2019 Review: Hollywood 'discovers' Asians

Left to right: Always be My Maybe, The Farewell and The Terror: Infamy.

This is the fourth and last installment of a four-part series: 2019 Review

The ripples of the big splash caused by 2018's Asian August is still being felt in Hollywood. It’s hard to tell if this is a temporary phase or a permanent direction but AAPI actors, directors and other creatives are making the most of Hollywood’s discovery of Asian talent sitting right under its nose.

(Editor's Note: Read headline with more than a hint of sarcasm.)

The crazy success of Asian led movies Crazy Rich Asians, To All the Boys I Ever Loved and Searching made Hollywood sit up and take notice of the diverse audience and Asian talent sitting right under tis nose.

An argument could be made that if not for the success of Asian August paved the way for the 2019 movies such as Ali Wong's and Randall Park's Always Be My Maybe, Mindy Kaling's Late Night, Stuber with Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista, The Sun is Also A Star with Charles Melton as the romantic lead, and the Lulu Wang-directed and critically acclaimed The Farewell, which featured an all-Asian cast including CRA star Awkwafina.

Other cast members cashed in the hit status of Crazy Rich Asian with new roles: Henry Golding starred in thriller A Simple Favor and the romcom Last Christmas, Michelle Yeoh got a recurring role in Star Trek spinoff Star Trek: Discovery and joined Golding in Last Christmas, Gemma Chan got a small role in Captain Marvel and Bess of Harwick. 

They were supported by movies by established stars: Aquaman starring Jason Momoa,  Keanu Reeves starred in John Wick 3 and Dwayne Johnson was busy in 2019 with three flicks, Hobbs & Shaw, Fighting With My Family, Jumanji: The Next Level.

From Great Britain came the sleeper hits, Yesterday, starring Himesh Patel and Blinded by the Light with Viveik Kalra.

Filipino American actor Darren Criss at the SAG awards.

Television breakthroughs

On the small screen there were more Asian American faces on traditional and streaming networks  in what feels to be a Golden Age in Hollywood (and Canada) for AAPI actors.

Filipino American actor Darren Criss followed up his 2018 Emmy for acting with 2019's Golden Globe, SAG award and a Critics Choice award for his amazing portrayal of mass killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. 

Asian Canadian Sandra Oh won Best Actress for a Golden Globe and Critic's Choice for her role in the BBC's Killing Eve, becoming the first actor of Asian heritage to win in that category.

Kim's Convenience and Fresh Off the Boat are centered around Asian American families and the issues they face adjusting to North American culture.

AMC's The Terror: Infamy brought the horror of the Japanese Americans internment camps during WWII into American living rooms while at the same time, scaring the bejeebers out of viewers.

A new television series, Warrior, was introduced last year which mostly takes place in mid-1800s San Francisco's Chinatown starring a largely Asian cast. Historical racial attitudes meet Chinese martial arts made for entertaining fare.

Lilly Singh debuted as the first Asian American host of A Little Late with Lilly, a late night talk show on NBC.

Hasan Minhaj in 'Patriot Act.'

Hasan Minhaj launched his hour-long weekly comedy show, Patriot Act, on Netflix. The streaming network also featured comedy specials from several other comedians, including  Jo Koy, Ali Wong and Ronny Chieng.

Other AAPI actors were included in shows with ensemble casts such as Grey's Anatomy, The Good Doctor, Legends of Tomorrow, 9-1-1, Silicon Valley and Hawaii Five-O and a dozen other shows. Despite the increased presence of AAPI actors in television and movies, their numbers are still lagging considering the hundreds of projects being produced and under development, according to annual diversity reports from USC and UCLA.

The presence of AAPI actors in entertainment is a form of "soft power" in helping form a picture of what an "American" looks like by giving US viewers and audiences -- in a nonthreatening way -- a different perspective as they become familiar with AAPI issues and accustomed to Asian and Pacific Islander images. 

To make sure this "Golden Age" is more than a passing trend, some artists have taking to producing products themselves rather than waiting for roles to audition for. CRA stars Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan and Awkwafina have all started their own production companies.

“I know what I want, and that’s to tell stories that make (an) impact on people, to tell good stories,” Awkwafina tells Variety. “That’s what I have control over.”

