Jamie Yao was created as a replacement to the negatively stereotype "Chin-Kee" character from the graphic novel American Born Chinese. Ke Huy Quan's role as Jamie reflects his own career trajectory after early success in movies like Indiana Jones and The Goonies. The character of Jamie serves as a more nuanced and approachable example of the harmful stereotypes depicted in the original graphic novel.

Ke Huy Quan's character, Jamie Yao/Freddy Wong, is a replacement for "Chin-Kee" in American Born Chinese, and it's understandable why the creators would have wanted to make that particular switch. Disney+'s American Born Chinese is based on the 2006 graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang. The coming-of-age fantasy action comedy follows tenth-grader Jin Wang (Ben Wang), the son of Chinese immigrants, who is roped into a battle between ancient Chinese gods by a new exchange student Wei-Chen (Jimmy Liu). Wei-Chen...