It is quite disturbing that directors in Hollywood haven’t yet realized this trend. That a great number of TV shows and movies with an Asian (or Asians) featured prominently in its cast has done very well with audiences and at the box office.
With all the bashing on Asian Americans in the media, that Asians are underrepresented, that Asians have terrible roles in the media, it is very surprising to me that many of the most viewed and most successful TV shows and movies in Hollywood had or have an Asian in the cast as a MAIN actor (I didn’t include TV shows and movies where Asians played a non-important role).
Although I don’t think it’s JUST because there’s Asians on the show, but I think its because having a multi-racial cast makes the movie or TV show so much more realistic. It also creates a much more global appeal for the show because Asians and other races can now relate to one or two of the characters.
Let’s take a look at some examples of successful shows and movies that prominently feature Asians.
TV shows and movies with Asian main characters = success
The Mentalist – Tim Kang as Kimball Cho
The Mentalist has topped the ratings chart several times since it first aired in 2008. Could all the viewership be because of Tim Kang as Kimball Cho? I doubt it but read on. Tim Kang has a great role in this series as the beloved Kimball Cho. He’s one of the main characters and most everyone I’ve asked loves his role as the loveable, slightly cynical Asian guy on the team. I love his role because it is not stereotypical at all. Cho is a bit nerdy, but not overly so, and he’s not awkward or shy. America might not be ready to see him shack up next to the main hottie Grace Van Pelt, but that’s okay. Soon enough.
Heroes – Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura, Sendhil Ramamurthy as Mohinder Suresh, James Kyson Lee as Ando, George Takei as Hiro’s father, various others
Although this show got cancelled, no one can deny that when it first came out, Heroes was one of those shows that had the nation completely gripped. With the writers strike and other nonsense, yes the quality of the show suffered and eventually it was dropped.
This is a cast chock full of Asians. The main ones I’d like to talk about are Hiro Nakamura and Mohinder Suresh. Hiro is a bit stereotypical with his nerdiness, but even so, he’s such a beloved character by fans of the show. Mohinder is another character that also defies most people’s views of Asians. He’s smart, but not in a nerdy way, and he’s also handsome and ambitious.
Lost – Yunjim Kim and Daniel Dae Kim as Jin-soo and Sun-hwa
No doubt you’ve seen Lost, one of the top shows on network television for several years before it finished airing just this year. Consistently top in the ratings and winning several awards, Lost can be considered one of the best prime time shows of the past decade.
And two members of the ensemble cast were Asian, and they were highly liked by many who watched the show. Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim were the South Korean actors who played Jin-soo and Sun-hwa. Also race had little to do with their roles except for the language barrier aspect. The two Koreans were pretty much just like any other of the plane crash survivors.
Inception – Ken Watanabe as Saito, Dileep Rao as Yusuf
The recent movie, Inception, has Ken Watanabe in one of the major roles. The movie did majorly well with critics and at the box office. Also Watanabe doesn’t play a stupid Asian-stereotyped role either. He’s a powerful Japanese businessman.
Indian actor Dileep Rao plays Yusuf, another major character in Inception, and one of the team members who goes into a man’s brain to perform an “Inception.” Another non-stereotypical role played by a great up and coming Asian actor.
House MD- Kal Penn as Dr. Kutner
Kal Penn was a series regular on the incredibly popular TV show, House MD. He played one of the three main assistant doctors working with Dr. House. Could it have been a white actor? Most definitely. But putting Kal Penn on the show was a good move by the producers. Not only was he the funniest guy on the show after House, but he added a person of color to a mostly white cast.
Harold and Kumar go to White Castle – Kal Penn as Kumar, John Cho as Harold
This movie was very significant to Asian Americans because it proved that audiences actually liked Asian characters in lead roles. Hollywood has this messed-up preconceived notion that Asian men can’t be the lead actor in a movie unless they know really good kung fu (Jet Li and Jackie Chan). This movie proved that notion wrong, and should pave the way for future Asian American actors.
Harold and Kumar ended up being VERY profitable, allowing for the creation of a sequel, and most likely also a third movie. Although the movie wasn’t a 300 million dollar blockbuster, it had a very high profit margin because it was made on a shoestring budget.
Go to page 2 for movie flops that had characters that SHOULD have been played by Asians, but were played by another race instead.
Written by Editorial Staff
