Why Won't Hollywood Cast Asian Actors?

[SummerMadness]

Why Won't Hollywood Cast Asian Actors?

Here's an understatement: It isn't easy being an Asian-American actor in Hollywood. Despite some progress made on the small screen — thanks, "Fresh Off the Boat"! — a majority of roles that are offered to Asian-Americans are limited to stereotypes that wouldn't look out of place in an '80s John Hughes comedy.

This problem is even worse when roles that originated as Asian characters end up going to white actors. Unfortunately, these casting decisions are not a relic of Hollywood's past, like Mickey Rooney's portrayal of I. Y. Yunioshi in "Breakfast at Tiffany's," but continue right up to the present.

[...]

Economics has nothing to do with racist casting policies. Films in which the leads have been whitewashed have all failed mightily at the box office. Inserting white leads had no demonstrable effect on the numbers. So why is that still conventional thinking in Hollywood?

Here's a link to the study cited in the article: 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report: Flipping the Script

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

Hollywood doesn't like to take risks. That is why they use the familiar over and over again. [IE remakes and re-imaginings of established properties]

I don't think asian-actors were common enough and so they don't hire them enough because we are so used to white people being the leads. White people are more familiar, and white people most likely buy the most tickets compared to every other race. We're the majority demographic still so we will still are the biggest cash cow. So they use something white people can relate to: other white people.

 

[SummerMadness]

Hollywood doesn't like to take risks. That is why they use the familiar over and over again. [IE remakes and re-imaginings of established properties]

I don't think asian-actors were common enough and so they don't hire them enough because we are so used to white people being the leads. White people are more familiar, and white people most likely buy the most tickets compared to every other race. We're the majority demographic still so we will still are the biggest cash cow. So they use something white people can relate to: other white people.

You didn't read the article, the cash cow argument falls flat (and has been falling flat repeatedly).

 

[Cloture]

Because they don't have a prototype of "acting Asian" that American audiences will recognize yet. Hollywood actors are mostly just plug-and-play stand ins for a collection of established tropes. Each new film rearranges the same tropes in a different pattern. When they figure out the socially acceptable Asian trope, they will hire Asian actors to fill it.

 

[Ironhold]

As an actual movie reviewer?

As much as I'd like to see Hollywood opening up more opportunities for minority talent, the unfortunate truth of the matter is that it's in a "chicken and egg" situation right now when it comes to Asian talent. It doesn't have a pool of big-name Asian talent who could serve as major box-office draws, yet it won't take the risk of casting unknowns and making them big names because the big-budget movies that they'd be starring in are considered so risky that Hollywood needs someone with a big name to help sell tickets.

Thus, if Hollywood wants to adapt Asian features for Western audiences, they're left in the unfortunate situation of having to use non-Asian talent for the bigger roles. They just don't have the players on the farm team for anything more than supporting talent or less-risky ventures (like television).

 

[SummerMadness]

As an actual movie reviewer?

As much as I'd like to see Hollywood opening up more opportunities for minority talent, the unfortunate truth of the matter is that it's in a "chicken and egg" situation right now when it comes to Asian talent. It doesn't have a pool of big-name Asian talent who could serve as major box-office draws, yet it won't take the risk of casting unknowns and making them big names because the big-budget movies that they'd be starring in are considered so risky that Hollywood needs someone with a big name to help sell tickets.

Thus, if Hollywood wants to adapt Asian features for Western audiences, they're left in the unfortunate situation of having to use non-Asian talent for the bigger roles. They just don't have the players on the farm team for anything more than supporting talent or less-risky ventures (like television).

Is no one reading this article? The box office risk claim has been demonstrated as false repeatedly.

 

[Chesterton]

Asians are guilty of the same racist hiring policies. The other day I went to this nice Chinese restaurant, Panda Express. Not a single Asian employee, all Mexicans.

 

[Ironhold]

Is no one reading this article? The box office risk claim has been demonstrated as false repeatedly.

The study only covers a two-year period.

