Southern Fried Asian: Edward Hong

This month’s guest on Southern Fried Asian, Edward Hong, has been tapped to deliver the commencement address for the APIA students of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. A fitting tribute to the college’s first ever Asian American Studies graduate in the 300-year-old institution’s history.

Edward talks about his journey to W&M and discovering his passion for acting (5:30), as well as his role in creating the college’s first Asian American Studies major (11:15). He also talks about what prompted him to drop everything and pursue an acting career in Los Angeles (20:00) and performing in Qui Nguyen’s play Vietgone, about a Vietnamese American family in Arkansas (23:45). Edward also explains the origins of his obsession with Cinnabon (30:00) and how it led to a meeting with the company’s CEO (35:30) and a role as “Cinnabon guy” opposite Dakota Fanning (39:00).

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Our official theme music is the song “Top Down” by Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz. Podcast logo by Jef Castro.

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.