Often standing behind Hollywood’s white leads, Asian American talent has historically gone unnoticed and ignored. But that’s starting to change, according to Professor Karen Leong, an expert in Asian American history at the University of New Mexico.

“There’s a lot more representation, a lot more complexity and fully fleshed out characters. I think a lot of that’s due to more Asian Americans being behind the cameras, as much as it is to more visibility of actors in front of the camera,” says Leong.   

Wicked, for instance, is set to become one of the year’s biggest hits and was directed by an Asian American, John M. Chu. It also features an Asian actress — Michelle Yeoh — in one of the film’s most pivotal roles. 

“Hollywood depictions of Asians and Asian Americans have been driven more by foreign policy than anything else,” the University of Delaware’s Professor Peter Feng said, citing examples such as Japan’s favorable representation during the height of its military strength pre-World War II, with Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa achieving leading man status in the silent film era.

Building on recent success

In 2018, Warner Bros. released the romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians, a love story between Rachel (Constance Wu), a Chinese American professor, and Nick (Henry Golding), who belongs to one of Singapore’s wealthiest families. It was the first major Hollywood film to feature an Asian and Asian-American cast in nearly 25 years, and went on to become a profitable venture for the studio, grossing over 230 million USD at the global box office. Critics praised the film for being a “satisfying step forward for screen representation.” But the movie also received flack for the lack of nuance in its portrayal of Singapore’s racial politics.       

There have been other Hollywood projects, however, that have provided perhaps more exciting opportunities in terms of storytelling, according to Leong, citing examples such as Amazon Prime Video’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which premiered earlier this year. 

“They don’t have to be just like Asian American stories, but Asian American actors can represent diverse roles and be in really different, innovative stories,” says Leong. Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a show about two strangers, played by Maya Erskine and Donald Glover, who are thrust together as a couple after they both land jobs at a spy agency. Erskine is an American actress of Japanese descent and was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at this year’s Emmy Awards.

The Asian talent behind Wicked

Arguably, the biggest Hollywood success involving Asian American talent in 2024 was director Jon M. Chu’s Wicked, which was released in late November and has already made over 260 million USD in North America. Though the film’s leads are played by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, it also features celebrated Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, who previously collaborated with Chu in Crazy Rich Asians, and was honored with a Best Actress Oscar for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) . 

“Women of Asian descent are usually hyper sexualized or perhaps docile, you know, in these sort of submissive girlfriend roles, or as the funny best friend,” the University of Southern California’s Dr. Rena Heinrich told RADII. In Wicked, however, Yeoh tackles the complex role of Madame Morrible, the Dean of Sorcery at Shiz University, who at first appears to be sweet and kind but ends up holding ulterior motives.

According to a 2021 study conducted by USC Annenberg, out of the 1,300 top-grossing movies released in America from 2007 to 2019, more than 40% of them did not feature Asian characters, accounting for 523 movies that came out during the 12 year period. 

There have, nevertheless, been a few bright spots in 2024, even beyond the runaway success of Wicked. Filipino American comedian Jo Koy hosted this year’s Golden Globes ceremony in Beverly Hills. Another notable moment was when Dev Patel’s Money Man was picked up by Jordan Peele and sent to the big screen in April. The film, which the BBC described as “Dev Patel tackles Indian corruption in [a] violent action-thriller,” was originally going to be sent straight to Netflix. It ended up making more than three times its budget, according to IMDb. 

“A lot of times when people think of Asian Americans, they only think of East Asians, and they primarily think of Chinese,” says Leong. “They’re not talking about Filipinos. They’re not talking about Southeast Asians,” she added. Koy’s mother is Filipino, while Patel was born in the United Kingdom to Indian origin parents. 

On the festival circuit, there were also smaller films such as A Great Divide, starring comedian-actor Ken Jeong, best known for his part in the Hangover films, that managed to find success in their own right. The Jean Shim-directed film, which was shown at the 47th Asian American International Film Festival, follows the journey of a Korean American teen recovering from a tragic loss in his life after his family relocates to Wyoming. 

Mr. Trump Goes to Hollywood?

With President-Elect Donald Trump set to return back to the Oval Office, there’s been some speculation over how that may impact the future of Asian Americans in Hollywood. 

“Hollywood has bent over backwards to produce films that will not offend PRC audiences. I think even if Trump takes a hard anti-China line, Hollywood will still see a country of a billion consumers,” says Feng. 

In 2016, Marvel Studios changed the background of The Ancient One, a character in the film Doctor Strange, played by Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton, from Tibetan to Celtic. Tibet remains one of the most sensitive topics in the world of Chinese politics.

When it comes to the future, Heinrich believes that those making the key decisions will likely remain the same and that Asian Americans in Hollywood will likely not be greatly affected as a result.  

“The truth of the matter is, for the most part, what I imagine is that the folks who are making those decisions in Hollywood are the same folks they were yesterday, right? I’m assuming that they’re all still going to have their jobs in January and February.”

Banner image by Haedi Yue.