2019 REVIEW 
Part 1: AAPI political visibility explodes on nat'l scene
Part 2: Affirmative action debate exposes schism in Asian American community
Part 3: Trump immigration policies shake up, wake up AAPI communities

UPDATED Jan. 4 11 a.m for clarity, fix typos & to include additional art. Oh hell! Post was rewritten to make it better.

UCLA Diversity Report: Hollywood representation improving but still have a long way to go

Despite slight gains, especially among women, Hollywood is still falling short in representing what America looks like, circa 2019, according to UCLA's annual report card on the entertainment industry's progress on inclusion.

Wonder Woman took moviegoers by storm in 2017, taking in more than $820 million in ticket sales worldwide. And Patty Jenkins’ role as director of the blockbuster was part of a positive — if possibly short-lived — trend for women directors that year.

Counting each year’s 200 top-grossing films, the number of women directors nearly doubled from 2016 to 2017, according to the newest UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report, The report by the UCLA College Division of Social Science. was published the same day as the Academy Award telecast.

Even with the doubing of the representation of women directors, the annual record was still poor: There were just 21 women directors among the 167 English-language films from 2017’s top 200, or just 12.6 percent of the total. 

Surprisingly, early analysis of 2018’s top movies indicates the increase was just a one-year blip despite the box office success and social impact of hits Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther.

The 2016-2017 report examined 12 different job titles among the creators, directors and top-billed cast of the top movies for 2017 as well as 1,316 broadcast television, cable and digital shows from the 2016–17 programming season. It found that behind the scenes and in front of the camera, advances for people of color and women remain fairly incremental, if not stubbornly static — and found that minorities and women remain mostly underrepresented compared with their share of the population overall.

“For six years the Hollywood Diversity Report has objectively taken stock of where the entertainment industry stands on racial and gender diversity, knowing that there can be no reform without a reckoning,” said Darnell Hunt, the report’s co-lead author and dean of the UCLA College Division of Social Sciences.

2018's box office results reaffirm that audiences do demand diverse content. For example, Crazy Rich Asians has earned more than $285 million globally, and Black Panther has earned more than $1.3 billion in addition to seven Academy Award nominations, including the first-ever best picture nod for a superhero film.

“Every year the data have shown that film and television content that feature diverse casts typically make more money and enjoy higher ratings and audience engagement,” Hunt said. “We feel confident our partners in Hollywood today see the value of diversity in ways that they did not before we began sharing our report.”

According to the report, women’s representation among actors in three types of TV content — scripted broadcast, cable and digital programming — is inching closer to women’s 50 percent share of the population overall.

“We’ve seen modest advances when it comes to movies and films,” said Ana-Christina Ramon, director of research and civic engagement for the Division of Social Sciences, and the report’s other lead author. “But deep-seated power systems — dominated by white male decision-makers at the highest levels — are hard to break. The kind of structural change necessary for a new order of business in the film industry has yet to happen, and pushing for it will require sustained vigilance and awareness.”

The report found, those whose casts were 31 to 40 percent minority actors earned the most at the box office. And films with at least 51 percent minority actors earned the greatest return on investment, because they generally cost less to make than other top films but still performed well at the box office.

Among the top 200 films of 2017 were blockbuster hits Wonder Woman (which was a boundary-breaking movie for women in front and behind the camera), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (which centered around Star Wars' first Asian American hero played by Kelly Marie Tran), and The Big Sick, (the romantic comedy that preceded Crazy Rich Asians and which starred Kumail Nanjiani). 

'The Big Sick' helped improve with an Indian American lead romantic interest helped boost representation in 2017.

Perhaps what opened the eyes of Hollywood's studio heads, the report also found that minority ticket buyers accounted for the majority of ticket sales for five of the top 10 grossing films.

Among white, black and Asian American TV viewers, ratings for broadcast scripted programs were highest when the shows’ casts were made up of between 31 and 40 percent minority actors. Among Latino households and viewers ages 18 to 49, the broadcast scripted shows that had the highest ratings were those with casts that had between 11 and 20 percent minority actors.

The report noted that the ever-broadening landscape for TV-related programming created by Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and other streaming services has created a tailwind for gender and racial diversity.

“It’s clear the increased number of original programs alone has helped grow the share of the pie for minorities and women,” Hunt said.

