Doua Moua

Doua Moua was born in a refugee camp in Thailand to Laos-born parents of Hmong descent who had fled their homeland because of the Laotian Civil War.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8o0DwAAQBAJ&dq=doua+moua+refugee&pg=PA100|title=The Making of Hmong America: Forty Years After the Secret War|last=Yang|first=Kou|author-link=Kou Yang|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2017|isbn=978-1498546454|location=Lanham, Maryland|pages=100}} Six months after his birth, his family entered Minnesota as refugees, and he was raised in the city of St. Paul.{{Cite web|url=https://asiancemagazine.com/2008/12/08/Actor-Doua-Moua-in-Gran-Torino/|title=Actor Doua Moua in Gran Torino {{!}} Asiance Magazine|website=asiancemagazine.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-21}} While in middle school, Doua joined the choir and theater classes at a teacher's suggestion; he also participated in community theater.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}} He was graduated from the International School of Minnesota, in Eden Prairie.Yuen, Laura. "[http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/12/19/grantorino/ Hmong get a mixed debut in new Eastwood film]." Minnesota Public Radio. December 18, 2008. Retrieved on March 18, 2012.

Amongst Doua Moua's cousins are former state senator Mee Moua and dancer-actor Aidan Prince.{{Cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Br6ZUD7F0X7/|title=Doua Moua on Instagram: "Hanging with my cousin Senator Mee Moua!! Named one of the most powerful woman in Washington!! . . . #cousins #family #hmong #hmongpeople…"|website=Instagram|language=en|access-date=2020-03-12}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/B9imvqWh6Ws/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/B9imvqWh6Ws |archive-date=2021-12-26 |url-access=registration|title=Aidan Prince aka BAHBOY™️ on Instagram: "My uncle @douamoua is Po in Disney's @mulan What an awesome movie. Go watch it because you will love it too. What an awesome night! .…"|website=Instagram|language=en|access-date=2020-03-12}}{{cbignore}}

Moua moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting and booked his first acting job as an extra on Law and Order: SVU.{{Cite web|url=http://www.scottbonnie.com/single-post/2015/12/09/Doua-Moua-Actor-Writer-on-working-with-Clint-Eastwood-in-Gran-Torino-Role-on-Criminal-Minds-Beyond-Borders-Latest-Film-The-Harvest|title=Doua Moua, Actor & Writer, on working with Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, Role on Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, & Latest Film - The Harvest. {{!}} scottbonnie|website=scottbonnie|language=en|access-date=2018-11-21}} Moua worked in an Italian restaurant to finance his career. He continued auditioning for minor roles until he decided to audition for Gran Torino. While most roles took about a week for call backs, Doua had to wait three months until he finally got a response.{{cite web|url=http://www.scottbonnie.com/single-post/2015/12/09/Doua-Moua-Actor-Writer-on-working-with-Clint-Eastwood-in-Gran-Torino-Role-on-Criminal-Minds-Beyond-Borders-Latest-Film-The-Harvest|title=Doua Moua, Actor & Writer, on working with Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, Role on Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, & Latest Film - The Harvest.|website=Scott Bonnie|last=Bonnie|first=Scott|date=December 9, 2015|accessdate=August 14, 2018}} The film's casting was considered "a catalyst for more Hmong to get into filmmaking".{{cite web|url=https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/hmong-actors-making-history-meet-gran-torino-family/|title=Hmong actors making history: Meet the Gran Torino family|website=Twin Cities Daily Planet|last=Schein|first=Louisa|date=November 26, 2008|accessdate=August 14, 2018}} Moua said that he had no regrets in playing as a gang member, since, in the words of Laura Yuen of Minnesota Public Radio, "gangs consumed his brother's life while they were growing up in St. Paul." Moua added that many first generation Hmong are affected by gangs and drift into gangs due to a lack of father figures.

After the release of Gran Torino, Doua continued to appear in film and television, noticeably as villains. When his parents asked why he continued to play "mean" people, he jokingly stated that his parents had given him "mean eyebrows" due to his heritage. He decided to create a movie based on his own personal life as a Hmong American in Minnesota due to the lack of Hmong representation.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHB6bwc-H1c|title=HMONGTEENS: An engaging conversation with Doua Moua, actor and screenwriter.|website=YouTube|publisher=3 HMONG TV|date=August 24, 2015|accessdate=August 14, 2018}} The film, The Harvest, was written by Doua and was to be directed by Dan Ireland starring Doua alongside Russell Wong and Ellen Wong. Ireland has since died{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/dan-ireland-dead-dies-jolene-seattle-film-festival-1201754714/|title=Dan Ireland, 'Whole Wide World' Director Who Co-Founded Seattle Film Festival, Dies at 57|website=Variety|last=Dagan|first=Carmel|date=April 15, 2016|accessdate=August 14, 2018}} with Li Lu reportedly directing. The movie is still in development.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}}

Doua was cast in the live action Disney adaptation of Mulan as Po.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/08/disney-mulan-jimmy-wong-doua-moua-1202445269/|title=Disney's 'Mulan' Casts Jimmy Wong & Doua Moua|website=Deadline|last=N'Duka|first=Amanda|date=August 14, 2018|accessdate=August 14, 2018}} He is also a writer and was a semi-finalist for the Academy's Nicholl's Fellowship for his coming-of-age script "The Harvest."

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Category:Living people

Category:1987 births

Category:American writers of Hmong descent

Category:American people of Laotian descent

Category:Male actors from Saint Paul, Minnesota

Category:Marymount Manhattan College alumni

Category:Hmong American people from Minneapolis–Saint Paul