I’m not telepathic, but I’ll hazard a wild guess that you named Lucy Liu. If not her, then Sandra Oh, and if not her, then “That chick from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.”
So many guys are attracted to Asian women. For some it’s a powerful sexual fetishization involving cultural stereotypes. For others it’s simply the same as preferring redheads or preferring women with curly hair. I hate to have to bring this up as an example, but in porn, I’d say that the most popular specific sub-group of porn is probably Asian women. And completely leaving aside the issue of sex appeal, Asian-Americans are a very sizable minority.
Why is it, then, that there seem (to ME) to be very few Asian actresses of any mainstream popularity?
Argh, what was the movie that did really well at the Suncance movie festival, and went on to unexpected mainstream success, that had Indian actresses in it? I think one was rather young, too. Gah, can’t recall the name of it.
By the way, this also applies to men. Outside of typecast martial-arts characters and the guys from Harold and Kumar, I can’t think of any Asian male leads of any prominence, East-Asian or Indian.
Well, the OP said “well known” which I’d take to mean “known to your average American Hollywood movie-goer”. Aside from people knowing Margaret Cho from Comedy Central stand-up re-runs, I think you’d get blank looks on all of those.
Most folks could name some black actresses and rattle off at least two or three Latina actresses but would be stumped to name an Asian actress outside of Lucy Liu. Out of the extra names you mentioned, I recognized Gong Li but never would have named her without the hint.
Be honest, Zabali - did you come up with those right off the top of your head? Or did you have to look them up?
I’m NOT trying to be a jerk, only wondering. Because I would never have been able to come up with those names. You probably just have a better knowledge of film than I do.
I looked at those first two women you linked to and I wouldn’t say either of them would be very well known at all to most American audiences just from looking at what movies they’ve appeared in.
When I read the OP, Gong Li came to mind, and Michelle Yeoh,, although Michelle may count as “the older chick form Chrouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”. (Zhi Zyang is the young chick from that same movie).
I think it’s the names. Chinese names are just harder for westerners to remember.
I had to verify spelling on some, (Joy Luck Club is a movie I enjoyed, as was Memiors of a Geisha. I guess it helps that I had years of chatting with a Japanese friend as we played more than one MMORPG, eh?) but Shilpa made the news not that long ago, she was in Big Brother and had to tolerate boorish idiots and their drivel. And she’s made a spectacle of herself for PETA’s sake, AND she got charged with obscenity in India because Richard Gere kissed her. Now does her name ring a bell? Adding, and Mother India is known in the Western world, it is considered a classic film, and that movie classic movie channel has played it.
Parminder Nagra. The name might not come to the average viewer but her face is resonably well know as the star of Bend it Like Beckham and for being one of the stars of ER for the last few years.
Ha ha, very funny! No… It had a lot of women in the cast, but as I said, one of the stars was quite young, as in she had to have a chaperone for the various appearnces she made. Gah, I am blanking on the name, I never did get to see it, though my friend recommended it. Not Kama Sutra I don’t think, it was told I think from a woman’s perspective.
Lea Salonga, who is primarily a stage actress but has done movie and tv work (the singing voice of Mulan (Ming Na was the speaking voice), appearances on prime-time dramas (including ER at the same time as Ming Na), the soap opera As The World Turns (playing the same role that Ming Na had played several years earlier)).
I never have quite figured out why Ming Na and Lea Salonga are locked in this strange acting orbit…
I came up with Michelle Yeoh, Brigitte Lin, Maggie Cheung, Gong Li and Ziyi Zhang (had to look up spelling) off the top of my head. Brigitte Lin isn’t as well-known as the others but came to mind so easily because she’s in one of my favorite Chinese movies, The Bride With White Hair.
We have over 100 Asian DVDs though, so I have an advantage.
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