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The Bittersweet Joy of Being Professionally Eclipsed by Your 9-Year-Old
When my son became a prime-time TV star, ‘Hudson Yang’s dad’ became my most prominent title
There’s no getting around it: I’ve been eclipsed by my son.
I mean this both physically and metaphorically. At age 15 and a sturdy 6-foot-2, Hudson quite literally blocks me completely from view when I stand behind him. But since the tender age of 9, he has been the center of attention for another reason as well: He’s a child actor, a star of the ABC TV show Fresh Off the Boat, the first prime-time sitcom featuring an Asian American family in two decades, and the launchpad of stars such as Constance Wu (of last year’s trailblazing blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians) and Randall Park (of Netflix’s well-received rom-com Always Be My Maybe).
I have had a long and successful career as a culture writer, but these days, Hudson gets keynote address invitations and awards from organizations I’ve been a part of for decades. When we go out, he’s the red-carpet VIP, and I’m his driver and “plus-one.”
So yes, it’s not just that his future seems bright — his present is already bright enough to outshine mine.
That’s exactly what any parent wants, isn’t it? We live and toil and sacrifice for…