They want people to think it's broad because it supposedly covers 200+ films, but two years is a very narrow band of time when it comes to Hollywood.

I myself have heard a lot of belly-aching about the supposed lack of minorities in Hollywood productions. For example, back in 2014 cartoonist Lalo Alcarez infamously devoted a number of strips of his "La Cucaracha" title to bemoaning how there were supposedly zero Hispanics in feature films that year... never mind the fact that we had "Book of Life", "Guardians of the Galaxy", and "No Good Deed" hit that year, all with one or more Hispanic actors / actresses in lead roles. What made his remarks even more absurd is that he singled out "Guardians" for commentary, making a crack about how there were more green-skinned space babes in Hollywood than Hispanics when the character in question was played by Zoe Saldana.

 

[SummerMadness]

What would be the purpose of including a broader time range? In addition, why should having one Hispanic actor in a lead role be considered equitable if they are still underrepresented? This is effectively saying, "Look, there is one person that looks like you on screen, so stop complaining." If almost 80% of the roles are for white actors, I don't see how you can claim that's not a problem. And again, the "only white sells" trope is tired and untrue.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

Maybe they're hard to work with. Maybe they can't speak good enough English. Maybe it would be better to actually ask casting directors instead of us.

 

[SummerMadness]

Maybe they're hard to work with. Maybe they can't speak good enough English. Maybe it would be better to actually ask casting directors instead of us.

Why would their English proficiency be a factor?

 

[ThatRobGuy]

With Hollywood, an important factor to keep in mind is language fluency.

Unless there's a special role calling for it, they typically want their leads to be people where English is the first language. When you consider the Asian-American and Hispanic-American populations, that's not always the case like it is for most Caucasian or African Americans.

According to Census Data, for Hispanic and Asian Americans, "English is the first language" only accounts for just over 50% of the respective populations.

As for Blacks and Whites, that number is over 80% and 90% respectively.

So while it may seem that the first two groups of grossly underrepresented, when you factor in that the job requires perfect fluency in English (with no or very little accent), and eliminate the people for whom that's not the case, the numbers even out a little bit.

The language/dialect thing comes into play even with Blacks & Whites too (to a degree)...if you'll notice, there aren't too many leads in movies with a southern accent. (or if they do, they have to learn to hide it).


Now, that's not to say that there still isn't some disparity...non-whites are still underrepresented if you just go purely by the numbers, however, some of that could be explained by a few other factors as well...for example, the fields of study that certain demographics choose to get into...

If you look at the demographics of the people that choose to major in the arts and theater, it does skew a tad white...not sure why that is...but that's the case.

It's not the only scenario where that happens...part of it might be cultural to a degree. For example, Asians are fairly underrepresented in the music business.

You don't see many white rappers
You don't see many black country western singers
You don't see any middle eastern punk bands
etc...

Blacks are underrepresented in hockey
Whites are underrepresented in basketball
Hispanics are over-represented in baseball



To circle back to your original premise, there are some movie companies that operate within the US that focus specifically on the Asian-centric action genre. My favorite is "Well Go USA" (based out of Plano, TX)...almost all of their movies are on Netlfix, and I enjoy them all The Asian Action movie style is a lot more high paced and is centered around the action sequences than US movies (which are more focused on dialog).

In terms of the typical "American-style" action movie, you just can't get scenes like these:

 

[jayem]

There's a lot of Asian talent out there, and once in a while, Hollywood gets it right. Who remembers the (sadly) late Persis Khambatta? The Bollywood actress who played Lt. Ilia in the first Star Trek movie. The hottest bald woman EVER.

 

[SummerMadness]

With Hollywood, an important factor to keep in mind is language fluency.

Unless there's a special role calling for it, they typically want their leads to be people where English is the first language. When you consider the Asian-American and Hispanic-American populations, that's not always the case like it is for most Caucasian or African Americans.

According to Census Data, for Hispanic and Asian Americans, "English is the first language" only accounts for just over 50% of the respective populations.