Among the report’s other findings:

Gains for women and minorities in film and television:

• The number of minority actors with lead roles in films increased from 13.9 percent in 2016 to 19.8 percent in 2017. But that’s a large difference from their share of the overall population, which is about 40 percent minority.
• Women held 32.9 percent of lead acting roles in movies, up from 31.2 percent in 2016, but still far short of their share of 50 percent of the overall population.
• Minorities held 21.3 percent of lead acting roles in scripted digital programming, a significant leap from the 12.9 percent tracked in last year’s report.
• Just 9.4 percent of show creators for scripted broadcast programs were minorities, up from 7.1 percent the prior season.
• The number of minority actors with lead roles in broadcast scripted shows increased to 21.5 percent from 18.7 percent.
• Women’s share of lead roles in broadcast scripted shows increased to 39.7 percent, from 35.7 percent in 2015–16.
• Women were 34.8 percent of the show creators for scripted digital programs, up slightly from 2015–16 at 31.5 percent

GRAPHIC BY UCLA

The status quo:

• The number of minority actors with lead roles in films increased from 13.9 percent in 2016 to 19.8 percent in 2017. But that’s a large difference from their share of the overall population, which is about 40 percent minority.
• Women held 32.9 percent of lead acting roles in movies, up from 31.2 percent in 2016, but still far short of their share of 50 percent of the overall population.
• Minorities held 21.3 percent of lead acting roles in scripted digital programming, a significant leap from the 12.9 percent tracked in last year’s report.
• Just 9.4 percent of show creators for scripted broadcast programs were minorities, up from 7.1 percent the prior season.
• The number of minority actors with lead roles in broadcast scripted shows increased to 21.5 percent from 18.7 percent.
• Women’s share of lead roles in broadcast scripted shows increased to 39.7 percent, from 35.7 percent in 2015–16.
• Women were 34.8 percent of the show creators for scripted digital programs, up slightly from 2015–16 at 31.5 percent.

The status quo:

• Among the directors of the English-language films from the 200 films, 12.6 percent were minorities, unchanged from 2016.
• Just 7.8 percent of the top films were written by minority writers, roughly equal to the 2016 figure.
• Minorities made up 16.5 percent of the creators of digital scripted shows, essentially unchanged.

Future reports from the Hollywood Diversity team at UCLA will focus on how the entertainment industry can adopt practices that are proven to increase inclusion of diverse talent, understand where such practices have been deployed and how they have factored into the creation of diverse content that diverse audiences demand.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Views From the Edge will take a deeper dive into television's diversitiy in a future posting.

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Bruce Lee's 'Warrior' TV series looks awesome

Here's a first look at the official trailer for the upcoming Warrior series inspired by the notes of legendary martial artist Bruce Lee and -- I can't wait -- it looks awesome.

Set at the times of the Tong Wars in the late 1800s in San Francisco, the series follows a martial arts prodigy originating in China who moves to San Francisco and ends up becoming a hatchet man for the most powerful tong in Chinatown.

“As Warrior comes together, I can’t help but feel the pride of correcting a wrong and helping bring Bruce Lee’s dream project to life,” said director Justin Lin. “We have assembled a cast of incredible actors from all over the world including our talented lead, Andrew Koji, an exciting discovery out of the UK," Lin told Deadline.

“The martial arts genre a lot of times has been relegated to B-level action. And that’s not something we wanted to do. Going off of Bruce Lee’s original material, we wanted to build something that is character-driven, that has important themes and that also takes place in a part of American history that rarely gets talked about. That to me makes it something you haven’t seen before.”

From what we've seen, the martial arts action could rival that of Into the Badlands, which takes place in a dystopian future of America and stars Daniel Wu.

The premiere on the Cinemax network is set for April 5 and has initially been set for 10 episodes. Gearing up for the Warrior's premiere, Cinemax produced this great little 4-minute documentary on the iconic Bruce Lee. Enjoy!

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Hollywood inclusion led by 'Crazy Rich Asians' and 'Black Panther'

WARNER BROS.

Constance Wu stars in 'Crazy Rich Asians'

EDITOR'S NOTE: Updated 11 a.m., Feb. 13 to include The Sun Is Also A Star and remove unrelated graphic.

After years bemoaning the lack of people of color in significant movie roles, 2018's films showed some progress being, according to a new report.

With little less than two weeks before the Academy Awards, Hollywood is starting to pat itself on its back for the progress made in diversity and inclusion because of the wild success of Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther.


"It is clear from the findings that 2018 was a notable year for storytelling with female characters and individuals from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups," says the report.

A research brief from the University of Southern California's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative seems to indicate that there is a connection between box office success and an increase in films with casts that better reflects the U.S. population.

