Eddie Huang, author of the memoir Fresh Off the Boat which inspired the hit TV comedy of the same title, visited Adelphi to give a motivational lecture. We here at HCA had the great honor of interviewing and getting to learn about his life and success.
Her Campus Adelphi: What inspired you to write your bookĀ Fresh Off the Boat?
Eddie Huang: When I was leaving Orlando I was like 18. We were both going off to college and I was like, āMan, I never wanna come back here. It was really tough growing up here trying to figure out who I was. Being an immigrant was a strange thing at that time and Florida was a strange place. I ended up going home after a year away. But I never really fit into Orlando. I didnāt really understand it. And I was thinking thereās gotta be other immigrants out there who think every place in America is like New York or DC or urban thing. You think itās the American dream and you end up somewhere very urban-slow and youāre like, āwhere am I?ā
HCA: How were you approached about making it a TV show?
EH: A friend of mine had been pitching ideas for TV shows and he was talking to this executive producer Melvin Mar. He said to Melvin, āHave you read this book āFresh off the Boat?āā Melvin hadnāt. So my friend gave him the book. He loved it and then he came and found me when I was in LA.
HCA: How does it feel to inspire the 1stĀ Asian-American family-centric TV show in nearly 20 years?
EH: Iām proud of it. How I feel about the show has been documented very well. Itās kind of a watered down version of my life. But if people wanna read the real thing they can buy the book. And Iām really happy of the impact of it. I run into people on the street who feel excited and represented. When itās your own life and itās happening to youāI mean I grew up with a lot of domestic violence in my lifeāitās hard to laugh at it. I see my parents in a different way [than portrayed on the show]. Itās a little goofy. But I try to remember, I watched Margaret Choās show. A lot of people criticized it and werenāt too happy. But I remember watching it as a little kid and I loved it. So Iām glad people enjoy it and are happy and I donāt wanna be in the way.
HCA: What do you credit most of your success to?
EH: Thatās a good question. I really think I have this weird drive to want to do the right thing. I always heard stories about my grandfather. He was working in the internal ministry in Taiwan. He died about a month after I was born, but I heard a lot of stories about the dude. He had gone to Taiwan with the KMT. The Chinese nationals had lost the war so they all fled to Taiwan. There was a lot of corruption with the nativeāaboriginal Chinese. When the Chinese came, they brought roads, electricity and a lot of modernization but they took away lands from the aboriginals. And even though my grandfather couldāve been corruptive and taken landāhe was around a lot of corruptive peopleāhe didnāt. My family, my dadās side, didnāt have much money because he was a clean dude. Iāve known a lot of people inside and outside my family who said, āYour grandfather was a really good guy.ā He couldāve screwed a lot of people but he didnāt. So I always looked up to him even though I donāt really remember meeting him.
The other thing was my grandfather on my momās side died when I was really young. Itās in the first chapter of my book. I remember going to his funeral when I was 7. He killed himself in the basement and I had known what happened. I didnāt know how to deal with it. I saw my family fighting over his money and business. My mom and dad had decided to go outside of the family business and do their own thing. At Christmas everyone else had said to them, āYouāre not part of our family anymore!ā Of course weāre part of the family! Weāre all blood! Everyone was fighting over money. They were mad that my family had started their own business. I remember watching it and thinking, āMan I hope I never grow up like this and become this ugly. It really stuck with me. From that age I just wanted to do the right thing. It really tore my family apart. We had to leave Florida.
I was picked on a lot. When you see other people getting picked on, you just wanna do the right thing.
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HCA: Which accomplishment in your life are you proudest of?
EH: Thatās a good question too. I think Iāve stayed true to myself. I havenāt lied. When it comes to all of my workāthe book, the showāI always answer the questions as honestly as possible. If I contradict myself in answers Iāve given in the past I have no problem admitting it. Iām mostly proud of being true to myself and not lying to people.
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HCA: Do you have any regrets about the opportunities you have or havenāt taken in your life?
EH: Yeah. With my second restaurant I opened, I shouldnāt have been such a dumb*ss about it. I was selling all-you-can-drink Four Loko and throwing really dope parties. I really regret that. I donāt regret much else. I used to regret that I had gotten a scholarship to go to Syracuse for college and not going. But honestly, I donāt think Iād be the same if I had gone.
HCA: What are some words of advice you could give to people aspiring to do as much as they can with their lives?
EH: Thereās a few things I always tell people. You canāt be afraid to failāespecially when youāre young. You earn the right to be creative as an artist and take chances. Iāve always worked double hard. I always had a job just to make money and then something I was doing that was artistic or inspirational. Iāve met people who are like, ā I just wanna quit my job!ā and I say to them, āWhy donāt you just get it started on the side?ā Work twice as hard. I find it interesting when people think being artistic means being poor and a burden on other people.
I also think itās very good to question what youāre doing, but not to the point where you care too much about what other people think. Itās not about what other people think. Itās about what you think. I question what I would think of myself. Not what other people would think.
Just live your life making sure you donāt have regrets. If you wanna do something, thereās a million things that can go wrong, but it only has to right once. You can go on a million bad dates, but you only need to go on one to meet one good person. So keep doing it. Iāve been engaged and unengaged many times but I donāt regret any of it. Itās part of the process. Just talk to yourself, listen to yourself, and be honest. We all die. You donāt wanna die with regrets.
Eddie and I thanked each other for the good questions and great, inspirational answers. I loved talking and getting to know him so well in just a few questions. Be sure to check out Fresh off the Boat on ABC Tuesdays 8/7CĀ