Adele Lim
Adele Lim | |
|---|---|
 Lim at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con | |
| Born | Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia |
| Education | Emerson College |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Crazy Rich Asians Raya and the Last Dragon Joy Ride |
Adele Lim is a Malaysian screenwriter, producer, and director. After an early career in television, she achieved wider recognition for co-writing Crazy Rich Asians (2018), which was notably the first film by a major Hollywood studio to feature a majority cast of Asian descent in a modern setting since 1993's The Joy Luck Club.
Lim's subsequent films were the animated fantasy Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) and her directorial debut, the buddy comedy Joy Ride (2023).
Early life
Lim was born in Malaysia and is of Malaysian Chinese descent. She attended Malaysia's Sri Aman Girls School in Petaling Jaya, in Petaling District, in the state of Selangor. She started writing as a teenager and undergraduate in the lifestyle section of a local daily. She graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a degree in TV/film in 1996 and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Career
Lim started her career as a script coordinator for Xena: Warrior Princess, getting the job despite her resume being, as she described, "nonexistent". She has written for TV series such as One Tree Hill, Life Unexpected, Reign, Star-Crossed, Private Practice and Lethal Weapon.
In 2018, Lim was the co-screenwriter for the 2018 movie Crazy Rich Asians. Director Jon M. Chu asked her to rewrite the existing screenplay. In her rewrite she notably added the climactic scene of mahjong between Constance Wu and Michelle Yeoh's characters. Lim left writing on the sequel, following reports that she was offered significantly less pay (around $110,000) than her male co-writer Peter Chiarelli ($800,000 to $1 million). Warner Brothers defended the offer, citing the difference in experience between the two.
Disney recruited Lim to develop the animated feature film Raya and the Last Dragon, which released in 2021. She served as screenwriter alongside Qui Nguyen.
In her feature directorial debut, Lim directed and produced comedy film Joy Ride, starring Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu. The movie premiered at SXSW in March 2023.
She has given support to young writers as mentor and speaker for the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE).
In 2024, Variety reported that she signed on to direct The Princess Diaries 3 with Anne Hathaway reprising her role.
Following years of development, Lim returned to the Crazy Rich Asians franchise as the showrunner of the revamped sequel television series for HBO.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Crazy Rich Asians | No | Yes | No |
| 2021 | Raya and the Last Dragon | No | Yes | No |
| 2023 | Joy Ride | Yes | Story | Yes |
Television
| Year | Title | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–2002 | Digimon: Digital Monsters | Yes | No | Seasons 2–4; 20 episodes (English dub) |
| 2002 | John Doe | Yes | No | Episode "Mind Games" |
| 2003–2005 | Las Vegas | Yes | No | 3 episodes; Also story editor and executive story editor |
| 2006 | Pepper Dennis | Yes | Co-producer | Wrote 2 episodes |
| 2006–2008 | One Tree Hill | Yes | Co-producer | Wrote 2 episodes |
| 2008–2009 | Life on Mars | Yes | Supervising | Wrote 3 episodes |
| 2010 | Life Unexpected | No | Yes | |
| 2011–2012 | Private Practice | Yes | Co-Executive | Wrote 2 episodes |
| 2012 | Missing | Yes | Consulting | Wrote episode "The Three Bears" |
| 2014 | Star-Crossed | Yes | Executive | Wrote 2 episodes |
| 2014–2015 | Reign | Yes | Co-Executive | Wrote 3 episodes |
| 2016–2017 | Lethal Weapon | Yes | Co-Executive | Wrote 2 episodes |
| 2018 | Dynasty | Yes | No | Episode "A Well-Dressed Tarantula" |
Script Coordinator
- Xena: Warrior Princess (2000) (Episode "Punch Lines")
- State of Grace (2001)
References
- ↑ "Adele Lim". IMDb. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ↑ Vengadesan, Martin (13 September 2020). "The PJ girl who just penned Disney's next movie". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
- ↑ Wong, June H.L. (17 May 2017). "Rooting for this CRA-zy movie". the Star Online. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ↑ Begum, Mumtaj (12 December 2012). "It's in the script". The Star. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ↑ Lye, Jesslyn (17 January 2024). "Meet Adele Lim, the Malaysian screenwriter making waves of representation in Hollywood". Vogue Singapore. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ↑ S. Indramalar, Ann (8 February 2013). "TV dramas are nothing without writers". The Star/Asia News Network. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ↑ Yamato, Jen (10 August 2018). "'Crazy Rich Asians': Adele Lim brought experience, authenticity to the script". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ↑ Tangcay, Jazz (21 August 2018). "Adele Lim "Representation Matters" Says the Malaysian Co-Writer of Crazy Rich Asians". awardsdaily.com. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ↑ Babiak, Laura (7 July 2023). "Who to Watch: Adele Lim, Director of 'Joy Ride'". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ↑ "'Crazy Rich Asians' Co-Writer Exits Sequel Amid Pay Disparity Dispute (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 4 September 2019. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
- ↑ Sherman, Maria (4 September 2019). "Crazy Rich Asians Co-Writer Left Sequel After Learning White Male Colleague Earned Around 10 Times Her Salary". The Muse. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
- ↑ Chan, Kenneth (12 October 2018). "Malaysia-born screenwriter Adele Lim working on Disney film". The Star. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ↑ Vincentelli, Elisabeth (6 July 2023). "'Joy Ride' Review: A Raunch-Com Roller Coaster". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 7 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ↑ Tangcay, Jazz (18 March 2023). "'Joy Ride': Adele Lim on Her SXSW Directorial Debut and Telling a Story About Messy, Thirsty Friends 'On Our Terms'". Variety. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ↑ Ramos, Dino-Ray (19 March 2019). "CAPE Teams With Adele Lim, Daniel Chun, Walter Hamada And Others For Annual New Writers Fellowship". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ↑ Angelique Jackson (4 October 2024). "Anne Hathaway Confirms Return for 'Princess Diaries 3' With Director Adele Lim". Variety. Archived from the original on 5 October 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ↑ Otterson, Joe; Jackson, Angelique (8 October 2026). "'Crazy Rich Asians' HBO Series Sets Cast: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Ronny Chieng Returning". Variety. Retrieved 9 October 2026.