10 Best Hollywood Movies With Asian Actors in Leading Roles

For many years, Hollywood was not considered a friendly place for Asian and Asian-American actors. It was nearly impossible for Asian actors to book any leading roles in films, as they were mostly handed to Caucasian actors deemed more desirable and appropriate for those roles. Asian actors were mainly only able to land supporting or minor roles, most of which were stereotypical or caricatured characters.

In light of the recent buzz around the Oscar-winning film, Everything Everywhere All at Once, it seems fitting to honor the recognizable shift in Asian representation in recent years. Films such as Minari and The Farewell are more than just stories on the silver screen; their films represent a beam of hope for the Asian community.

COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY

SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

10

‘Crazy Rich Asians’ (2018)

Crazy Rich Asians is perhaps the most monumental and life-changing film for Asian actors and the Asian community. The film starred some of the most prominent Asian names in Hollywood: Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chen, Stephani Hsu, Jimmy O.Yang, Ronny Chieng, Harry Shum Jr., and many more.

While many have praised the film for paving the way for Asian representation and avoiding racist roles and stereotypes, some have unfortunately criticized it for its lack of accuracy. For instance, a Singaporean journalist, Kirsten Han, pointed out that the film “obscur[ed] the Malay, Indian, and Eurasian (and more) populations who make the country [Singapore] the culturally rich and unique place that it is.” Some Singaporean viewers also disapproved of the film’s exclusion of Singaporean English as most of the film’s characters only spoke American or British English. Despite the criticisms, the film was a big win and a good step forward for Asian communities worldwide.

9

‘Gook’ (2017)

Gook is a movie that tells the story of two siblings, the Korean-American brothers, Eli (Justin Chon) and Daniel (David So), who run a struggling shoe store in a predominantly Black community of Paramount, California. They develop an unlikely bond with an 11-year-old Black girl, Kamilla (Simone Baker). When the 1992 LA riots broke out, the trio must preserve the shoe store while also contemplating their personal aspirations.

The film’s title, Gook, refers to a derogatory term commonly used towards people of East and Southeast Asian descent. As shown in the film, Eli and Daniel faced many hardships, such as struggling to run their late father’s shoe store and dealing with the hostility from their surrounding communities.

8

‘Driveways’ (2019)

Kathy (Hong Chau) brings her son, Cody (Lucas Jaye), to clean and sell the house of her older sister, April, who has recently passed away. As they arrive in April’s suburban home in upstate New York, they discover that she had been a hoarder and that they have a lot of clearing up to do. During their time in the house, Cody befriends his late aunt’s next-door neighbor and war veteran, Del (Brian Dennehy), and forms an unlikely but touching friendship with him.

Though Driveways starred two Asian characters as its main actors, the film did not focus on the factor of race and ethnicity in the slightest bit. According to director Andrew Ahn, he changed the characters from White to Asian “to emphasize their otherness in April’s community” and give “additional layers” to the dialogue exchanges they had with the rest of the neighborhood. Hong Chau also noted she “certainly would not have signed up for the film if Kathy and Cody were just two-dimensional characters who existed solely to experience blatant racism or microaggressions so that the audience could be delivered some clunky message about how racism is bad.”

7

‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ (2021)

Simu Liu, the actor who played the role of Shang-Chi in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, became the first Asian Marvel superhero in history. With a lack of Asian representation on the screens of Hollywood, Shang-Chi spoke volumes to many Asian people who have felt unseen and unheard, for a very long time.

Michelle Yeoh, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Awkwafina, Benedict Wong, Ronny Chieng, Stephanie Hsu, Meng’er Zhang, and Fala Chen were among the Asian actors who appeared in the monumental superhero film. And though the film received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars, the title was given to the acclaimed James Cameron film, Avatar: The Way of Water.

6

‘Minari’ (2020)

In 1983, Jacob Yi (Steven Yeun) and his family relocated to rural Arkansas, where they hoped to own a small patch of land and turn it into a profitable business growing and selling Korean fruits and vegetables. Despite experiencing financial tribulations and cultural discomfort in their new surroundings, Jacob is not giving up on his American dream. The only question is: will grandma Soon-ja’s (Youn Yuh-Jung) resilient minari plant help the Yi family to achieve their dreams?

