in three Asian kids whom he introduced as Ming Zhu, Bao Ling and David Moskowitz. The comedian said they are working as bankers at the financial and consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which recently announced in a statement that they hired former UK FCA regulator Patrick Spens for Blockchain Project.
In an attempt to make fun of the Academy Awards' diversity, Rock joked that the firm sent the children as "their most dedicated, accurate and hardworking representatives." He added, "If anybody's upset about that joke, just tweet about it on your phone that was also made by these kids."
Upon watching the skit, several Asian celebrities did take to Twitter to express their disappointment with Rock's joke. Aside from Shum, Charlotte Hornets point guard Jeremy Lin and "Fresh off the Boat" star Constance Wu also expressed their dismay on social media.
Shum's father is from Guangzhou, China, while his mother is from Hong Kong. The two relocated to Costa Rica, where Shum was born, then to San Francisco, California, when their son was born.
This is why aside from English, Shum can also speak Cantonese and Spanish. In fact, he just learned English and Cantonese while Spanish is his first language.
Aside from acting, Shum also loves dancing. As a dancer, among his inspirations are Usher and the late Michael Jackson.
As an actor, Shum is known for playing Mike Chang in "Glee." He is now part of the cast of the new TV series "Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments" as Magnus Bane.
On the big screen, Shum played Wei Fang in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" with Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen and Natasha Liu Bordizzo. In a recent interview with Spinoff Online, Shum said he is living out his childhood dream being in the sequel. Watch the film's trailer here:
