‘Fresh Off The Boat’ Cast Then and Now: See Constance Wu, Randall Park and More—Plus, Learn About the Behind-the-Scenes Drama

Fresh Off The Boat was a groundbreaking comedy about a Taiwanese family pursuing the American Dream by trying to make it in Orlando in the 1990s. The ABC series aired for six seasons, 116 episodes, from 2015-2020, and was the first Asian-American sitcom since Margaret Cho’s All-American Girl (1994-1995) graced TV screens two decades earlier.

Starring Randall Park as Louis Huang, the father and owner of Cattleman’s Ranch Steakhouse; Constance Wu as mom and restaurant manager/writer/private school dean Jessica; and their three sons played by Hudson Yang (Eddie), Forrest Wheeler (Emery) and Ian Chen (Evan), the family moves to Central Florida from Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown when the show begins.

The three boys took home Best Young Ensemble Cast in a Television Series at the Young Entertainer Awards in 2016.

The show tackles coming-of-age in the 1990s topics such as school events, Honor Society induction, chaperoning a field trip, Costco runs, birthday parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chinese New Year, game night, bad work reviews, coping with a favorite show’s cancellation, dealing with illegal immigrants, debating who killed Tupac Shakur, grieving Notorious B.I.G. and giving boys “the talk.”

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The series had its share of guest stars such as George Takei, who played an ESL instructor Grandma Huang (Lucille Soong) crushes on (2017).

In addition, Ali Wong (2017), Paula Abdul (2017), Heather Locklear (2017), Ken Jeong (2016-2019), Jaleel White (2018-2020), Jeremy Lin (2015-2017), Courtney Thorne-Smith (2016-2017), Cheryl Hines (2018), Angela Kinsey (2018), Howard Hesseman (2017), Tig Notaro (2018) and Niecy Nash (2018) did time on the show.

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Notable guest stars playing themselves are Connie Chung (2018), Kristi Yamaguchi playing First Lady Kristi Yamaguchi-Huang (2018), Regis Philbin (2019), Billie Jean King (2016) Michael Bolton (2017-2018), Shaquille O’Neal (2015-2016), Pat Sajak (2017), Stan Lee (2017), Nancy Kerrigan (2018), Vanna White (2017), Scottie Pippen (2015), DMX (2015), and Busta Rhymes (2016).

Based on the 2013 memoir about the life of chef/restaurateur Eddie Huang, the show was called Far East Orlando when it was in development, but Huang led a social media campaign to keep the title the same as his book, Fresh Off The Boat.

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Controversy and backlash

Huang showed his support by narrating the first season, but grew frustrated by the network’s approach to make the show a “universal ambiguous, cornstarch story about Asian-Americans” he wrote in Vulture in 2015.

Huang also took issue with Iranian-American writer Nahnatchka Khan, who penned Don’t Trust The B---- in Apt. 23, writing the script. “I would be excited, but you attached a Persian writer, and I’m kind of worried it’s going to be The Shahs of Cul-du-Sac Holando,” he told Vulture.

Series star Constance Wu voiced her displeasure that the show was renewed for a sixth season in 2019, Tweeting “So upset right now that I’m literally crying.”

After fierce backlash, she explained herself saying she reacted to the renewal because she wanted to take a different part that she could no longer fill.

“I love FOTB,” she wrote on Twitter. “FOTB is a great show that I’m proud of and I enjoy. I’ve got to fully explore my character and I know her like the back of my hand. So playing Jessica is fun and easy and pleasant. I get to work with a kind and pleasant cast and crew, which makes it all quite enjoyable. So obviously, I don’t dislike doing a show that is fun and easy and pleasant.”

She continued, “But in general, being able to do that other project – Because that other project would have challenged me as an actress – that other project would have been really hard and not easy or pleasant at all. Sometimes even my closest friends are baffled at how I could value artistic challenge/difficulties over success/happiness. But I do. I know it’s weird.”

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She later released her memoir, Making A Scene, in 2022, and revealed she was being sexually harassed by a producer on the show.

Still, saying goodbye when the series wrapped wasn’t without tears.

“With Randall, he's just so funny, but he's also, like, one of the nicest people to ever work with,” she told Entertainment Tonight when the show wrapped in 2020. “Chelsey [Crisp] has become such a wonderful friend and just such a supportive person in my life,” Wu said of the actress who played her character’s BFF.