Out of its six nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards, Minari won an award for actor Youn Yuh-Jungm who played the role of grandma Soonja in the film. She became the first Korean to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, as she highlighted the dysfunctional family drama aspect of the movie.

5

‘The Big Sick’ (2017)

Inspired by the real-life story of Kumail Nanjiani and his wife, Emily V. Gordon, The Big Sick explores their relationship as an interracial couple. Kumail Nanjiani plays a loosely fictionalized version of himself as a struggling stand-up comedian whose first-generation Pakistani immigrant parents are constantly trying to set up with other Pakistani women for an arranged marriage. But when he meets Emily (Zoe Kazan), everything changes.

Hilarious but heartbreaking, The Big Sick was a refreshing take on romantic comedies that explored a South Asian perspective of navigating love and relationships. However, the film also received backlash for its undesirable and stereotypical depiction of South Asian women. In response, Nanjiani said, “Our movie was the first one in a long time where there were multiple Desi female characters, and the first few you see are reduced… People wanted to see themselves. It’s something I completely regret. I would not do it that way now.” Well, at least he was honest.

4

‘Searching’ (2018)

Searching follows David Kim (John Cho), a father who becomes desperate after his 16-year-old daughter, Margot (Michelle La), vanishes, and a police investigation leads nowhere. Through Margot’s laptop, David was able to trace her digital footprints and the potential occurrence of events that led to her disappearance.

Two years after the trending Twitter hashtag #StarringJohnCho became an advocacy to encourage more Asian and Asian-American actors to be cast in leading roles, John Cho landed the leading role in Searching. The film made history as the first mainstream thriller headlined by an Asian-American actor.

3

‘The Farewell’ (2019)

Upon hearing that her Nai Nai (grandmother) has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, Chinese-American aspiring writer Billi (Awkwafina) visits her grandmother in China. Throughout her visit, Billi struggles with her family’s decision to keep the diagnosis a secret from their grandmother. A decision, she discovers, is typical in Chinese culture.

As Haibin (Jiang Yongbo), Billi’s uncle, tells her, the lie allows the family to bear the emotional burden of the diagnosis instead of Nai Nai – a practice of collectivism different from the individualistic values held in Western culture. One of the highest-rated A24 movies, The Farewell allows the audience to take a closer look at the difference between Western and Asian cultures and how families express their love for each other.

2

‘Enter the Dragon’ (1973)

Enter the Dragon, a film considered to be one of Bruce Lee’s most prominent roles of his career, follows the story of Lee (Bruce Lee), who is recruited by a British intelligence agent to attend a high-profile martial arts tournament on the private island of a suspected crime lord, Han (Shih Kien). Lee’s mission is to gather enough evidence that will expose Han’s involvement in drug trafficking and prostitution. Lee also learns that the man responsible for his sister’s death works as a bodyguard on the island.

Although Enter the Dragon initially received mixed reviews, it eventually became regarded as one of the most iconic martial arts movies in history. And regardless of how well-constructed the film was, it would not have become the film it has today without its star, Bruce Lee.

1

‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (2022)

An aging Chinese immigrant woman, Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), runs a laundromat with her husband, Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan), in the United States. After discovering a multiverse, Evelyn, who has always felt voiceless and unseen, suddenly becomes the hero of her own story. Regardless of the bizarre universes filled with people with hotdogs as fingers and rocks who can talk to each other, the core of the story comes down to love and family.

With a cast of primarily Asian actors, Everything Everywhere All at Once showcases a rarely depicted story of Asian culture on the big screen. With its recent explosion of seven wins from the Oscars, Michelle Yeoh made history as the first Asian woman to win the Best Actress in a Leading Role award. This was followed by Ke Huy Quan’s equally emotional win for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role after not having acted in a film for more than two decades. The film also took home the highly regarded Best Picture title, cementing its place alongside the greatest films in cinematic history.

NEXT:Essential Asian Movies Everyone Should Watch, According to Reddit