How ‘Freakier Friday’ corrects 2003 film’s ‘hurtful’ Asian stereotypes

Translating Disney’s Freaky Friday for a new generation was always going to be a monumental task, but sequel director Nisha Ganatra tells Entertainment Weekly that she added one more thing to her Freakier Friday checklist: Fixi the 2003 film’s “hurtful” representation of its Asian characters.

In an interview for EW’s latest cover story on the Lindsay Lohan– and Jamie Lee Curtis-starring sequel, Ganatra says the question of addressing the Disney hit’s past portrayal of two integral Asian characters is “a complicated” one — mainly “because the first movie is so beloved,” but “there were some stereotypes that were hurtful” overall.

Particularly, the early aughts comedy classic follows mother-daughter duo Anna (Lohan) and Tess (Curtis), whose squabbling catches the attention of a Chinese restaurant owner, Pei-Pei (Rosalind Chao), and her mother (Lucille Soong) — the latter of whom intervenes by serving the bickering pair a magic fortune cookie that swaps their souls into the other’s body.

“I remember watching it and feeling torn, mostly about the Asian representation, and also the soundtrack that was being used” in the scenes at the restaurant, Ganatra says. “It was something I brought up right away when I had my first meetings with the producers. I had a moment of the presentation that was like, ‘problematic Asian representation!'”

Manny Jacinto, who plays Anna’s soon-to-be husband, Eric, in the sequel, says he initially had “concerns” over joining the project because of how the past film represented its Asian characters in those moments.

“When I considered hopping on board, I remember watching the first Freaky Friday and being like, this did not age very well, regarding the diverse characters,” he tells EW. “Knowing Nisha and speaking to other people within our circles, I knew we had a captain who was very much aware of those archetypes, or those issues presented in the first one. I felt very well taken care of.”

Ganatra adds that she felt like “we owed audiences to make it right on this one,” so the production invited Chao and Soong back to reprise their roles, albeit in completely different fashion.

For starters, the body-swapping (which amplifies in the second film, with Anna and Tess switching bodies with Anna’s daughter, Harper, and soon-to-be-stepdaughter, Lily) doesn’t result from a fortune cookie; this time, Ganatra’s film sets the spell in motion by the hands of a bumbling psychic played by Saturday Night Live alum Vanessa Bayer.

Ganatra and writer Jordan Weiss added “some really fun moments in there,” including one where Pei-Pei and her mother comedically communicate, “Do you think I have nothing better to do than solve your problems?” as Ganatra summarizes.

There’s also a line about Anna wanting to braid hair “in a non-culturally appropriative way.”

The Late Night and High Note helmer calls these “little moments that don’t betray this movie, but were satisfying for people who found hurtful moments in the last one.”

“It was a different time and wasn’t done intentionally [in the 2003 film], but it’s a real thing,” Ganatra finishes. “It’s something I, being Asian, was super conscious of.”

Jacinto agrees. “I don’t know if it would have been the same or had the same heart and charm if it was a different director,” the Acolyte actor says. “She keeps it very grounded and real, but also charming and fun. That’s a fine line to play, and she walks it really well.”

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

In a 20th-anniversary oral history interview on the making of the film, Chao previously resisted the thought of playing Pei-Pei.

“At first I thought, ‘Oh God, I don’t want to do you know, the whole Chinese [thing],'” she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023, later adding: “I always try and flip the script, and I thought, ‘Wait, what am I talking about?’ I grew up in a Chinese restaurant. My dad really was that guy. ‘Oh, look. You so handsome. I haven’t seen you for a long time. You so big.’ He had an accent, but he thought he had no accent.”

Freakier Friday is in theaters Aug. 8.