Why don't Asian Americans sell as leads in Hollywood?

pagetkagy (27)in #film • 7 years ago (edited)

To clarify, this is different than casting Asians in Hollywood films that are set in Asia. Or a series whose whole premise is poking fun at the Asian immigrant story ("Fresh off the Boat").

Why don't we really ever see Asian American leads in Hollywood films or TV?

"Master of None" and "The Mindy Show" are the best and only examples I see right now.

But do I need to point out the fact that these shows were also created BY the stars, themselves?

One of the answers that has incited me the most over the years is that there "isn't enough Asian American talent out there", or there "aren't good enough Asian American actors", etc. Really? Have you really looked, Hollywood? Or was that just a token effort?

This has been an issue that's been at the forefront of my mind for years, as an Asian American actress who has seen roles that were originally written as "Asian", go to a non-Asian actor/actress, countless times over.

But instead of ranting about it (like I am clearly prone to doing), I decided to set out and create my own project that would showcase Asian Americans in a mainstream storyline that would hopefully appeal to the mass audience.

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It's been a long journey, but an incredibly rewarding one. And by sheer luck and circumstances have pulled some amazing talent to join our cast and crew. Created, written and produced by yours truly (Paget Kagy), and directed by veteran actor David Marciano (you may recognize him from "Homeland", "The Shield", "Bosch", etc), we are slated to release the first two episodes at the end of next month.

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