More important to the movie industry's bean counters, these two films are being credited to helping make 2018 a profitable year at the U.S. box office, with a 4% increase in ticket sales from 2016. Black Panther, a Marvel product with a black theme with black protagonists, broke box office records; Crazy Rich Asians, with an all-Asian and Asian American cast, grossed about $240 million worldwide, the highest grossing romantic comedy in over a decade.

Of the 100 top-grossing movies of 2018, 40 featured female leads, 8 more than in 2017, and 28 featured people of color, an increase from 21 a year ago. (A movie like Crazy Rich Asians with Constance Wu in the lead, checks both those boxes.)

ANNENBEERG INCLUSION INITIATIVE / USC

Though there is clearly an uptick in the percentage of underrepresented leads and co leads in 2018, the overall percentage is still below U.S. Census (39.3%) by 11.3 percentage points, stated the report.

Given the apparent display of inclusion in 2018, is it a coincidence that the domestic box office hit a record $11.9 billion? The study authors believe there is a connection. "2018 offers hope that industry members have taken action to create content that better reflects the world in which we live, and the box office seems to have rewarded them for it," Annenberg Inclusive Initiative founder and director Stacy L. Smith said in a statement. 

"The data shows us that it is possible for change to be achieved – companies must not grow complacent but continue the progress they have made in 2018 and in the years to come."

And that's the real test. The impact of Crazy Rich Asians in a high-stakes business will be if it can have a longer range effect in Hollywood's greenlighting decisions. Based on projects underway or under development, it appears that the movie industry's honchos are opening their minds - a little.

DISNEY

Chinese actress Liu Yifei plays the legendary Mulan in her first Hollywood movie.

Disney's live-action version of Mulan, which will feature another all-Asian cast and directed by Niki Caro, a New Zealand woman, is under production and set for a 2020 release.

Building on the momentum of CRA's success, the film's director, Jon M. Chu, is living up to his statement when the film premiered when he said, "It's not a movie, it's a movement." Already, a second and third sequel based on CRA author Kevin Kwan's trilogy are being planned. He is also teaming up with Ivanhoe Pictures on a movie about the Thai cave rescue mission in an effort to avoid whitewashing and he's planning a bio-pic of Arnel Pineda, the Filipino lead singer of the rock band Journey.

Next up is another romance based on the YA novel by Korean American Nicola Yoon with TV stars, Blackish's Yara Shahidi and Riverdale's Charles Melton, a Korean American, The interracial love story is set for general release on May 17 this year.

Crazy Rich Asians leading man Henry Golding will be the romantic lead in Last Christmas opposite Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke will be released, of course, around the holidays. 

Netflix has at least two movies planned: Always Be My Maybe a rom-com starring Randall Park and Ali Wong, due out this year and has a sequel to surprise hit To Every Boy I Ever Loved, starring Lana Condor, the third film of Asian August.

Awkwafina stars in 'The Farewell.'

Hoping to duplicate the success of Searching, the John Cho starrer which was the third leg of Asian August, are a couple of films that premiered at Sundance and hopefully will be released this year. The  two movies generating considerable buzz: The Farewell dramedy starring Awkwafina and directed by Lulu Wang  about an Asian American woman's search for family and identity and director Justin Chon's Ms. Purple, about Asian American siblings working out their relationship.

"I don't think the success of the movie should dictate whether or not there should be Asian Americans in film," Awkwafina said to CBS News before CRA's premiere. "I don't think Crazy Rich Asians will be the last, no matter how it does. It's part of a larger cultural shift in Hollywood in the last two years. People show up for these movies and express anger when movies don't accurately reflect them."

Real inclusion - in other words - will be when we no longer have to report on Asian Americans in film as a "trend."

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Asian American actors await SAG awards this Sunday

Some of the cast members of 'Crazy Rich Asians.'

LEADING UP to the Oscars in February, the Screen Actor's Guild awards later today, Sunday, Jan. 27, with a host of Asian American thespians among the nominees.

If the results of the Golden Globes and Critics Choice awards are any indication, Sandra Oh and Darren Criss will most likely walk away with trophies.

Oh is nominated as Best Actress in a Drama Series for her work in BBC America's  detective thriller, Killing Eve, a category she captured for the Golden Globes and Critics Choice awards. Criss won those plaudits, along with an Emmy, for his portrayal of serial killer Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace that was shown on the FX network.

