(Wiki Media)
It is no secret that the Asian American community is severely underrepresented in Hollywood. Typically, characters of Asian heritage get white washed and are portrayed by caucasian actors.
Word has gotten out that To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, a young adult novel by Jenny Han, is being turned into a movie. The book follows three Korean American girls, and their caucasian father, who set out to explore and keep their Korean heritage after their Asian mother dies.
Author Jenny Han was pleasantly surprised when she learned that all three of her characters will be played by Asian American actors.
Han took to social media to express her excitement on Instagram. “Guys, I am over the moon. The most important thing for me as an author is seeing an Asian American girl in the starring role, and with this movie we get to see not one, but THREE!”
Furthermore, she mentions that it is about time for Hollywood to open their doors to culturally diverse actors because the last time she hadn’t “seen Asian women centered on screen since Joy Luck Club, which was nearly 25 years ago”.
The primary protagonist is played by Lara Condor, a Korean American actress that was brought to fame by X-Men Apocalypse.
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She expressed initial concerns Author Jenny Han had about the film being white washed to NBC, explaining that her character “Lara Jean is not written as a stereotypical Asian character. She’s just the girl next door. And it’d be easy for Hollywood to cast white girls to play the Covey sisters.”
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Her mission to break through the barriers ethnic minorities face in Hollywood has had a strong positive trajectory. According to Resonate, Condor aims to “put a little dent in the wall that is Hollywood, in terms of race”. Starring in the Asian American based romantic comedy surely will put her on the map, and open doors for aspiring actors of Asian decent.
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RE: Asian Americans Breaking Through in Hollywood with a new rom com: Now the only thing they have to do is not pair all three with white men. I’m not holding my breath.