As for Blacks and Whites, that number is over 80% and 90% respectively.

So while it may seem that the first two groups of grossly underrepresented, when you factor in that the job requires perfect fluency in English (with no or very little accent), and eliminate the people for whom that's not the case, the numbers even out a little bit.

The language/dialect thing comes into play even with Blacks & Whites too (to a degree)...if you'll notice, there aren't too many leads in movies with a southern accent. (or if they do, they have to learn to hide it).


Now, that's not to say that there still isn't some disparity...non-whites are still underrepresented if you just go purely by the numbers, however, some of that could be explained by a few other factors as well...for example, the fields of study that certain demographics choose to get into...

If you look at the demographics of the people that choose to major in the arts and theater, it does skew a tad white...not sure why that is...but that's the case.

It's not the only scenario where that happens...part of it might be cultural to a degree. For example, Asians are fairly underrepresented in the music business.

You don't see many white rappers
You don't see many black country western singers
You don't see any middle eastern punk bands
etc...

Blacks are underrepresented in hockey
Whites are underrepresented in basketball
Hispanics are over-represented in baseball



To circle back to your original premise, there are some movie companies that operate within the US that focus specifically on the Asian-centric action genre. My favorite is "Well Go USA" (based out of Plano, TX)...almost all of their movies are on Netlfix, and I enjoy them all The Asian Action movie style is a lot more high paced and is centered around the action sequences than US movies (which are more focused on dialog).

In terms of the typical "American-style" action movie, you just can't get scenes like these:

English as a first language does not mean they are not proficient in their language, but don't you think this is the wrong population to sample? I think you would be better served to look at the children of immigrants as opposed to the total population. Looking at the numbers, they are not very different.

Bilingualism Persists, But English Still Dominates

In addition, compared to other industries where English proficiency is also highly important, Asians still trailing in employment. This was the same story 2 years ago.

Show Business Diversity Trailing U.S. Demographics, UCLA Report Shows

With all the talk of language proficiency, how many roles have gone to Asian actors who don't actually have an accent, yet they insist the actor do one (e.g., Pat Morita)?

 

[Hetta]

There's a lot of Asian talent out there, and once in a while, Hollywood gets it right. Who remembers the (sadly) late Persis Khambatta? The Bollywood actress who played Lt. Ilia in the first Star Trek movie. The hottest bald woman EVER.

Wait, she's dead? :O Heart attack at 49. How incredibly depressing.

 

[Chesterton]

I am shocked at the insensitivity of my fellow members here who are completely ignoring my concerns expressed in an earlier post. This is serious, people, I've got Mexicans making my Beijing Beef!!!

If there is a moral obligation to hire Asian people to play Asian roles, then there is a moral obligation to hire Asian people to cook Asian food.

 

[jayem]

Wait, she's dead? :O Heart attack at 49. How incredibly depressing.

Yes, a terrible loss.

I apologize for sounding like a pig. But I had some unspeakable fantasies about her for a long time.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

English as a first language does not mean they are not proficient in their language, but don't you think this is the wrong population to sample? I think you would be better served to look at the children of immigrants as opposed to the total population. Looking at the numbers, they are not very different.

I don't think it's the wrong population to sample...considering children of immigrants (1st generation born in America) still makes up a smaller subset size than the percentage of Asians who moved here from Asia, the number mentioned before are still very much part of the equation.

Like I said before, the language thing impacts more than just the Asians.

How many lead-types in movies do you see that have a Hungarian/Russian/French/Italian accent?...being proficient and speaking the way a person who speaks it as a first language are two totally different things.

If I were to move to Germany, no matter how well I spoke German for an American, I'm still not going to sound the same or get the same acting opportunities that a German actor would get.

 

[Four Angels Standing]

Wait, she's dead? :O Heart attack at 49. How incredibly depressing.

Truly. She died in 1998.

 

[Four Angels Standing]

Asian Actors In Hollywood: Increased Roles Mark Industry Sea Change




27 Asian Leading Men...