Students packed Bailey Hall to welcome actress and advocate Lana Condor for an engaging Q&A session on Friday evening.
Known for her breakout role as Lara Jean in Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy, Condor captivated the audience with her candid reflections on her career, her identity as an Asian American in Hollywood and her personal journey through acting.
The appearance was organized by Cornell University Program Board and the Multicultural Community Fueled Activity Board and marks their last event of the semester. Melissa Reifman ’25, head of strategy for CUPB, shared the organization’s excitement for Condor to bring “a little bit of joy” to campus, especially following “a pretty dark couple weeks here at Cornell.”
“We were super excited about Lana because it was pretty different from our shows so far for this year,” Reifman said. “It was a really fun Q&A where we could play some games and just kind of keep things light.”
Condor began the event with a laugh.
“You guys. I got super lost trying to get to whatever this building is,” Condor said. “They said it was six minutes away from where I was staying. It was like a 20-minute journey through the woods over here. But we’re here!”
The evening turned to meaningful discussion, with Condor reflecting on the shift she has seen in Hollywood regarding opportunities for Asian-American actors.
“I actually do believe the needle has moved in a much better way than it has before,” Condor said.
Condor said that before the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy, she never got opportunities to audition for lead roles.
“That was not part of the narrative for what Hollywood was trying to bring to me,” Condor said. “But I will say, after To All the Boys, I saw more opportunities, more roles being written for Asian American women across the board.”
While optimistic about progress, Condor was candid about the need for more representation.
“Our stories became something that Hollywood was really excited to tell — they should have always been excited to tell them,” Condor said. “But I think I will take what they give me while still fighting very hard.”
In addition to discussing her career, Condor spoke passionately about her work with the Asia Foundation, an organization she has been partnered with since 2017 to support young women pursuing education in Vietnam.
Condor was adopted from Vietnam at four months old and said though she “got the privilege and honor” to live in many places, she has “always had this really intense gratitude and yearning to do more for my home country and where I was born.”
“I got really, really lucky to be introduced to the Asia Foundation, and they focus on helping young women in the region in which I was born to get [their] high school education and everything that comes with that,” Condor said. “It gives me real purpose, and I love what I do — I love my job — but in an even more concrete way, the work that I do with the Asia Foundation is something I’m really, really proud of.”
Following the Q&A, the evening shifted to interactive games including rapid-fire questions, ranking romance troupes and red flag green flag beige flag, which gave students a chance to see Condor’s lighthearted side.
Students left the event inspired, with many sharing their thoughts on what the evening meant to them.
Neha Patil ’28 chose to attend the event as a fan of Condor’s movies.
“I thought [the event] was really cool,” Patil said. “I thought it was interesting to her about her experiences, her perspective on movies and sets she’s been on, and how it feels to be Asian-American representation in the media.”
Selena Chen ’28, echoed her excitement to hear from an actress outside of film and press.
“I think it was really fun seeing a celebrity for the first time, getting to see her outside of a film,” Chen said. “She seemed very genuine and very real.”
Julia Lian ’28 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].