Darren Criss and Sandra Oh.

The big question is if the actors of Crazy Rich Asians get the nod for Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture.

If the Crazy Rich Asians cast wins the SAG award, it would have to be a upset considering the heavyweight competition in that category. 

CRA faces stiff competition from the ensemble casts of BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star Is Born. Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther are the only nominated ensembles that didn’t receive an individual acting bid, which could end up hurting their chances. 

What might help the CRA actors is that unlike the Academy Awards, where none of the cast received any acting nominations, television actors vote for their favorites. Except for international star Michelle Yeoh, most of the CRA cast are more familiar for their work on the small screen. Constance Wu (Fresh Off the Boat), Gemma Chan (Humans), and Ken Jeong (Community, Dr. Ken), Harry Shum, Jr (Glee, Shadowhunters) are or have been television regulars. Even the legendary Yeoh has quickly gained a following for her recent work in Star Trek: Discovery.

In addition, the cast already picked up a notable win at the Critics’ Choice Awards for the Best Comedy Film but CRA's actors lost to the cast of The Favourite, for best ensemble. Crazy Rich Asians also reaped nominations for Best Comedy/Musical Film and Best Comedy Actress for Wu at the Golden Globe Awards and Yeoh was nominated as Best Supporting Actress.

Crazy Rich Asians cast members celebrate at the Critics Choice awards.

We also have to take into account the current climate in Hollywood that seems to be opening up opportunities for Asian American actors and Asian-centric projects that have been bolstered by the success of Crazy Rich Asians and follow-up acclaim and popularity for John Cho's work in the feature, Searching, and Lana Condor in the Netflix favorite, For All the Boys I've Ever Loved.

The Crazy Rich Asians cast is the first all-Asian cast to lead a Hollywood film in 25 years so an ensemble win would make a powerful statement to the motion picture and TV industry, especially since historically, actors of Asian descent have been under-appreciated or even overlooked entirely. 

One other factor that may work in CRA's  favor, aside from its cultural impact, the cast may benefit from being in a feel-good, crowd-pleasing movie that many people are in need of right now, given the current political climate in the country; it’s a movie that resonates with a wide range of people beyond Asian American movie-goers, one of the most loyal film audiences according to a recent Nielsen survey.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards airs live on Sunday, Jan. 27, at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on TBS and TNT.
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TGIF Feature: Vanessa Hudgens returns in another TV live musical - 'Ren: Live't

SCREEN CAPTURE: YOUTUBE

Vanessa Hudgens' next production in in 'Rent: Live'

AFTER THE RAVE reviews that she richly deserved for her performance in Grease Live, Vanessa Hudgens will return to television to star in Rent: Live

The 29-year old Filipina American will play the role of Maureen Johnson in Rent:Live, a bisexual performance artist. The character is a major part that involves a lot singing and fans will likely be most excited to see Hudgens belt out Maureen's biggest song, "Take Me or Leave Me."

Interestingly, this is not the first time Hudgens starred in Rent. Back in 2010, she starred in the Hollywood Bowl's staging of the musical playing Mimi Márquez, the erotic dancer who is addicted to drugs and is HIV-positive. In the live TV produciton, the pop singer Tinashe will play Mimi.

The rest of the Rent: Live cast includes Hamilton breakout Jordan Fisher as Mark Cohen, The X Factor contestant Brennin Hunt as Roger Davis, recent Jesus Christ Superstar show-stealer Brandon Victor Dixon as Tom Collins, RuPaul's Drag Race star Valentina as Angel Dumott Schunard, former Disney Channel star Kiersey Clemons as Joanne Jefferson, and R&B singer Mario as Benjamin Coffin III.

Hudgens' breakout role was starring in the Disney Channel hit musical movie franchise  High School Musical, which, of course, involved a lot of singing and dancing.

She shone in 2016's Grease Live as tough girl Rizzo. She dedicated her performance in the live telecast to her father, who died a day before the broadcast. 

The Salinas-born California actress starred in NBC's short-lived Powerless, in which she made sure that her character was identified as a Filipina American. Alas, the sit-com was not picked up for a second season.

Most recently, Hudgens was a judge on So You Think You Can Dance. In her first season on the show, she helped select the first Filipina American winner in 2018, Hannahlei Cabanilla.

