What are some of Hollywoods misconceptions on Asian Pacific Islander actors?
East Asian men have historically been typecast as martial artists and gangsters, and are typically not romantically involved with anyone. East Asian women, on the other hand, are usually typecast as prostitutes or as the “hot” girlfriend of a Caucasian character. In the past few years though, roles for East Asian actors have become more varied to include professional characters such as doctors, lawyers, and scientists, but there is still a ways to go for the roles to truly reflect the full range of the East Asian experience. I encourage all ethnic actors to make their own films. Filmmaking can be such a powerful tool when it comes to changing people’s perceptions and the stereotypes they’re used to seeing from typical Hollywood fare. I recently wrote, directed, produced, and acted in my own film Fate Scores (http://fatescores.com), which so far has played at such venues as the Boston International Film Festival, the Wisconsin Film Festival, the Memphis International Film Festival, and
