LOS ANGELES — Starring in any movie is hard work.
To inhabit the world of "Mulan," it was important for the film's production to create a sense of camaraderie and teamwork amongst the cast.
“So we were actually brought out eight weeks early to New Zealand to begin physical and stunt training,” said Jimmy Wong.
For actor Jimmy Wong, the opportunity to star in Mulan, Disney’s biggest movie featuring an all Asian and Asian-American cast ever, is the chance of a lifetime.
His career all started on YouTube.
“Being a part of a movie like Mulan is an honor just because I know this is going to be the first experience that a lot of people have with this in-depth amount of Asian culture and this kind of story,” said Wong. “For me, as long as it can be inspiring for someone that is watching this for the first time, that’s all that matters.”
Going viral once is like catching lightning in a bottle, rare and difficult to do.
Wong first went viral in 2011, after posting a humorous song he wrote addressing a racist post made by University of California, Los Angeles student Alexandra Wallace about Asians in the library.
Wong's video got 4 million views the first week, which prompted a flood of media appearances, so he kept going.
“What’s up guys, Jimmy here,” greeted Wong as he addressed his online audience. “Thanks so much for joining my stream today. We’re going to be playing some games.”
Since then, he’s posted almost 700 videos on YouTube on multiple channels covering a range of his interests.
“Finding an audience on YouTube is a really difficult procedure because there’s just so much content out there,” explained Wong. “What makes yours stand out? For me, it has to be genuine, it has to be fun and you have to really have passion for what you’re doing because if someone sees that in the video, they’re going to be more interested.”
On YouTube, being an expert on a subculture will get you subscribers. For Jimmy, that’s cooking, pop culture, video games, and Magic The Gathering. So whether he’s creating videos for his channel "The Feast of Fiction" or "The Command Zone," basically his job is to nerd out.
“So I’m trying to lower my mana curve right now because I’m trying to play spells that cost way too much mana and as a result, I end up getting knocked out of the game really early,” stressed Wong as he reimagined the cards in his Magic The Gathering tournament deck.
YouTube is the second most visited website, which means the whole world is watching. If the internet is known for one thing, its negative comments.
As a video creator, Wong said to not get discouraged.
“At the end of the day, you can’t just focus on the negative because usually they’re the vocal minority,” said Wong. “You really just have to focus on the fact that you’re making something that makes you happy and just keep pushing on because they’re not going to stop you unless you let them.”
When kids between the ages of 6 and 17 were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, 75 percent said YouTuber. Wong is producer and host and though the job appears glamorous, it’s a lot of work to publish videos every day.
“If you want to learn how to use anything, just go on YouTube,” said Wong. “Heck, you can even learn how to use YouTube on YouTube. Just type ‘how to’ and then the thing you want to learn and then voila, lots of answers.”
From internet to celluloid, become a star by uploading videos.