“Asian Men aren’t Sexy”, a statement to which Global Glam calls “BS!”.
There is an ongoing theory that Asian/Asian-American men are not considered sexy or are suitable leading men for Hollywood. A theory to which we here at Global Glam blow a giant raspberry to.
For one thing, the majority of Asian/Asian-American male depiction in Hollywood has been negatively biased and or poorly written. Examples include and are definitely not limited to roles such as Long Duk Dong in “16 Candles” or Mr. Yunioshi in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (played by Caucasian actor Mickey Rooney).
Secondly, Asian men were initially considered to be major sex symbols in Hollywood during the Silent Film Era. Sessue Hayakawa was often credited as Hollywood’s first Asian male sex symbol and was one of the leading male actors, Asian and otherwise, during the early 1920s.
Asian men were depicted to be sexy in a dangerously, seductive way, such as Hayakawa’s role as Hishuru Tori in “The Cheat”. While still a fairly problematic portrayal of Asian men, far from the asexual, nerdy depiction of Asian/Asian-American men archetype that went forward throughout Hollywood’s film history.
One of the only exceptions to depiction of a nerdy and or asexual Asian male in Hollywood was James Shigeta’s role as Joe Kojaku in “The Crimson Kimono”. This film was one of the only movies in which an actor of Asian descent had a White female love interest that didn’t end in rejection or tragedy.
Even though Hollywood still has a long way to go with showcasing all minority actors with better roles, Global Glam would like to give a special shout out to a few sexy Asian/Asian-American men in Hollywood:
- Alex Landi
Alex Landi’s first major role in Hollywood is also the one that people primarily know him by, playing the sexy, openly gay doctor in Grey’s Anatomy, Dr. Nico Kim. Landi also plays Grey’s first gay Asian doctor; earning notable attention and respect from the LGBTAI and Asian/Asian-American communities respectively. Landi also has a recurring role in the Netflix series “Insatiable” as pre-law/pre-med/stripper(?!) Henry Lee. Alex Landi is of Korean/Italian descent and was born and raised in Queens, New York. As a fellow New Yorker, I’m excited to see where Landi’s career lands him next.
- Lewis Tan
Lewis Tan, an actor of English and Singaporean descent, is one of our favorite leading men in Hollywood. Known for his badass roles in “Into the Badlands” and “Wu Assassins”, Lewis Tan will be starring in the upcoming reboot of “Mortal Kombat”, based on the video game franchise of the same name. Global Glam holds a particular soft spot for Tan after our interview with him discussing his role in “Iron Fist” and discussing Asian-American representation in Hollywood. Good luck Lewis!
- Daniel Dae Kim
It would be a major failure if we didn’t include Daniel Dae Kim as one of the sexiest leading men in Hollywood. Period.
Kim was one of the first Asian men to be voted into People Magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive” list, and made iconic Hollywood status for his roles in popular series “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-0”. Kim is also the executive producer of the award-winning series “The Good Doctor” (loosely based on South Korean drama “Good Doctor”), and has played The King of Siam in Broadway’s hit “The King and I”. We love a multi-talented legend. Keep on fighting the good fight Daniel.
- Simu Liu
Liu grabbed our attention and our hearts with his role in the series “Kim’s Convenience” and will be grabbing it even harder with his upcoming role as Shang-Chi in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”. Liu will be be playing Marvel’s first leading Asian superhero, a long overdue role.
While advocating for more Asian/Asian-American representation in Hollywood, Liu has been vocally outspoken about combating recent xenophobia towards people of East-Asian descent as a response towards the Coronavirus. We love a woke leading man over here at Global Glam.
- Kumail Nanjiani
Talk about a glow-up, while Kumail captured the hearts of Hollywood staring as the awkward but funny comedian in “The Big Sick”, a film loosely based on his real-life love story of him and his wife Emily V. Gordon, he’s recently caught Hollywood’s attention again in a “big” way. Nanjiani recently bulked up and debuted a sexy six-pack to get ready for his role in the upcoming Marvel movie “The Eternals”. We look forward to watching Nanjiani in his upcoming movie.
Hollywood please stop being biased, and give us the sexy Asian/Asian-American leading men we deserve to see portrayed on the big and small screens.
Written by: Nicole Kirichanskaya
