I believe that we are still hovering around the realm of Asians playing all types of Asians. I do not see that changing any time soon just because there is a limited pool of Asian actors.
There were so few examples of Asian or Asian-American lead characters on American TV or even in the movies. And the ones that have existed for so long were either stereotypical or offensive in some way, or just not reflective of the lives of people in the community.
I think that a lot of actors of color have said that it’s a wonderful thing to play a role that doesn’t have a race and that is kind of open to any sort of interpretation. I completely understand that, but at the same time, I just want Asian characters that are well-written.
Growing up, I never saw any Asian faces on TV, so it didn’t feel like a viable option.
As a major feature film with Asian Americans in leading roles, ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ is important. We hope that this movie will be our ‘Black Panther,’ announcing to Hollywood that we are here, we belong, and we are ready for more.
Historically and culturally, New York City and our entire nation simply would not be the same without the infusion of Asian traditions. Whether it is food, art, language or any other facet of cultural life, Asian Americans have made our city and our country stronger and richer.
One thing I’ll tell you is the food in Sacramento is off the charts. You’ve got good Asian food, the farm system where everything is natural, which I believe in. I like organic.
I sense a kind of fear of writing black or Asian characters from non-ethnic writers, who perhaps feel that they don’t know the culture and therefore can’t write about it. By and large, if there’s an Asian character, I might get a call. But if the character is called ‘Philip,’ the chances are I won’t.
Ride It’ did it for me. Not only did the Asian community love it, but the black community and the white community got to hear about it. The song became such a big hit for me and got me noticed by the CEOs of Cash Money in America.
If I go to the museum and see white bodies, black bodies, Asian bodies, Latino bodies, then I will expect to see those things every time I go. That matters a lot.
When I first ran for office in 2010, I was 32 years old. The average age in Congress was 69. I was a brown woman whose name was Reshma Saujani – a name most people couldn’t pronounce. And there was never a South Asian woman who had ever run for United States Congress before.
But, yeah, as far as Asian Americans go, I hope they know they can look at me and see that they can do music on their own, within a band or just on their own, and not feel like there’s any barriers. I’ve never felt any particular barriers myself, being who I am.
As a Korean American, I grew up yearning to see actors that looked like me. On the rare occasions I saw an Asian celebrity, I adored them unflaggingly.
Every time I do something, I think, ‘Am I portraying Asian people in the way I want to be portrayed?’
When I first ran for Congress in the 1990s, my background as an openly gay Asian was one of the focal points of the campaign, and, in fact, my opponent attacked me for it.
It’s really hard because obviously people label you as a British East Asian actor. And I’m just from Salford; it’s where I was born.
Compared to some Asian countries, I think Koreans like to keep a clean, fresh, and lively look: A well-moisturized face, a light, sheer base, natural, colorless eye makeup, and a slight stain of color on the lips.
I started out in public service in 1998 after the Asian financial crisis of ’97.
While there I began to study the Asian religions as theories of mind.
In 2008, Putin’s message was, ‘We aren’t like a Central Asian republic, we aren’t going to build a personalistic regime, we will have institutions.’ This is all abolished now. The very idea of a governing party and party career, as you have in China, that didn’t work.
A storm swept the world in 1968. It started in Vietnam, then blew across Asia, crossing the sea and the mountains to Europe and beyond. A brutal war waged by the U.S. against a poor southeast Asian country was seen every night on television.
I was raised on Hong Kong movies with Asian stars, so I’m still learning about Hollywood underrepresenting certain people.
We have a lion, tiger, liger, which is the father is a lion and the mother is a tiger, black and spotted leopard, mountain lion, Asian leopard cats. Weve got a tremendous number of the exotic feline.
I tried my hardest to be the opposite of a stereotypical Asian student.
We need to encourage the presence of more Asian writers and executive producers so they can fight for normalizing the casting of Asians in traditional American roles.
When a dish works, it works for everyone, whether you’re Asian, European, African, American or anybody else.
