omedic cameos, martial arts masters and sex sirens are common representations of Asian Americans in cinema. Though movie roles have diversified, like Jet Li's romantic lead in Romeo Must Die, regular small screen presence on sordid soaps or primetime nail-biters, is the true measure of maintream recognition.
Pioneers like George Takei of Star Trek, and Dustin Nguyen of 21 Jump Street normalized audience relationships with Asian American faces. Hapa actor Dean Cain turned high cheekbones and smallish eyes into desireable masculine traits with his role as Superman on Lois & Clark. But with the exception of Daniel Dae Kim's authoritarian sex appeal on ABC's Lost, attractive male roles in this medium have seen little progress. On the other hand, networks are peppered with highly niched, less-than-appealing roles for Asian American men.
HBO's Entourage features actor Rex Lee as a gay lackey and assistant to a Hollywood agent, and even as a "good" guy, with his wire-rimmed glasses, mismatched polar fleece, and anime-infatuation, actor Masi Oka's character on NBC's Heroes isn't exactly the posterchild for cool.
Women have enjoyed greater versatility, but their roles still evoked societal subservience to white male dominance: Ming-Na Wen, now 43, was the first Asian daytime tv regular with her role as Lien Highes, the product of an illicit affair between a white American father and an unknown Vietnamese woman during the war, on As the World Turns. Wen has also been a regular on ER where she plays Dr. Jing-Mei Chen.
The new crop of primetime regulars--pretty females, are sexy, vibrant and versatile, everything a guy wants in a girlfriend and everything a girl dreads in an adversary. Their roles aren't hampered by societal stereotypes.
Pretty newcomer Nan Zhang strikes a pose.
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Japanese American actress Keiko Agena played Korean American Lane Kim on the CW Television Network (formerly the WB), 7-season hit, Gilmore Girls. In its fifth season, the show became the network's second most watched primetime show. Kristin Kreuk gained admirers for her beauty and talent as the all-American pop icon Lana Lang on the WB's Smallville.
The lovely Nan Zhang was recently cast as Katy Farkas on the CW's Gossip Girl premiering September 19th at (9/8c). Zhang who immigrated to the United States as a six year-old, and was discovered at age 16 when she won the Chanel/Seventeen Magazine modeling competition, graduated valedictorian of her class, and had originally planned on pursuing a career in medicine at Johns Hopkins University.
Still, life is difficult for Asian American actresses on the periphery of Hollywood success. Linda Wang, whose name you may recognize from credits on Guiding Light and As the World Turns, and whose hair you may have coveted on Pantene commercials, has done it all: she's moonlighted as a cereal box at the South Street Seaport, performed as a children's birthday clown, a monkey sitter, a dog walker, a Macy's, Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Ave perfume model and a spokesmodel for Contempo condoms.
"People used to make fun and ask thousands of lame questions such as 'Do you ever use the product you modeled?' They just don't realize that there are so many obstacles one has to face for being an actor," Wang explains, "I mean, actors are people too and we all need to pay the bills."
Heralded by an influx of attractive female portrayals in the media, and the regular election of Asians to the top finalists in beauty pagaents like Ms. Korea, Honey Lee, and Ms. Japan, Riyo Mori, it looks like America is starting to take notice of a different kind of appeal. Blue eyes and light locks are no longer the standard for pretty or popular.
Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura in the NBC hit Heroes.
Keiko Agena without her Gilmore Girls signature wire-rims.
omedic cameos, martial arts masters and sex sirens are common representations of Asian Americans in cinema. Though movie roles have diversified, like Jet Li's romantic lead in Romeo Must Die, regular small screen presence on sordid soaps or primetime nail-biters, is the true measure of maintream recognition.
