Asian Actors in Non-Traditional Roles

maestrowork said:

In that case shows like ER have been doing it long before it became a trend.

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Right. Television has been a step ahead of the silver screen for awhile.

Daniel Dae Kim is an interesting, whoever mentioned him, even if he hasn't quite broken out. But he's been around for ages, before LOST, and is usually cited right up there with sex appeal same as Josh Holloway or Matthew Fox. He's been in ER, 24, Spider-man, Hulk, Seinfeld, CSI, Star Trek, Law & Order ... nothing specifically Asian except for the Lost role ... yet he still can't get out of the sideline characters.

Grey's Anatomy is another interesting point too, although here I'm delving into African American actors. For being such a diverse cast on and off-screen, it suffered from stereotype, too. Isaiah Washington (black actor) originally auditioned for the role of Dr. Shepherd. They liked Washington enough to create the Dr. Burke character for him, but the "lead" role eventually went to Patrick Dempsey (white actor). This was after Ellen Pompeo (white), the love interest, was already cast. And, if you watch the show, Washington's character eventually dates Sandra Oh's.

Something tells me either the network or the show itself wouldn't have gone for "Dr. McDreamy" as a black man in a biracial relationship. Washington was obviously talented enough for them to make up a character for him but apparently he didn't meet the requirements of a standard love interest.

... Which brings me back to LOST. Yunjin Kim initially tried out for the lead role of Kate (which went to a white actress), and the writers liked her so much they created her and Daniel Dae Kim's storyline. Again, liked her a lot, just didn't see her as the lead caught in a love triangle with two white men.

Michelle Yeoh definitely stole "The Mummy 3."

That said, I agree with the original post. We need more variety up there on the big screen. I want female action stars besides Angelina Jolie. I want Asian lawyers besides Lucy Liu. The next time the networks cook up a high-concept show with a charismatic lead and a funny best friend, I want the charismatic lead to be African-American and the funny best friend to be white. Seriously, let's mix it up.

I see everyone's pretty much looking to Hollywood here and ignoring some of the great Asian movies that are coming out of Britain. "Bend It Like Beckham" is considered to be the one that really kicked it off (sorry). Then we have Bhaji on the Beach, East Is East and quite a few more. These all deal with British Asian issues, of course. The problem is, if you've got a contemporary setting, race IS going to play a part in the characters' stories.

ClaudiaGray said:

Michelle Yeoh definitely stole "The Mummy 3."

That said, I agree with the original post. We need more variety up there on the big screen. I want female action stars besides Angelina Jolie. I want Asian lawyers besides Lucy Liu. The next time the networks cook up a high-concept show with a charismatic lead and a funny best friend, I want the charismatic lead to be African-American and the funny best friend to be white. Seriously, let's mix it up.

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I want Angelina Jolie to stop making action movies period.

Asian actors can't even get cast as Asian frickin' characters. Anyone else deeply disappointed by the proposed cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender?

And Shyamalan is the director! Wouldn't ya think he'd be a little more likely to cast Asian characters in Asian and Inuit roles?


Avatar casting makes fans see...white


P.S. Michelle Yeoh was perfect in the ensemble cast of 'Sunshine.' I'd go watch that woman in ANYTHING.

There was a guy in Star Trek 4 that was captain of a ship. He hailed star fleet command, and was talking about creating a "make shift solar sail".

dolores haze said:

Asian actors can't even get cast as Asian frickin' characters. Anyone else deeply disappointed by the proposed cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender?

And Shyamalan is the director! Wouldn't ya think he'd be a little more likely to cast Asian characters in Asian and Inuit roles?


Avatar casting makes fans see...white


P.S. Michelle Yeoh was perfect in the ensemble cast of 'Sunshine.' I'd go watch that woman in ANYTHING.

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I am so, so with you on the Avatar casting. I mean, what is the point? It's not like taking a Japanese horror movie and remaking it set in U.S. culture -- that sort of thing is fine, I think, and of course works both ways. It's taking cultures that are part of the story and the adventure and whitewashing them. What could they be thinking? It's turned Avatar from a must-see to a must-NOT-see film for me.

katiemac said:

Something tells me either the network or the show itself wouldn't have gone for "Dr. McDreamy" as a black man in a biracial relationship. Washington was obviously talented enough for them to make up a character for him but apparently he didn't meet the requirements of a standard love interest.

