Walking Dead actor Steven Yeun is writing and producing his own projects to create better opportunities for Asian actors.
Steven Yeun started working on his acting career in 2005. He left behind a lucrative career to move to Chicago and become an actor. It is often times difficult to start a career as a working actor but, according to Steven Yeun it is even harder to do it as an Asian-American.
According to a recent interview with TheWrap, Yeun pointed out that despite working on the most watched TV show currently on television, he is struggling to find more auditions.
“People ask, ‘So, how are the roles now? You must be getting so many.’ And it’s like, I don’t know if you know, but I’m Asian still,” Yeun told TheWrap earlier in July, laughing. “It’s not a complaint, that’s just how it is now, and I have to forge my own path through it and see that through. I think that if I had not been Asian, I probably would have a whole plethora of roles, at least to audition for, but it’s just not what has been written.”
Steven Yeun has a point. For movie roles that were based on Asian characters, Hollywood tends to give the roles to Cauciasan actors. For example, “Speed Racer“, “Dragonball“, “Oldboy“, “Cloud Atlas” and “The Last Airbender” were all featuring white actors playing Asians.
In an attempt to change the way Hollywood casting directors choose their talents, Steven Yeun plans on writing and producing his own feature films to support Asian actors.
“We’ve been working on some comedy stuff and in cartoon form, as well,” he revealed. “And then there are some film ideas that have always been batting around my head. I just want to definitely stretch that muscle, because you can’t just wait for other people to give it to you.”
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Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC
