No Big Stars: Film examines lack of roles for Chinese actors

Nancy Kwan sips her coffee in a Los Angeles hotel lobby, still the lithe, delicate beauty who won fans around the world almost 50 years ago.

She reflects on the difficulties she faced as a Chinese actress in Hollywood, recounting a lunch in Hong Kong years ago with rising star Bruce Lee. She didn't want to squelch his dreams or ambitions, but she knew that his hope of starring in the 1972 TV series Kung Fu was never going to happen.

"He said, "No. No. I'm going to do this.' And I said, ‘Bet,'" Kwan said of the role that went to Caucasian actor David Carradine. "I had to collect my 10 bucks."

Despite her own phenomenal success in two early 1960s box-office hits, The World of Suzie Wong and Flower Drum Song, Kwan watched as Hollywood cooled on the notion of Asians carrying major films or TV shows. Kwan and other prominent Chinese actors, directors and filmmakers -- including Joan Chen, James Hong, David Henry Hwang and Ang Lee -- talk candidly about the history and future of Chinese talent in Arthur Dong's documentary Hollywood Chinese.

Dong's film made the festival rounds but is being shown for the first time on television at 9 p.m. today as part of PBS' American Masters.

The 90-minute documentary delves into complex race issues in an exploration that includes scenes from a rare silent classic, The Curse of Quon Gwon (1916) by Marion Wong. It also examines the popularity of Kwan's signature roles and the recent success of Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) in breaking away from doing ethnic films.

Actor James Hong, 80, who has several hundred acting credits (Chinatown, Seinfeld), established the East West Players in 1965 to offer non-stereotypical roles to Asian actors.

"There was a lot of work then, almost like a factory, because all these prominent stars had Western series, and there was a big demand for laundrymen and servants.

"I was always getting rescued by Richard Boone or Clint Eastwood. I perfected the pathetic laundryman," Hong said.

"Looking back, I see what has changed, but (also) what has not. We didn't want to do cliche roles, but that's all there was," Hong said. "Now, things are a little better, but still there aren't any big Asian stars on film or carrying TV shows."

B.D. Wong, who won a Tony for M. Butterfly and now co-stars in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, said he's tried to analyze why there has not been a breakout star like Will Smith or Eddie Murphy for the Asian community.

"I think we just don't interest (mainstream audiences). Our stories seem foreign and just don't appeal to them," Wong, 48, said.

"You had a great film in Joy Luck Club, based on a best-selling book, but not one of the wonderful actresses starring in that movie ever broke out on their own."

He believes that Margaret Cho, who starred in the first all-Asian TV show, All American Girl, in 1994, might have cracked that juggernaut if things had gone differently. He criticized network executives for stifling her creativity.

It has been almost 50 years since Kwan burst out to international acclaim in the 1960 hit film, The World of Suzie Wong, also starring William Holden.

She quickly transitioned from that role to starring the next year as sexy nightclub singer Linda Low in the perennial favorite Flower Drum Song, the first major motion picture featuring a predominantly Asian cast.

"Things looked good for us, but I don't know if it was the influence of the Vietnam War or whatever, but instead of opening up new opportunities, there were less and less," said Kwan, 70.

"I was under contract, and the studio began wanting me to do roles I wasn't comfortable doing, so they would suspend me when I refused. But I wasn't going to do something I felt was demeaning."

The documentary ends on a positive note with the success of such filmmakers as Lee, Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club and Maid in Manhattan) and Justin Lin, who insisted on adding Asian actors to Fast & Furious when he directed.

Dong said that these filmmakers have the power to bring about change.

"With directors like Ang Lee, Wayne Wang and Justin Lin now being able to command a project in the industry, I think that's a very important key," Dong said of the directors' box-office successes.

"Strength ... allows power. And in this industry, power speaks."