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Lana Condor Should Be the One We’re Putting in Everything

As much as we all love Noah Centineo, Lana Condor deserves the same opportunities.

By Oct 3rd, 2018, 2:28 pm

Lana Condor in To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018)

In the world of ever-changing celebrity, you’d think that Lana Condor would be everyone’s it girl right now. While she has some amazing projects in the works, what’s upsetting is the fact that Lana hasn’t been promoted nearly as much as her To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before costar, Noah Centineo.

Look, I’m not complaining about the Noah Centineo content. He’s adorable, he loves to say “woah woah woah” constantly, and he already had Sierra Burgess Is a Loser coming out, so the increase in Noah buzz is warranted. The problem is that everything became about Noah Centineo, and we haven’t really gotten that much on Lana Condor.

She has a show coming out called Deadly Class and a movie called Summer Night, and while both of those are incredible, it’s the fact that the internet and those interviewing the cast are focusing a lot of their time and energy on Noah. Again, Noah is incredible. He was the perfect Peter Kavinsky, and everyone who watched that movie fell in love.

That being said, it was Lara Jean’s movie. Lana Condor was the star, and it seems as if she has been pushed to the back burner of her own movie’s hype, which is insane when you think about it. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before brought back the romantic comedy in a new way, and its success does not exist without Lana, so to push her to the side for a boy who played her love interest feels very 2002 of the internet.

The problem isn’t just with Lana and Noah, either. The same thing is happening with Crazy Rich Asians. Henry Golding is the new internet boyfriend, and that’s fine and great, but also Constance Wu is right there.

E. Alex Jung pointed out that it would be cool if Lana were getting the same opportunities, and he’s right. She should be.

In fact, why don’t we take Buzzfeed’s Alanna Bennett’s idea and give her the Kate Bishop role she’s destined to take on?

At the end of the day, it’s pretty simple: Lana carried the movie and provided an avatar that audiences could relate to. That’s something women of color almost never get to be, and we constantly say we want more of that, but when it’s here, we still focus on the dude?

(image: Netflix)

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Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. A writer her whole life but professionally starting back in 2016 who loves all things movies, TV, and classic rock. Resident Spider-Man expert, official Leslie Knope, actually Yelena Belova. Wanda Maximoff has never done anything wrong in her life. Star Wars makes her very happy. New York writer with a passion for all things nerdy. Yes, she has a Pedro Pascal podcast. And also a Harrison Ford one.