She also had high praise for her onscreen sons Yang, Wheeler and Chen.

“The boys are awesome,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “The young men that they've become and, Hollywood can mess people up, especially kids... It hasn't done that to them. They have good heads on their shoulders. They're kind to people. They're compassionate.  They're excited. They're passionate. They're driven and they are their own people. It's been so cool to watch and I'm proud of them.”

Here’s what has become of the cast now that Fresh Off The Boat is history.

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Constance Wu as Jessica Huang

Richmond, Va.-born Wu played the mom on Fresh Off The Boat.

Prior to the show, she appeared on Logo drama Eastsiders (2012-2017) after racking up TV credits including crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2006), soap One Life To Live (2007), action drama Torchwood (2011), crime comedy Covert Affairs (2013) and comedic drama Franklin & Bash (2014). Film roles included animated fantasy Year Of The Fish (2007), Sound of My Voice (2011), drama Best Friends Forever (2013) and crime biography Electric Slide (2014).

Best known for movie roles including comedic dramas Crazy Rich Asians and Hustlers (2019) during her run on the show, Wu also scored a role in the sci-fi film Parallels (2015), voiced a character in The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017) and appeared in the “Family Feud” video by Jay-Z featuring Beyonce during her height of Fresh Off The Boat fame.

After the show ended, Wu could be seen in movies including drama I Was a Simple Man (2021), family adventure comedy Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022) and dramatic comedy East Bay (2022). She lit up the small screen in action drama The Terminal List (2022) and dramatic fantasy Solos (2021).

Her voice could be heard on animated adventure comedy Wish Dragon (2021), and in the TV animated adventure comedy Velma (2023).

She released her memoir, Making A Scene, in 2022.  In it, she reveals she was sexually assaulted pre-fame by an “aspiring novelist” named Ty; and sexually harassed by a Chinese-American Fresh Off The Boat producer.

She attempted suicide after the social media backlash that followed after she Tweeted she was “really upset” the sitcom was renewed in 2019.

She wrote, “My head spinning, I realized I needed a wound to prove it, to prove that I hurt as bad as everyone said I deserved to hurt and it couldn't be a little wound, it had to be the biggest wound in the world for it to be enough. That's how I ended up clutching the balcony railing of my fifth-floor apartment."

She checked into a mental hospital to seek treatment.

Wu is mom to a daughter, born in August 2020, and son, born in July 2023, with boyfriend Ryan Kattner, who is frontman of the band Man Man.

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Randall Park as Louis Huang

L.A. born Park played the kind-hearted father to Eddie (Yang), Emery (Wheeler) and Evan (Chen), and husband to Jessica (Wu). He is the owner of steakhouse Cattleman’s Ranch, and relishes all things American.

Park got his start in showbiz with single-episode stints on shows including crime comedy Reno 911! (2003), crime drama Las Vegas (2003), action drama Alias (2004), romantic drama ER (2004), mystery drama House (2005), crime drama Cold Case (2007), family comedy iCarly (2008), comedy The Sarah Silverman Program (2008), comedic drama Eli Stone (2008), comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm (2009), crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2011), comedy The Office (2012) and romantic comedy New Girl (2012).

He is often cast as a doctor or policeman.

He was seen on soap The Bold and The Beautiful (2006-2007), and had a larger role on comedy The Mindy Project (2013-2014) before landing 13 episodes on comedy Veep (2012-2017).  His brand of LOL showed up on sketch comedy show Mad TV (2006-2007) and comedy Nick Cannon Presents: Short Circuitz (2007).

Big screen credits include comedy Dinner For Schmucks (2010), comedic drama The Five-Year Engagement (2012), comedy Neighbors (2014), romantic comedy Sex Tape (2014) and romantic comedy Trainwreck (2015).

During the show’s run, Park could be seen as a driver in Eminem’s “Phenomenal” video (2015), on one episode of Angie Tribeca (2017). He appeared on the silver screen in the action-adventure comedy Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018), action-adventure fantasy Aquaman (2018), romantic comedy Long Shot (2019), romantic comedy Always Be My Maybe (2019) and musical romantic comedy Valley Girl (2020).