... Which brings me back to LOST. Yunjin Kim initially tried out for the lead role of Kate (which went to a white actress), and the writers liked her so much they created her and Daniel Dae Kim's storyline. Again, liked her a lot, just didn't see her as the lead caught in a love triangle with two white men.

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Curious: Do you really see either of them, though, in those other roles?

Washington is attractive, but he's a very intense actor, and (to me, anyway) doesn't strike me as the "OMG-SRSLY! He'sSOHOT" persona they were looking for for McDreamy. Likewise, Kim is a terrific actress and lovely enough to be caught in a triangle (hello, Michael!), but I don't think she has the "tough" quality the Kate Austin character needs.

I think it says a lot about the producers that, even though the actors were not right for the roles they auditoned for, they had roles created specifically for them. Most actors get, "Sorry, no, next!"

ChaosTitan said:

Curious: Do you really see either of them, though, in those other roles?

Washington is attractive, but he's a very intense actor, and (to me, anyway) doesn't strike me as the "OMG-SRSLY! He'sSOHOT" persona they were looking for for McDreamy. Likewise, Kim is a terrific actress and lovely enough to be caught in a triangle (hello, Michael!), but I don't think she has the "tough" quality the Kate Austin character needs.

I think it says a lot about the producers that, even though the actors were not right for the roles they auditoned for, they had roles created specifically for them. Most actors get, "Sorry, no, next!"

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I agree it says a lot about the producers, and I believe Lost and Grey's are still two of the most diverse casts (on and off screen, especially Grey's) on TV.

And no, I don't see them in those roles. But then I wonder if my own perception of them as actors not fitting the role is part of me being white-washed. Which is a secondary point I wanted to make in that thread, but I rambled too much.

The men of Lost are yummy. Yunjin and Daniel Dae are pretty much steeped in Korean culture in all the flashbacks--a first for him, as he has played characters of pretty much every Asian origin except his own.

Also, let's not forget that Ken Leung is now a series regular. I'm not sure if the role is billed as recurring or starring, but as yet, he has not been scripted stereotypically, if I recall.

I can't wait for the new season to start Jan. 21.

maestrowork said:

That always makes me wonder: How do they identify themselves? Does Tiger Woods think he's Asian or Black? How about the Rock? How about Obama? I know Keanu Reeves consider himself half-Asian and he's very in touch with his Asian side in his personal life. But I rarely hear the other ones talking about their Asian heritage as if there's something wrong and hush-hush about it.

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I think a large aspect of this is how others view them. In the US, if you have 'black' ancestory, you are just regarded 'as black'. I think this is mostly due to the fact that black is about as far away as you can get from white, thus, any mixture is extremely obvious. With the other races, most mixes 'look' white and are much more easily assimulated into the majority.

This view from society is why the vast majority of my mixed friends identify themselves as black, because they are treated as blacks. Sure, if asked specifically they will say "I'm half white/asian/hispanic and half black".

maestrowork said:

Meanwhile, the Asians love to claim Tiger Woods as their own when there are no black people around... He's voted best role model every year in Asian magazines.

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I know many of my asian/black mixed friends have problems with acceptance by their asian ancestory so this is nice to hear, I would like all of us to learn to 'get along' and regard each other as equals.

maxmordon said:

While filling a form dad was asked about his race. His answer? Human. The US government was not amused.

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You know, there is a T.V. show called, "What would you do" that showed the other day. It is basically a candid camera meets punk'd. They had one episode where two actors playing the part of migrant hispanic workers who didn't speak english went into a deli (this was in New Jersey) and tried to order something to eat. The guy behind the counter (another actor) was blatantly discriminating against them, telling them to learn how to speak english and to go back to Mexico, we don't serve your kind here, etc. etc. The whole point of this was to judge how the other people witnessing this discrimination acted.

What surprised me was that out of 88 people, about 40 people ignored it and didn't get involved one way or the other. 9 people actually supported the jerk guy behind the counter. And 39 people objected in the defense of the hispanic actors being abused (which was nice to see btw).

I hope one day we all learn that we are all 'human beings'

dolores haze said:

Asian actors can't even get cast as Asian frickin' characters...

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This is something that always amazes me when it happens. It's really got to stop.


I think the Asian actresses are having an easier time breaking through (as mentioned earlier).

This may be a little bit of the chicken and the egg, but what is needed is for a 'really asian' person to have a #1 movie that has nothing to do with the Asian stereotypes. And by the 'really asian' I mean someone that has a strong asian look and there is no doubt of his heritage so that we are out of our comfort level in regards to the typical 'look' that should accompany a role.

