Asian artists have achieved great success in Hollywood, in recent years, but getting that seat at the table has not been easy. Asian stars of the past like Anna May Wong, Sessue Hayakawa, and Miyoshi Umeki paved the way through challenging paths. Their journeys are a tale of resilience, adversity, and strength on the quest for authentic representation.
Wong, Hayakawa, and Umeki dealt with constant typecasting into stereotypical roles, despite their undeniable star talent. Their experiences underscore the serious challenges faced by Asian women and men in breaking free from stereotypes.
Beyond limited film choices, these stereotypes also meant financial hardships. Anna May Wong received unequal pay in 'Daughter of The Dragon’ in comparison to her white costar, even though she had a larger role. Even Miyoshi Umeki, who won a 1958 Oscar for 'Sayonara,' was confined to submissive Asian female roles, showcasing the challenging choices confronting minority actors. Hayakawa faced major criticism from the Japanese-American communities for perpetuating harmful racial stereotypes as an Asian man in Hollywood.
While recent progress in Asian representation deserves celebration, lingering challenges persist. The industry must learn from the struggles of these trailblazers to ensure meaningful representation and break free from the historical erasure of Asians in Hollywood. The legacies of Wong, Hayakawa, and Umeki continue to shape the narrative for future generations of Asian artists.
Credits
Host
Jenapher Zheng
Created by
Ruolin Luyo
Editor-in-Chief
Keshia Hannam
Head of Production
Stephanie Tangkilisan
Senior Producer
Joy Jihyun Jeong
Post Production Coordinator
Skolastika Lupitawina
Assistant Editor
Rendy Abi Pratama
Color
Nadya Sabrina
Additional Music
DaniHaDani - Bluming
Ian Post - The Hollow
Jakub Pietras - Femme Fatale
Kevin Graham - Where Were Going
Marco Martini - Theory of Lost Memories
Max H. - Childhood
Max H. - Empty Room
Max H. - She Arrives in New York
Michael Ellery - Myth
Nim Sadot - The Spectrum Boys
Nono - Agitato
Wong, Hayakawa, and Umeki dealt with constant typecasting into stereotypical roles, despite their undeniable star talent. Their experiences underscore the serious challenges faced by Asian women and men in breaking free from stereotypes.
Beyond limited film choices, these stereotypes also meant financial hardships. Anna May Wong received unequal pay in 'Daughter of The Dragon’ in comparison to her white costar, even though she had a larger role. Even Miyoshi Umeki, who won a 1958 Oscar for 'Sayonara,' was confined to submissive Asian female roles, showcasing the challenging choices confronting minority actors. Hayakawa faced major criticism from the Japanese-American communities for perpetuating harmful racial stereotypes as an Asian man in Hollywood.
While recent progress in Asian representation deserves celebration, lingering challenges persist. The industry must learn from the struggles of these trailblazers to ensure meaningful representation and break free from the historical erasure of Asians in Hollywood. The legacies of Wong, Hayakawa, and Umeki continue to shape the narrative for future generations of Asian artists.
Credits
Host
Jenapher Zheng
Created by
Ruolin Luyo
Editor-in-Chief
Keshia Hannam
Head of Production
Stephanie Tangkilisan
Senior Producer
Joy Jihyun Jeong
Post Production Coordinator
Skolastika Lupitawina
Assistant Editor
Rendy Abi Pratama
Color
Nadya Sabrina
Additional Music
DaniHaDani - Bluming
Ian Post - The Hollow
Jakub Pietras - Femme Fatale
Kevin Graham - Where Were Going
Marco Martini - Theory of Lost Memories
Max H. - Childhood
Max H. - Empty Room
Max H. - She Arrives in New York
Michael Ellery - Myth
Nim Sadot - The Spectrum Boys
Nono - Agitato
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00 And the Oscar goes to Michelle Yeoh.
00:04 When I saw this now iconic moment at the Oscars, I was shaking with tears of gratitude.