He also voiced Chen The Cheerleader in The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017), three characters in Robot Chicken (2014-2018), and lent his vocal chops to American Dad! (2020).

After the show ended, he took on TV projects including action comedy WandaVision (2021),

His voice is featured on animated comedy Tuca & Bertie (2021), animated action-adventure Star Trek: Lower Decks (2021), animated adventure Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai (2023) and many more cartoons.

He can be heard on film in the animated adventure Paw Patrol: The Movie (2021), and seen in action-adventure Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023).

Despite his success, Park has had a love-hate relationship with his chosen career.

“There was a period where I decided, ‘I’m going to quit [acting],” he told Rolling Stone in 2023. “I’ve always wanted to become an architect. I need to take some prerequisites at the community college, and I’ll go into architecture.’ I enrolled in Santa Monica College, took a basic physics class, could not pass the class — because I was so out of practice — and ended right back auditioning again. Fate always brought me back to acting.”

He has four projects coming up including action comedy film Eenie Meanie, TV mini-series mystery The Residence and animated adventure Among Us. He is rumored to be voicing his Ant-Man character Jimmy Woo on the animated adventure TV mini-series Marvel Zombies.

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Hudson Yang as Eddie Huang

After his time on Fresh Off The Boat came to an end, Brooklyn, N.Y.-born Yang was admitted to Harvard, where he studies engineering as part of the Class of 2025.

He appeared in action thriller Run and Gun (2022), thriller Honor Student (2023) and comedic drama Extremely Unique Dynamic (2024), in which he played himself.

He also voiced cartoon Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2022).

Starring on the show was a major highlight for him.

“It’s a lot of fun working with [the cast] because they’re nice, fun and talented,” Yang told Red Carpet Report at The Lion King premiere in 2015. “I get inspired by everything I see there, and  grow and progress in my acting career.”

He continued, “Randall and Constance are really nice. My dad says I have to look up to them – they’re the perfect role models. Randall is never mad or sad – he always puts on his good face, he smiles and he does stuff for people. Constance is really nice and was able to change from drama to comedy so easily and make it so great.”

Before landing the lead role, Yang made his showbiz debut in mystery The Sisterhood of The Night (2014).

During the show, he voiced cartoons Sofia The First (2018), Where’s Waldo? (2019) and The Lion Guard (2019). He appeared on Disney Channel family comedy Liv and Maddie (2016), and appeared in the video for Disney Channel Stars: Duck Tales Theme Song (2017).

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As for the future, he told Hyphen Magazine in 2016, “I want to stay an actor for a while so that I can save up. Then, I want to open up a restaurant once I get older, because I think I have some really good ideas that I’ve been thinking up, like a ‘daredevils’ restaurant, for people who want to try new food, with really weird, but tasty food designs.”

Forrest Wheeler as Emery Huan

Fresh Off The Boat is Santa Monica, Calif-born Wheeler’s most recent acting role. He portrayed the middle brother.

It almost didn’t pan out that way considering he first auditioned to play the youngest brother, Evan, which ultimately went to Ian Chen.

“It was five auditions and well worth it in the end,” he told Backstage in 2020. “For the first two auditions, I actually auditioned as Evan Huang, who’s the youngest brother. And then for the third audition, they had me test with Constance Wu and Randall Park, the parents on the show. I got bumped up to Emery Huang. So after we did a couple more chemistry test auditions and it kept narrowing down, it was eventually two people, and I’m so thankful that I got the job.”

Of his character, Wheeler told Backstage, “I like Emery because he’s kind of like me: He’s easygoing, he’s an all-around great person. He fits in very well. If he picks up something, he’s automatically good at it, whereas [his older brother] Eddie may not be as good. In some ways [he’s like me], except for the part where he’s a ladies’ man—that’s not me. I don’t have any girlfriends. Maybe one day.”

Before landing the part, Wheeler was found on sitcoms New Girl (2014) and Community (2014) plus drama Chasing Life (2014). He was in action-adventure Mortal Kombat: Legacy (2013) and TV drama Boomerang (2013).

Wheeler got his start in the comedic film The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013).

When he was on the show, he voiced cartoon Sofia The First (2018), and appeared in the video for Disney Channel Stars: Duck Tales Theme Song (2017).