For the Fox production, Hudgens will tackle the charming yet narcissistic lesbian performance artist Maureen. “Vocally, emotionally, it's a tough part,” says Hudgens,

When Rent first appeared on Broadway, it was a revelation: a contemporary musical tackling today's issues with a cast of actors of color.

It's message that is just as relevant today: The way to overcome a time of adversity is to unify, to address it together. That's a lesson that we need to learn today. 

'Rent: Live' airs on the Fox network, Sunday, Jan. 27. Check local listings for time.

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What surprised director Jon Chu on 'Crazy Rich Asians' success

DIOKNO

JON M. CHU

ASAM NEWS

DIRECTOR JON M. CHU says he went into production for Crazy Rich Asians with a sense of purpose. He wanted more than just a romantic comedy, he told Variety.
“We had something to say. That was not just from the writers; that’s from the actors, the crew, everyone; there was a sense of purpose.”

The final product, and reaction to it, surprised even him.

“We had to make a beautiful story about self-worth while going through our own self-worth journey. Then we finished the movie and went, “Okay.” We hadn’t even thought about the cultural context at that point, again, because we had to put it in the back of our minds,” Chu said to Deadline.

“Then you show the movie, and the cultural context is immediately seized upon because it’s the first fresh air for so many people to see themselves on the big screen. They have to breathe and they have to let it all out, and they’re so happy.”

He didn’t expect to see people crying in the lobby after seeing the movie. He didn’t expect to see people congregating outside the theater still discussing the movie 30 minutes after the final credits rolled.

“That was so amazing and then you get caught up in that,” Chu continued. “Then after a few months of that, your movie is number one and all this stuff. Then we all look at each other like, “Oh, but do they understand also that it doesn’t just happen?” It’s because we did something with care and attention to detail and actually told a great story. “

WARNER BROS.

Jon Chu, right, directs Michelle Yeoh and Henry Golding in a scene.

Even more amazing, he directed Crazy Rich Asians without a crazy rich budget. He somehow turned a $30 million budget into $238 million worldwide box office.

His biggest frustration about the movie are comments that Crazy Rich Asians is representative of all Asian culture.

“Our movie is an example of that in terms of how Rachel Chu represents an American going to Asia for the first time,” he said to Deadline. “Then, not just having Asians that have Asian accents, but having accents from all around the world and speaking different languages from all around the world, it just shows the amount of layers and textures to Asian culture from all around the world, not just one place.”

So what’s the bottom line?

“We weren’t allowed to fail on this one,” he said to Variety. “I hope that burden is lifted; I hope it’s lightened the pressure on other films.”

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Daniel Dae Kim returns to television

ABC

Daniel Dae Kim as Dr. Jackson Han in 'The Good Doctor."

ASAM NEWS
DANIEL DAE KIM will be joining the cast of his own show, The Good Doctor, reports IndieWire.

It will be his first television role since leaving Hawaii Five-O in 2017 in a highly publicized contract dispute.

He will portray Dr. Jackson Han in a recurring role as the new chief of surgery of San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. He will become a nemesis of Dr. Shaun Murphy and put his career in jeopardy.

“As a fan of our show, I’m thrilled to be doing a guest arc with such a talented, kind and hard-working cast,” said Kim in a statement. “David (David Shore, Executive Producer) and I have been looking for the right opportunity and we’ve found a character that’s both dynamic and surprising. It’s an added bonus for my character to be directed by our own Freddie Highmore, who’s proving to be as talented behind the camera as in front of it. It’s been a lot of fun already and I’m excited for the episodes to air.”

Kim has served as executive producer of The Good Doctor, an adaptation Kim’s 3AD production adapted from South Korea television.

I can only assume because of Kim's influential position, there are already three Asian American actors with recurring prominent roles as physicians in the show. Despite their hard-to-miss presence in U.S. hospitals and the important role they are playing in addressing America's doctor shortage, Asian American doctors are practically invisible in most television hospital shows, including some of the long-running ones. It's refreshing to see a medical drama try to show a bit of reality in their casting decisions.

Kim would be joining Christina Chang, Win Yun Lee and Tamlyn Tomita on the cast.

According to The Wrap, Kim will also appear this year in Liongate’s Hellboy reboot and the comedy Always Be My Maybe.

The Good Doctor returns to ABC after a brief hiatus on January 14.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.

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How you can buy Sandra Oh's iconic t-shirt

INSTAGRAM / SANDRA OH

Sandra got some love from her family the day before the Golden GLobe awards show.