00:10 It feels so immensely heartening to see Asian representation in Hollywood reach this level
00:15 after a long history of erasure.
00:18 I have been an actor for several years now, and I know that the acting field is difficult
00:22 and competitive to begin with, and being a minority actor makes things even harder.
00:28 I was so encouraged by the success that Asian American filmmakers achieved at the Oscars,
00:33 but I also know that we didn't get to this point overnight.
00:38 What were the pivotal moments that paved the way?
00:41 What were the challenges that Asian American filmmakers had to overcome?
00:45 In early Hollywood films, characters of color, including Asians, were played by white actors.
00:57 Pioneers like Anna Mae Wong had to fight to get themselves on the big screen
01:02 and be represented authentically.
01:04 On January 3, 1905, Anna Mae Wong was born into a second-generation Chinese American family in Los Angeles.
01:14 Her family owned a laundry business because, at the time,
01:18 Chinese Americans were only allowed low-paying, working-class jobs.
01:24 But Wong had a secret obsession.
01:27 Fascinated by cinema, she'd skip class to watch movies using her lunch money.
01:31 Fortunately for Wong, this was a time when film productions were booming in her backyard.
01:37 In the 1910s, the film industry was moving from New York to California,
01:42 and lots of new productions were taking place in L.A.
01:45 By 12, she'd already begun appearing in films as a background actor.
01:50 By 17, Wong had landed her first lead role in a silent drama called The Toll of the Sea,
01:56 starring as a character named Lotus Flower.
01:59 This was a classic "Madame Butterfly" role,
02:03 the trope of a helpless Asian damsel in distress, which first appeared in opera
02:08 and still persists today in adaptations like Miss Saigon.
02:13 Despite the limiting role given to her, Wong's acting shined through.
02:18 It was subtle and sophisticated,
02:21 with critics saying that she should be seen again and often on the screen.
02:25 Which, in some ways, came true.
02:29 But with a catch.
02:30 Hollywood would spend years casting her as exotic and villainous.
02:35 Wong fought hard against these harmful tropes.
02:41 She was determined to start her own production company to make more authentic films.
02:46 But the deal fell apart.
02:48 Wong spent several years between Hollywood and Europe,
02:53 where she found slightly more complex roles.
02:56 But she still faced exoticism and stereotypes.
03:03 Frustrated by the reality of Asian misrepresentation,
03:07 Wong asked, "Why is it that the screen Chinese is always the villain,
03:12 and so crude a villain, murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass?
03:18 We are not like that. How could we be,
03:20 with a civilization that is so many times older than the West?"
03:24 And these stereotypes had a deeper, real-life impact.
03:28 Despite being the lead star in "Daughter of the Dragon,"
03:32 Wong was paid only $6,000,
03:35 half the salary of Warner Oland as Dr. Fu Manchu,
03:39 who had less screen time than Wong.
03:41 The vengeance shall be mine.
03:43 In 1935, MGM started casting for the movie "The Good Earth,"
03:48 a story set in China about the hardships of farmers.
03:52 When I go back in that house,
03:56 Wong auditioned many times for the main character, Olan,
04:00 but was turned down, with the producer saying that she
04:03 "deserves consideration," but "does not seem beautiful enough for the part."
04:09 In my own journey as an actor, I've been to countless auditions,
04:14 where I would come close to getting a role
04:16 before it ended up going to someone who was already established.
04:20 In Anna Mae Wong's case, she was already Hollywood's superstar,
04:25 and she still couldn't get the roles that she wanted.
04:27 So who played the role?
04:29 A white actress named Louise Rayner,
04:32 who would go on to win Best Actress at the Oscars for it.
04:35 They offered a side character to Wong instead,
04:39 Lotus, the evil seductress.
04:42 If I please you.
04:44 And Wong turned it down.
04:45 She said, "How dare they ask me to try out for the only negative role in this film,
04:51 me being the only person with Chinese blood.
04:54 To hell with Hollywood."
04:56 Perhaps a change of climate is just what I need.