Ian Chen as Evan Huang

L.A. born Chen was the youngest brother on the show.

After Fresh Off The Boat, Chen lent his voice to animated adventure film Wish Dragon (2021), plus Netflix’s animated adventure Yasuke (2021) and animated adventure show Summer Camp Island (2023). He appeared in action-adventure sequel Shazam! Fury Of The Gods (2023).

Starring on Fresh Off The Boat gave Chen a second family to call his own, starting with his TV brothers.

“We’re also kind of like brothers as well,” he told TV Insider in 2019. “We sometimes horse-play around set. We all definitely hang out off-screen. It’s just like having another extended family. A very big family.”

Before playing Evan, Chen had a single-episode stint on drama Grey’s Anatomy (2014) to his credit.

While he was on Fresh Off The Boat, he was in demand, clocking additional single episodes of comedy Dr. Ken (2016) and comedy Loosely Exactly Nicole (2016), plus voice work on animated comedy Family Guy (2017). He also voiced cartoons Fancy Nancy (2018-2022) and The Rocketeer (2019-2022).

He joined his TV brothers for the Disney Channel Stars: Duck Tales Theme Song (2017) video.

He then graduated to the big screen for action-adventure comedy Shazam! (2019) and adventure comedy A Dog’s Journey (2019).

Lucille Soong as Grandma Huang

Soong played mom to Louis (Park) and grandma to Eddie (Yang), Emery (Wheeler) and Evan (Chen). She often spoke Mandarin instead of English.

After wrapping the project, she voiced animated adventure movie Raya and The Dragon (2021).

Born August 15, 1935, as Jingxiu Song in Beijing, China, Soong moved to Hong Kong at age 22 and then to London in the 1960s before landing in Hollywood.

Her story dates back to Old Hollywood: She was first cast as a bride in Ferry To Hong Kong (1959) with Orson Welles, then 55 Days at Peking (1963) with Ava Gardner and Charlton Heston.

She also appeared in historical drama Genghis Khan (1965), TV comedy Hugh and I (1967) and drama Mogul (1967-1970).

According to IMDB, she became the first Chinese model to be featured in the English Models Directory.

She booked British drama Coronation Street (1969).

Aside from Fresh Off The Boat, her biggest projects in the 2000s have been family comedy film Freaky Friday (2003) and TV comedic drama Desperate Housewives (2004-2009). She held recurring roles on soap Passions (2001), comedy Dharma and Greg (1997-2001) and comedic drama Huff (2004), and did single-episode stints on drama Strong Medicine (2000), crime dramas JAG (2000), Bones (2007), Without A Trace (2009) and Dark Blue (2010); comedies According To Jim (2005), The King of Queens (2006) and The League (2010), and comedic drama United States of Tara (2009).

On the big screen, she was seen in drama Joy Luck Club (1993). She appeared in comedic drama Employee Of The Month (2004) and Just Like Heaven (2005), plus thriller Mission Impossible III (2006) and family crime comedy Nancy Drew (2007).

She next appears on the Hallmark Channel comedy Holidazed.

Chelsey Crisp as Honey

Phoenix native Crisp played Jessica’s (Wu) next-door neighbor and best friend, who is the third and current wife of Marvin (Ray Wise).

“It was an incredible experience for us when Fresh Off the Boat first aired,” she told pop-culturalist.com. “Nobody knew if an audience would take to it. It wasn’t just that we found an audience but that we had such an incredibly loving, supportive, and passionate audience that showed up in high numbers. That was a phenomenal experience. Because that wasn’t just a comedy—that was a story that had so much importance to it. For the six years that we were making that show, it was an incredibly wonderful experience. But realizing that people were really connecting to this and that we were going to get the ability to make more was a wonderful moment.”

She appeared on comedies The Office (2006), Couchers (2013), #InstaFamous: How To Become Famous On Instagram (2013), Better Off Ted (2009) and The Joe Schmo Show (2013); crime dramas CSI: Miami (2007), NCIS (2008), Rizzoli and Isles (2012); romantic comedies Happy Endings (2012), Mike and Molly (2013), New Girl (2013) and A To Z (2014); family comedy Marvin Marvin (2013), crime comedy Rake (2014) and crime drama NCIS: New Orleans (2014).