I think what hollywood will discover is that the public will be comfortable with a strong asian lead and that ultimately we only care about good acting.

at least, that would be my hope

Mel...

This topic is very interesting to me, as my significant other is of Korean descent and talks a lot about how much the lack of male Asian actors on TV/in movies bothers him. (Was that sentence vaguely comprehensible?)

In any case, I think Daniel Henney has a good chance of breaking out. He's incredibly charming and handsome, and has a role in the upcoming Wolverine origin movie. He's playing David North/Agent Zero, who I believe is a German character in the comics (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

caromora said:

This topic is very interesting to me, as my significant other is of Korean descent and talks a lot about how much the lack of male Asian actors on TV/in movies bothers him. (Was that sentence vaguely comprehensible?)

In any case, I think Daniel Henney has a good chance of breaking out. He's incredibly charming and handsome, and has a role in the upcoming Wolverine origin movie. He's playing David North/Agent Zero, who I believe is a German character in the comics (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

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Yes, it made sense to me.


Wow. My goodness, he's...wow. Verra, verra handsome. I've been wanting to see the Wolverine movie, and now I have extra incentive to check it out. And yes, that character is German, AFAIK, and so says Wiki.

...sad if this is the case, but it may not entirely be the result of bias. Directors may just be trying to capitalize on Bruce Lee's everlasting fame by putting out copycat films. Bruce Lee was a legend and has almost become a mythical figure -- for good reason!

Casting--period-- is a pain in the ass though--from both sides of the table. In theatre it was even worse, trying to convince theatre directors that it didn't freaking matter what race the actor was as long as they played the role well. I directed a show a few years ago that cast both black and white actors in the same family. It was controversial for that reason alone--but no one could fault the performances the actors gave on the stage.

Film casting, where it's all about looks, is even more difficult--even for a skinny red-headed white girl, some of the comments I got from casting directors still resonate to this day. It never mattered how good my reading was, it all came down to a physical feature or body part in the end. I stayed away from Hollywood on purpose, but New York was enough of a horror scene for me. After about two years, I had an agent look at me and say, "The way you read, you should be a star but I can't get you a damned tuna fish commercial because of your chin."

I think that's part of why Kung Fu Panda disappointed me. The main character didn't sound even remotely Asian, not just with the accent, but also the writing. It made it hard to believe in the world the film was trying to create.

I personally would like to see more Asian leads in films like romcoms and action movies that aren't martial arts movies. There are a few non-lead roles that stand out for me in the past few months, though--in Nick and Nora, one of the gay guys was Asian, and in Get Smart, one of the geeks was Asian, and in neither of these cases was the race important.

Yeshanu said:

I think that's part of why Kung Fu Panda disappointed me. The main character didn't sound even remotely Asian, not just with the accent, but also the writing. It made it hard to believe in the world the film was trying to create.

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You know, the best part in the film was the tortiouse who was Asian if i'm not mistaken.

But yes, I was surprised by the casting of Kung Fu Panda as well.

Mel...

dolores haze said:

Asian actors can't even get cast as Asian frickin' characters. Anyone else deeply disappointed by the proposed cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender?

And Shyamalan is the director! Wouldn't ya think he'd be a little more likely to cast Asian characters in Asian and Inuit roles?


Avatar casting makes fans see...white


P.S. Michelle Yeoh was perfect in the ensemble cast of 'Sunshine.' I'd go watch that woman in ANYTHING.

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Yeah I thought that was an 'interesting' move myself. Same goes for the Dragon Ball Z live action, where I think the only Asian cast member is one of the actresses.

Gong Li (Chinese) has turned up in some American films, such as Miami Vice.

Ethnicity can be tricky - would you count Cameron Diaz (part-Cuban) or Madeleine Stowe (part-Costa Rican) as Hispanic actresses?

One film that struck me in this respect was One Night Stand from ten or so years ago, which featured Wesley Snipes married to Ming-Na Wen. Not all mixed-race relationships are black/white. In that film, Snipes then went on to have the one night stand of the title with Nastassja Kinski (a white German).

Lucy Liu
Jack Soo, from Barney Miller

Ari's gay secretary on Entourage is an Asian, but I don't know his name.

just watched Tokyo Story, 1953, directed by Yasujiro Ozu.
Great Japanese flick if you get a chance.
No karate, or samurai, stuff.
Just great acting and heart-wrenching portrayls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Story