T here were no “Crazy Rich Asians” onscreen in those days, no roles for Park to play, no roles for funny Asian-American women like Wong because, hang on, was there even such a thing? In this regard, “Crazy Rich Asians” was a commercial breakthrough for Hollywood. But it wasn’t much use on the sociocultural front — the majority of the movie is set outside the United States — and if anything, it reinforced some ugly stereotypes . Too many dragon ladies and vacuous shoppers . It was also a fantasy — a movie about no one any of us actually knows, set in a world where none of us actually live.

“Always Be My Maybe,” meanwhile, is about people we all know. “We weren’t trying to make a statement or whatever,” Wong said. “If people want to put it in that context, that’s up to them. But it’s a very different movie.”

They were just trying to make a movie they wish they could have seen in their teens and 20s. The first time Park suggested they write the movie together, Wong thought it was for him to star in with another actress. “Like Anne Hathaway or something,” she said. No, he replied, he meant her.

“I remember looking in the mirror and looking at my face, and I was really surprised,” Wong said. “And then I was really excited.”