Book Summary: We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu Liu
This book helped me understand Simu's early upbringing in China, navigating Canada and how he built his career as an actor to become a MCU super hero.
📖 The Book in 3 Sentences
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Simu's story begins with his upbringing in Harbin, China by his grand parents and his parents almost impossible journey for a better life in North America and eventually Canada.
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When his family is reunited in Canada after years apart, Simu navigates numerous relationship challenges with his mother and father, never really meeting their high expectations and finding his calling to become an actor.
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After being laid off from Deloitte, Simu begins his acting career and encounters various ups and downs as as a struggling actor where he ultimately finds success through his constant focus on self improvement and hustle to eventually become Marvel's next super hero.
🖼 Impressions
The book gave me a deeper understanding of Simu's early life and the relationship struggles he had with his parents in Canada. His pursuit of his acting career was truly inspiration as he pursued various opportunities, constantly worked on himself to improve his craft and faced failures on his grind to ultimately become a success.
👥 Who should read it?
Any one with an interest in Simu's career should take the time to understand how he was able to overcome slim odds as an Asian American Hollywood actor and to understand his menatliy of applying himself in a career where there are very few opportunities. Asians immigrants who have grown up in Western countries will relate to Simu's struggle on finding one's own place and dealing with erasure/invisibility of being Asian in a Western country. nm
💡 How the book changed me
This book has really made me reflect on how I should not accept the status quo and pursue dreams through constant self improve ment and thoughtful application of self. To take the time to understand the struggle of my parents and where they came from. Also take a positive mindset and constantly find opportunities to hone my craft regardless of the outcome.
✍️ My Top 3 Quotes
I had to invest in myself, dream BIG; and if I was going to fail, I would do so in the only way I knew how - spectacularly, dramatically and without any regret whatsoever.
The unknown is always scary, but not nearly as much as waking up one morning realizing you have wasted your precious life in pursuits of someone else's idea of success. I have chosen the unknown, every time.
It didn't matter if you were raised by Chinese parents in Melbourne, or Korean parents in Los Angeles; there was a common DNA between all of us, and it was imperative that we fought to create content that captured our collective voices.
📒 Summary + Notes
Thoughts and questions I'd like to ask Simu:
Simu mentioned he had a Sega Genesis. I'd love to ask him about his video gaming journey and what his favourites are.
Boba gets a mention, and I'd be keen to know how he stays in shape whilst eating all the delicious Asian foods. I personally struggle with this!
Despite all the setbacks and what keeps him going even with a long list of consecutive fails.
The process of healing with family, what really helped?
Organizations mentioned:
- YEAA Young Emerging Actors' Assembly
- CAPE Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment
- CCYAA Canadian Youth Athletics Association