I should have been born a crazy rich Asian because I do have expensive taste. I have champagne taste but I’m on a beer budget.
It’s important for Asian American kids to see themselves in stories and to feel seen. They need to know that their stories are universal, too, that they, too, can fall in love in a teen movie. They don’t have to be the sidekick; they can be the hero.
We saw David Carradine, who is not of Asian descent, playing an Asian man on the show ‘Kung Fu’ that originally should have, and was developed for, Bruce Lee. To have that be the legacy that quote-unquote inspired ‘Shang-Chi’ in the beginning obviously doesn’t put us off to a great start.
I’ve always been asked the question of, ‘Do you feel like it’s getting better over the years for Asian representation in Hollywood?’ and I have always said, ‘Well, it’s better than it has been, but we have a long way to go.’
Pasta isn’t just for Italian food anymore. Now there are tasty pasta recipes found in Asian cuisine, and it’s emerging as a newfound love for vegans.
Asian people are very practical and come from a conservative world. The parents want their kids to be doctors and lawyers. There are casting calls for Asian children, but once the parents find out the children might miss school, they’re opposed to it.
The harassment, violence, and attacks against our Asian American and Pacific Islander friends, neighbors, and community members must stop.
Pre-‘Tokyo Drift,’ I was like: ‘Am I gonna play Yakuza #1 and Chinese Waiter #2 for the rest of my life? Is America even ready for an Asian face that speaks English, that doesn’t do Kung Fu?’
Now, there are more and more Asian models and opportunities to understand Asian beauty.
Usually when you’re Asian and you’re on set, you’re the only Asian there. Either you’re the token Asian or you’re the Asian sidekick.
China has become a major presence for most countries around the world but notably for its neighboring countries in Asia. So I think it is a common position for Japan and its Asian neighbors that we certainly would strive to maintain as much as possible friendly relations with China.
There really aren’t any completely Asian people singing right now.
My parents, or Asian parents in general, they’re like, ‘You should be a doctor, a lawyer, or a banker’ – all that’s laid out. As a kid that’s what I bought into, which is why I ended up going the corporate route initially.
Because if Asian American content is seen as a trend, the way that like leggings are in, then that’s not true representation or inclusion. The mainstream doesn’t have to worry about that.
In my own young black life, I have done my part to gentrify a half-dozen mixed neighborhoods ranging from Spanish Harlem to Fort Greene to the ninth arrondissement of Paris. Many of my well-educated black, Latino, Asian and Arab friends have done the same.
My job is to go into that audition and be good enough of an Asian actor – or an actor in general – to land that role so they don’t have to go out and hire a white guy. My job is to make sure I capitalize on these opportunities that other people created.
When Seoul hosted the Games in 1988, it became a symbol of the Asian Tigers’ ascent onto the world stage. In 1992, the Barcelona Olympics represented the unification of Europe. And when Rio plays host in 2016, it will reinforce the growing importance of Brazil and Latin America as a whole.
Comparing Asian writers mainly to other Asian writers implies that we’re all telling the same story – a disappointingly reductive view.
If I’m chosen for the Asian Cup, then I must help the team win. That’s the bottom line.
India, Pakistan, China, Singapore and South Korea are heavily investing in nuclear arms. Since 21st century is the century of Asia, Asian countries should be the first ones to drop this arms race.
It’s hard enough to celebrate being Asian in normal times. But now, when the whole world is kind of coming down, with all this rhetoric and people getting attacked on the street, you really need to deliberately try to celebrate Asian-ness.
As a community, as a group of people as a society, Asian Americans have not always been visible, but we’ve always been present.
It seems evident that the IMF has learned nothing from its inequality-inducing policies during the 1980s debt crises in Latin America nor from its recession-deepening response to the East Asian crisis of the late 1990s. In both regions, the IMF has become synonymous with making bad situations worse.
The Asia and the Pacific region is facing an epidemic of road death and injury, but we also have innovative Asian road safety solutions.
