MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Every week, a guest draws a card from NPR's Wild Card deck and answers a big question about their life. Jenny Han is the writer and showrunner of "The Summer I Turned Pretty" young adult books and a TV series. That show and her series, "To All The Boys," are now hits with teens and adults. But Han says it was originally a hard sell when she wanted to have Asian Americans cast in lead roles.
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JENNY HAN: With "To All The Boys," the studios were interested in it, and they're naming names of, like, young actresses that were big at the time. And I was, like, well, the character's Asian American, though. And they were, like, well, as long as, like, the actor's spirit is like Lara Jean, then I think that's what really matters. And I was like, no, but her spirit is Asian American, so (laughter).
KELLY: So Han talked with Wild Card host Rachel Martin.
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RACHEL MARTIN: What emotion do you understand better than all the others?
HAN: I would say embarrassment. I think I am very shame-forward.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
HAN: Like, I easily feel shame. I think it's feeling embarrassed all the time as a kid. And I think, to me, this is a really important one because I feel that it's the only emotion that you can feel as acutely right now as you did in the moment. Like, I don't think it really fades...
MARTIN: Yeah. Yeah.
HAN: ...When you think back to something that you said to somebody that was really embarrassing that you really, like, shamed yourself.
MARTIN: Yeah.
HAN: I feel it. I feel like I'm right back in ninth grade...
MARTIN: Yeah.
HAN: ...And I, like, said something so dumb. And I think love and hate and anger - all that can fade. But I think kind of humiliation and shame feel, to me, very, like, close to the surface.
MARTIN: And when you're writing, I mean, I guess it's not your shame. It's your imagination. So you're conjuring these shameful situations.
HAN: Well, I'll funnel it out of myself. I pour it, you know, into the into the story. Yeah.
MARTIN: Do you ever write actual experiences that happened to you that were shameful, or do you try to not go straight for the jugular that way?
HAN: I definitely do. And sometimes it's by accident.
MARTIN: Can you give me one?
HAN: Like, well, this one was about someone else's shame...
(LAUGHTER)
HAN: ...Where - so, in my first book, "Shug," there's a moment where she, like, executes a beautiful dive off a diving board. And, like, she feels, like, so good about herself and then realizes, like, when she got home, that she - her back of the bathing suit has a huge hole in the butt. And I've put that in the book, and I'm like, oh, yeah, this feels - this is, like, really, like, kind of a potent feeling. Didn't happen to me - and my sister read it, and she was like, oh, I can't believe you put Sadie's (ph) story in there. And I was like, what? And she was like (laughter)...
MARTIN: It happened to someone you knew.
HAN: Completely - my cousin when they were...
MARTIN: Oh, God (laughter).
HAN: ...Around that age, they were at a water park, and they were in line for a ride. And then there were these older boys behind them who were, like, laughing. And then they turned and looked, and then they realized that, like, my cousin's butt was, like - it was like her bathing suit was completely open. So I was like, oh, yeah. That's where that came from.
MARTIN: Yeah.
HAN: So I did - I put that in there without realizing it.
MARTIN: Did - then did your cousin just read the book and...
HAN: She never mentioned it.
MARTIN: ...See her shame memory?
HAN: Now she might see this.
(LAUGHTER)
HAN: Maybe she'll see this and be like, well, thanks, Jen.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
HAN: Thanks a lot.
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KELLY: You can watch that full conversation with Jenny Han by following Wild Card with Rachel Martin on YouTube. And the final season of "The Summer I Turned Pretty," it's out on July 16. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
