MONTREAL – After Emma Stone was cast as Asian-American Allison Ng in Aloha, the Asian community in Hollywood and around the world came out with their hands up wondering “Why didn’t they cast an Asian person in this role?”
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It re-ignited an ongoing debate about why Caucasian actors are still being cast as Asian in some of Hollywood’s biggest films.
Perhaps most famously, Mickey Rooney plays a Japanese man in Breakfast at Tiffany’s back in 1961 – and Scarlett Johansson was just cast as Major Motoko Kusanagi in upcoming film, Ghost in the Shell.
In response, New York digital strategist William Yu created a Photoshop campaign, #StarringJohnCho, that shows what blockbuster films would look like with an Asian-American lead.
The movement blew up on social media, and led 17-year-old New York high school junior Bonnie Tang to create #StarringConstanceWu, which spliced the Fresh Off The Boat star as the leading lady on several movie posters.
Comedian Margaret Cho has long been a force behind the charge to raise awareness of Asian actors in Hollywood.
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“I see more and more comedians of different backgrounds – different ethnic backgrounds and that’s really important,” Cho told Global News back in July.
“I like to feel I had a hand in that and I would like to think that I inspired people to do this.”
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She pointed out there’s still a long way to go before Asian actors get a proper place in the mainstream.
“You can’t even cast an Asian person in an Asian person role. In general, we’re not even able to be in movies,” Cho said.
“I’d rather see people who look like me in movies and TV out there. I wonder if it means that people think we don’t matter?”
There are several other hashtags, including #whitewashedOUT and #MyYellowFaceStory, all aiming to encourage the film industry to give more opportunities to actors of colour.
rachel.lau@globalnews.ca
Follow @rachel_lau
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