Constance Wu Speaks Out About The Lack Of Asian-American Actors In Hollywood

By Bradley Blaylock. Published: 25 May 2016 11:21 PM

As the battle for racial equality continues, prominent Asian-American actors, including Constance Wu, BD Wong, Aziz Ansari and Daniel Dae Kim, spoke with New York Times writer Amanda Hess on how Hollywood has been whitewashing their content.

According to the article, the issue goes beyond the sheer lack of racial diversity in film today, suggesting that Asian actors — regardless of their talent or fit for the part — are going unnoticed when competing against white individuals.

“Asian-Americans are invisible,”; writes Hess. “Though they make up 5.4 per cent of the United States population, more than half of film, television and streaming properties feature zero named or speaking Asian characters, a February report from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California found. Only 1.4 per cent of lead characters in a sample of studio films released in 2014 were Asian.”;

Although there have been steps in the right direction, as actors such Ansari and Wu develop into mainstream personalities for their work on “Master of None”; and “Fresh Off the Boat”; respectively, there is still a long way to go. “An Asian person who is competing against white people, for an audience of white people, has to train for that opportunity like it’s the Olympics,” Ms. Wu said. “An incredibly talented Asian actor might be considered for a leading role maybe once or twice in a lifetime. That’s a highly pressured situation.”