Earlier this week, it was announced that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star, Simu Liu, was cast in Arthur the King alongside Mark Wahlberg. The film is based on 2017 book Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home and is set to be helmed by Simon Cellan Jones. The news has since become a topic of discussion on Twitter after people realized that Liu went back and deleted some negative tweets about Wahlberg. “Let me get this straight,” Liu wrote in his now-deleted tweet. “Mark Wahlberg beat a helpless Vietnamese man with a stick until he passed out when he was 16, and it attempting to get the courts to grant him an official pardon on the basis that he’s ‘turned his life around’?” Liu has since addressed why he deleted the tweets.
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One Twitter user, @sighyam, shared a screenshot of the old tweet next to an article about Liu’s casting news, writing, “You can’t make this up.” The tweet has gone viral and currently has more than 25k likes. “So I think it’s pretty obvious why I would delete a tweet like this,” Liu replied. “I’m trying to set the stage to have progressive conversations and take positive action instead of just hurling stones. I understand the anger but I don’t appreciate the immediate hostility and harassment.” The actor wrote more on Instagram, which you can read below:
“So I guess this is happening on Twitter right now? Some thoughts below: I signed on to Arthur the King because I absolutely adored the script, which tells the beautiful story of how a dog changed the lives of four adventure racers in the forests of Ecuador. Especially having been a dog dad until last year, it hit me straight in the feels. I was and am very passionate about bringing this story to the screen, and playing a character that is undoubtedly a positive representation of an Asian man.”
Liu continued, “I deleted a couple of tweets I made regarding the past actions of one of my costars as a gesture of professionalism and to open to door to progressive conversations and (hopefully) positive change. Obviously, it’d be pretty weird to go to work with that tweet still up. I meant what I said in the moment; I was very angry hearing about what happened. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think there’s room to grow and work together to find an opportunity to educate and do some good- which I’m excited to do in addition to shooting the movie. Progressive discussion will lead to dialogue, and dialogue will lead to action.”
He concluded, “Anyway; hope everyone is staying safe and healthy this holiday! Trying to stay positive in an otherwise jubilant and celebratory time, and I just wanted to share my thoughts.” You can view the post below:
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Liu also took to social media this week to share the casting announcement. Since it’s a dog-centric film, the actor dedicated his post to his late dog, Barkley. “The next journey begins. This one’s for you Barkley. I miss you every day my boy.”
Arthur the King does not yet have a release date. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is scheduled to hit theaters on July 9, 2021.