BEFORE SHE HOSTED the Golden Globes and came away with one of the coveted trophies for her role in TV's Killing Eve, Sandra Oh's family broadcast their support on Instagram by wearing a t-shirt with Oh's now-famous statement, "It's an honor just to be an Asian."

The actress uttered the line last year at the Emmy's when she was nominated for that award for the same role.  Oh was the first-ever Asian to be nominatedfor Lead Actress in a Drama Series Emmy. 

She didn't win, but she uttered the statement while sitting in the audience next to her mother wearing traditional Korean garb.

That phrase has now been immortalized as a fashion statement and a demonstration of Asian pride in a t-shirt - black with white lettering.

The shirts were created as a fundraiser that celebrates Oh, the Asian identity, and supports Los Angeles-based The East West Players, which is the oldest Asian American theater troupe in the U.S. 

Established in 1965 by Mako, Rae Creevey, Beulah Quo, Soon-Tek Oh, James Hong, Pat Li, June Kim, Guy Lee, and Yet Lock as a place where Asian-American actors could perform roles beyond the stereotypical parts they were being limited to in Hollywood, East West Players continues the movement to develop, foster and expand Asian Pacific performance into a major force on the national arts scene in the 21st century, while working for increased opportunities for Asian and Pacific Islander artists on stage and in other media and introducing audiences to the diverse Asian Pacific experiences.

The fundraising campaign was deliberately timed to be around the Golden Globes because of Oh's maximum media presence as co-host and her nomination.

And yes, there are still a few available. For a worthwhile cause and for $20, you can purchase the t-shirts on Custom Link.

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TGIF Feature: Sequel announced for 'To All the Boys I Ever Loved'

NETFLIX

Peter (Noah Centineo) and Lara Jean (Lara Covey) in Netflix's surprise hit.

IT'S ALL RIGHT to get excited. Netflix announced that a sequel to the network's most popular original movie, To All The Boys I Ever Loved, is in the works.

While Crazy Rich Asians was making history and busting stereotypes on the big screen, To All the Boys I Ever Loved was doing the same thing on the small screen. The two movies, along with John Cho in Searching, made up what has become known as Asian August. Three movies showing Asian Americans like they are rarely depicted.

The sequel the romantic comedy was announced via social media with its star, Lana Condor, lying on her bed talking on her cell phone with costar Noah Centineo. The chemistry between the two as Lara Jean and Peter, was one of the big reasons the movie attracted a lot of young fans.

In the teaser, after speaking with Noah, Lana answers another call and says, “You’re gonna make the perfect John Ambrose McClaren,” to an unidentified person on a phone call. Does that mean actor Jordan Burtchett won't reprise his role as John?

In the original movie, based on the novel by Jenny Han, it ended with John Ambrose making an appearance at Lara Jean's door, a perfect lead-in to the next book in the trilogy, P.S. I Still Love You.

“The whole reason why I wrote a second book was for the character of John Ambrose McClaren, who is a fan favorite, and he’s a favorite of mine too,” Han told Indiewire.

The only criticism of All the Boys was that none of Lara Jean's love interests were of Asan descent. Han seemed sincere when she said “I understand the frustration and I share that frustration of wanting to see more Asian-American men in media,”

Is it too much to ask that John Ambrose McClaren be recast with an Asian American actor?

Spoiler Alert!

A word of caution: Fans of Lara Jean and Peter may find the second book a bit disconcerting. 

Condor told Indiewire: “I did read the second book because I was desperate to know what was going on, and it wrecked my world. It wrecked my world.” I was so pissed. I texted Jenny. I was like, ‘How could you do this to me?’”
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'Aladdin' accused of blue-facing the genie

SO WE went to all this trouble to make sure that the stars of the live-action movie Aladdin were culturally appropriate and fans were awarded with a nearly all-Asian cast led by Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott.

The big exception though was Will Smith, who was cast as the genie. In the stills released by Disney exclusively to Entertainment Week, the African American comedian's genie drew sharp criticism for blue-facing the character that was based on the 1989 animated movie in the genie's skin color is -- blue!

The online reaction was so intense that Smith felt compelled to tweet reassuring fans of the animated Aladdin, voiced by the late Robin Williams, that in the film, the genie's skin will be blue.

One fan, Kevin Sparrow, took the matter into his own hands and sent out his doctored picture of the Entertainment  Weekly cover.

The movie is supposed to be released in the summer of 2019.

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