hello

Having a western actor playing the role that requires to be part of an ethnic group doesn’t usually bother me, but after hearing that they will have Keanu Reeves play Rama (a Hindu god) in a film based on a Hindu epic does annoy me, especially since it is being directed by Chuck Russell.

As a Hindu, my parents would tell me this story as a kid about how our gods would go on these epic journeys and they which always excite me. Having Hollywood come in and change things will take the piss. Also why can’t actors from bollywood (one of the fast growing film industry in the world) take the lead roles?

shesh

As an Asian American, really enjoyed this podcast! I can only hope some producers or studio people take a listen to this! Thank you!

Thanks so much for doing the Ninja Assassin/Asian men in Hollywood podcast. As an Asian American and someone who's also an aspiring actor, it's really pretty refreshing to hear other people talk about the situation for Asian male actors in Hollywood, and how they also recognize that there are some real issues there. I've actually had many discussions with friends of mine about whether films in Hollywood can be made with just Asian stars and still have mainstream appeal, so I was actually quite glad to hear from you Matt that even though you're non-Asian, you would still be very willing to see a movie that doesn't necessarily have a white lead. My only hope would be that some producers and executives in Hollywood can eventually be as progressive thinking as you guys are!

Thanks for a great discussion on the issue of Asian and Asian-American males in Hollywood. It is a vicious cycle of Hollywood saying there aren't viable actors, but not letting actors rise up to be viable.

This discussion about Asian & Asian-American male actors being typecasted has been going on for a very long time. Yet it's an issue that is still alive! It needs more exposure. Thank you for bringing it up and speaking intelligently about it.

As an Asian-American man, I get excited every time there are more Asian actors on screen...especially more excited when they are Asian-American. There does need to be more chances, parts, and roles that include Asian & Asian-American actors outside of the martial artist and villain typecasts. I am hopeful that more and more lead roles will go to Asian & Asian-American male actors. This change can happen, but I know that this type of change is resisted by the powers that be in Hollywood. Hollywood (and to some extent the movie-going public) think Asian & Asian-Americans are only limited to the martial arts and villain roles. There has to be a paradigm shift within Hollywood that Asian & Asian-American male actors ARE way more than these two typecasts.

On another note, never having seen Fast & The Furious Tokyo Drift, I am intrigued by the theory that director Justin Lin subverts the white male lead with Sung Kang's character, thus making Kang more of a star in the film. I do want to see this movie now to see if that's true!!

When you talked about the Romeo Must Die ending, if you watch the documentary The Slanted Screen they make a claim that Hollywood producers did a screening to see if audiences would be perceptive to having Aaliyah kiss Jet Li and showed the ending of them kissing at the end. Needless to say you know how that turned out. Thanks of the discussion on Asians and Asian Americans in Hollywood especially in the midst of so man movies that are portraying Asians. I really hope you do a podcast on Avatar: The Last Airbender. That one has people up in arms.

"Vampirism" - great description of the issue. Thank you for addressing the issue fairly and honestly. I definitely agree with your observation in that many Asian Americans have better chances abroad than they do in America - it's certainly a common pattern in much of Asian pop culture. It shows that the talents are out there, they just need to be given the opportunities (as they are in Asia). I am also looking forward to a podcast on M.Night's "The Last Airbender".

The awful truth is white folks do not want to pay good money to stare at a bunch of gooks unless they are doing oriental things like flying around on wires brutalizing each other with swords, or if it's an Asian female hungry for white cocks.

You can have an Asian lead and not have it be a stereotypical role and it can be a success, look at John Cho in Harold & Kumar goes to White Castle. They're already on the 3rd film in the series.

Thanks for the discussion.
Karate Kid is being blamed as ruining people's childhood, which is valid. African Americans do state that they were the first to take up martial arts in the U.S.A.
Perhaps you can mention the Last Airbender film next time. Talking about yellowface, racebending and cultural appropriation and you have it all in that film.

If you look past Hollywood major releases, then there have been quite a few smaller-budget western-made films featuring Asian male actors in lead romantic roles opposite a non-Asian actresses, with more realistic depiction of their romance and even sexuality. The most famous example is probably "The Lover" (1992) with its uninhibited display of eroticism. Then there is "Hiroshima Mon Amour", the 1959 French then famously opens with a Japanese men making love to a French woman. Sam Fuller's 1959 film noir "Crimson Kimono" (which just came out on DVD) ends with a wholesale endorsement of interracial love by showing the Asian male lead and his white female costar in a long passionate kiss and embrace. The 1961 film "Bridge to the Sun" stars Carroll Baker as a young American women married to a Japanese ambassador. The British TV miniseries from 1990 called "The Ginger Tree" was based on the true story of a young Scottish woman who married a Japanese diplomat at the turn of the century. You mentioned Ang Lee in your podcast, and one of his early films, "Pushing Hands", is about a Asian men married to a white American woman and their cultural gap with his Taiwanese father. Then there is actor Jason Scott Lee, who starred in two interracial love stories in 1993, "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" and "Map of a Human Heart".

There are still a whole bunch of other even more obscure independent films that depict Asian men in interracial relationships:

For All Eternity (2002) - Viennese girl weds Chinese man.
Goddess of 1967 (2000) - Australian girl (Rose Byrne) befriends Japanese guy.
Japanese Story (2003) - Australian woman (Toni Collette) befriencs Japanese businessman.
Shanghai Kiss (2007) - Asian-American man befriends white teenage girl (Hayden Panettiere).
Never Forever (2007) - bizarre movie about a white American woman (Vera Farmiga) married to a Korean guy and has an affair with another Korean guy.
Ramen Girl (2008) - American girl (Brittany Murphy) goes to Japan and befriends Japanese chef.

Just to name a few.

If you count Asian male actors in supporting roles, there are even more. E.g. the 1991 film "Ballad of Little Jo" has a subplot about 19th century white woman's secret love affair with a Chinese labor.