The team behind Freakier Friday, Disney’s upcoming sequel to its 2003 body-swap comedy, has acknowledged that elements of the original film relied on stereotypes, particularly in its depiction of Asian characters. Director Nisha Ganatra and actor Manny Jacinto, both of Asian descent, say the new film takes a different approach.
Ganatra said she had long held concerns about the earlier film, particularly a pivotal scene set in a Chinese restaurant. “I remember watching it and feeling torn, mostly about the Asian representation, and also the soundtrack that was being used,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “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!’”
In the 2003 film, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan play a mother and daughter who argue during a dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Pei-Pei, the restaurant owner played by Rosalind Chao, tries to ignore the dispute, but her mother, portrayed by Lucille Soong, insists on intervening. She offers the pair a pair of fortune cookies, which magically cause them to switch bodies. The scene, which mixes mystical tropes and language unfamiliar to the main characters, became a central plot device and has since faced scrutiny.
“It was a different time and wasn’t done intentionally,” Ganatra said. “But it’s a real thing. It’s something I, being Asian, was super conscious of.”
Ganatra said she and screenwriter Jordan Weiss worked to acknowledge concerns from audiences who felt alienated by those depictions, while preserving the tone of the original. “We owed audiences to make it right on this one,” she said. “So we worked in little moments that don’t betray this movie, but were satisfying for people who found hurtful moments in the last one.”
Chao and Soong both return in Freakier Friday, but their roles have been reimagined. They appear in new scenes but are not connected to any plot-related transformation. Ganatra said their presence in the sequel offers “some really fun moments” while shifting away from their original function in the storyline.
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Manny Jacinto, who plays Anna’s fiancé Eric in the sequel, said he shared similar concerns when he was approached about joining the project. “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 said.
Jacinto said conversations with Ganatra and other collaborators gave him confidence in the sequel’s direction. “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 said her intent was to balance the expectations of audiences familiar with the original film while remaining aware of how perspectives have shifted. The goal, she said, was not to ignore the past but to recognize how stories can be told with more care.
Curtis and Lohan reprise their roles as Tess and Anna, now older and facing different family challenges. While plot details remain under wraps, Freakier Friday is scheduled to be released in theaters on August 8.
