With 'Karate Kid: Legends,' Ben Wang is the 1st Asian American new 'Kid' on the block

<em>Karate Kid</em>: Mixed Up Martial Arts

Last week I reviewed a movie from a long-running franchise trying to at least put an end to an era. This week is Karate Kid: Legends, from a series that’s trying to start a new era. After an introductory snippet from The Karate Kid Part II, the story picks up in the present day when teenage kung fu champion Li Fong (Ben Wang) is uprooted from Beijing to New York City, where his mother (Ming-Na Wen) starts a new job practicing medicine at a hospi…

With 'Karate Kid: Legends,' Ben Wang is the first Asian American new 'Kid' on the block

It didn’t occur to Ben Wang right away that in taking on “Karate Kid: Legends,” he’d be the franchise’s first Asian American “Kid.” And that gives him a lot of optimism.

With 'Karate Kid: Legends,' Ben Wang is the 1st Asian American new 'Kid' on the block

It didn't occur to Ben Wang right away that in taking on “ Karate Kid: Legends,” he'd be the franchise's first Asian American “Kid.” And that gives him a lot of optimism.“At first I didn't even think about that,” Wang told The Associated Press. “That feels like a very cool and actually privileged position that I get to be in." His casting happened, he said, in "a world where that's normal enough."“Karate Kid: Legends,” which opens Friday, unites…

Ben Wang: Meet The Karate Kid: Legends actor who has also been roped in for...

Child actor Ben Wang, known for his role as Wyatt Callow in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, is all set to make his big-screen debut as 'The Karate Kid' in the sixth installment of The Karate Kid franchise. Born on January 1st, 2000, in Shanghai, Wang immigrated to the United States at the age of six after his parents' divorce. Wang grew up in Northfield, Minnesota, and studied musical theater at New York University. Commonly known for …

How Ralph Macchio's 'feel-good' first 'Karate Kid' informs 'Legends'

How Ralph Macchio's 'feel-good' first 'Karate Kid' informs 'Legends' Ben Wang, star of “Karate Kid: Legends,” was turned on to the original “Karate Kid” as a youngster because it was his aunt’s favorite movie. Wang's on-screen rival, Aramis Knight (both 25), had never experienced it until he was…

With ‘Karate Kid: Legends,’ Ben Wang is the 1st Asian American new ‘Kid’ on the block

… . The overall lack of Asian and Asian American representation all these years has … Movies That Made Asian America,” said he knows plenty of Asian Americans who find … ” series hardly had any young Asian American main characters. That lost opportunity …