05:00 "The Good Earth" proved to be a turning point for Wong,
05:04 who set off to China.
05:06 But did she find what she was missing in Hollywood there?
05:09 But were the struggles that Anna Mae Wong faced
05:20 unique to Asian women in Hollywood?
05:23 What about Asian men?
05:25 Setsu Hayakawa was Anna Mae Wong's co-star in "Daughter of the Dragon,"
05:29 and shared a similar fate in Hollywood.
05:33 Hayakawa rose to stardom for his role in the 1915 film "The Cheat,"
05:38 where he played a dangerous Asian merchant
05:40 who would literally use a burning iron to stamp a white woman,
05:44 marking her as his property.
05:46 Like Wong, Hayakawa dealt with the horrible character he was given
05:50 with extremely elegant and composed acting,
05:54 which garnered him a massive fan base of mostly white women.
05:58 Rumor has it that when Hayakawa wanted to cross a puddle,
06:02 his fans would throw their fur coats at his feet to step on.
06:06 But his popularity wasn't enough.
06:10 And just like Anna Mae Wong,
06:12 Hayakawa was also boxed into stereotypical Asian roles.
06:16 And it was Hayakawa himself, not Hollywood, who got backlash for it.
06:21 The Japanese-American community actually condemned him
06:25 for perpetuating racist stereotypes on the silver screen.
06:31 Did Hayakawa break free from the dangerous Asian lover stereotype eventually?
06:35 In 1958, Miyoshi Umeki won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
06:43 This was a huge moment for Asians in Hollywood.
06:46 But why did she throw away her Oscar trophy afterwards?
06:50 Born in Japan in 1929,
06:53 Umeki came to the States to pursue acting and singing.
06:59 Just a few years before her big win.
07:01 Within those short years, she had landed a breakthrough role in Sayonara,
07:06 alongside Marlon Brando and Red Buttons.
07:09 Don't you think you're taking a risk in marrying this Japanese girl?
07:12 Look, Major, the Army and the Air Force and the State Department
07:16 have all ganged up to keep me from getting married.
07:18 I'm going to marry my girl if I have to give up my American citizenship to do it.
07:22 The film focused on the topic of interracial marriage
07:25 between American airmen and Japanese women.
07:28 Filmed at a time when interracial marriage was still taboo in the States,
07:32 Sayonara was viewed as progressive for its time.
07:35 Let's not go on over there and say hello.
07:38 However, it still exoticized Japanese women,
07:41 posing them as mere love interests for white men.
07:44 Similar to the Madame Butterfly trope,
07:47 and fueled by the hyper-sexualization of Asian women
07:50 during Western military operations in Asia.
07:52 You excuse me? I finish cooking.
07:57 You go ahead, darling. Go right ahead.
07:59 Miyoshi's role in the film is the soft-spoken,
08:02 submissive wife of an American airman.
08:04 Despite her limited screen time,
08:07 her heartbreaking performance won over both the audience and the critics.
08:11 For the role, she won the Best Supporting Actress at the 1958 Oscars,
08:17 making her the first Asian actor of any gender to receive the honor,
08:23 and for a long time, the only Asian actress to win an Academy Award.
08:28 I didn't expect, so I had nothing in my mind,
08:33 but right now I thank you for everyone who helped me,
08:39 and all American people.
08:41 But the win proved to have an adverse effect.
08:44 Miyoshi could only lock in submissive Asian female roles,
08:48 like the one that made her famous.
08:51 She had no choice but to take them on to survive as an actor.
08:54 This is a problem that many minority actors grappled with,
08:58 to take on the stereotypical roles, or to not be seen at all.
09:02 It's clear that 2023 was a tremendous year of achievements
09:07 for Asian Americans in Hollywood.
09:09 But what issues that plagued our predecessors still haunt us today?
09:14 And what can we learn from the past
09:17 to create meaningful representation for ourselves moving forward?
09:22 [END]
09:25 [END]
09:27 [BLANK_AUDIO]