She had a recurring role on comedies ACME Hollywood Dream Role (2010-2013), Adult All Girl Sexy Sleep Over Party (2014) and Duchess Riot Shorties (2013-2014). Movie credits include romantic comedy 10 Things I Hate About Life (2014) and drama Reconciliation (2009).

After Fresh Off The Boat, she had recurring roles on the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson biographical comedy Young Rock (2021-2022), crime drama CSI: Las Vegas (2021) and comedy Ten Percent (2022).

During the show, she appeared in films including horror Bleed (2016), romantic comedy In-Lawfully Yours (2016), family comedy The 60 Yard Line (2017), horror Clawed (2017), comedy The Grinder (2015) and The Outdoorsman (2017) and drama Life With Dog (2018).

She will next appear in comedic drama. Eenie Meanie

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Ray Wise as Marvin

Wise played Marvin, the Huangs next-door neighbor and husband of Jessica’s (Wu) best friend.

Born in Akron, Ohio, on August 20, 1947, and a graduate of Kent State University, he is best known for playing attorney Leland Palmer in the crime drama Twin Peaks franchise (1989-1991, 1992, 2014, 2017) and sidekick Leon Nash in sci-fi action movie Robocop(1987).

With more than 250 acting credits to his name, he got his start in the drama Dare The Devil (1969) movie before moving onto TV with romantic drama Love Of Life (1976), action-adventure Charlie’s Angels (1978) and crime drama Barnaby Jones (1978). He had a recurring role on soap Days of Our Lives (1982), romantic dramas Dallas (1982) and Knots Landing (1988) and dramas The Colbys (1986) and L.A. Law (1988).

He played The Devil on comedic drama Reaper (2007-2009). He starred on crime drama Second Chances (1993-1994), TV drama Savannah (1996-1997), and had recurring roles on romantic drama Beverly Hills, 90210 (1998), comedy How I Met Your Mother (2011-2014), drama Mad Men (2010-2015), soap The Young And The Restless (2014-2016), comedy Newsreaders (2010-2015), action-adventure Agent Carter (2015-2016), drama Resurrection Blvd. (2000-2001), crime drama 24 (2006), comedic drama Chuck (2011), comedy Easy To Assemble (2011), crime comedy Psych (2009-2014), animated comedy High School USA! (2013), comedy Kroll Show (2013-2014) and comedy Farmed and Dangerous (2014). He was in the biographical drama Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story (1995).

He also was seen on crime dramas from T.J. Hooker (1984), to drama Dawson’s Creek (2003) and hundreds of others in between.

Major movie credits include family adventure drama The Journey of Natty Gan (1985), fantasy drama Powder (1995), biographical drama Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), sci-fi action flick X-Men: First Class (2011), sci-fi drama Pandemic (2009) and comedy horror Suburban Gothic (2014).

During Fresh Off The Boat’s run, he appeared on comedic drama Gilmore Girls: A Year in The Life (2016) and crime drama Fargo (2017). 

After the show, he could be seen in drama Life On The Rocks (2021), crime comedy Psych 3: This is Gus (2021), comedy Home Economics (2021) and comedic drama Physical (2021). On the big screen, he was in drama The Blue Rose (2023) and comedy Poolman(2023).

He also voiced characters on Batman: The Audio Adventures (2021) podcast.

His next project is comedic drama Good Grief.

Trevor Larcom as Trent

Before landing the role as Trent, who is Eddie (Yang)’s best friend and deputy assistant manager of Cattleman’s Ranch, Larcom appeared on comedic drama Modern Family (2013), comedies Arrested Development (2013), Jennifer Falls (2014) and Fatrick (2014); family comedies iCarly (2012) and Sam and Cat (2013), romantic comedy A To Z (2014). Dramas included House (2011) and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (2013).

While on the show, he also was seen on the small screen with comedies Fuller House (2017),

Teachers (2016-2019), To The Beat! (2018) and Problem Child (2015), and dramas True Detective (2015) and Scorpion (2015).

After Fresh Off The Boat, Larcom appeared in comedies To The Beat!: Back 2 School (2020) and Thunder Force (2021).

For more from the early 2000s, click here!