How were Asian actors and characters treated at the time in American films? Which of these actors' stories could you relate to? Explain why you found their achievements so significant.
After dropping out of college, Sessue Hayakawa became one of the highest-paid actors in 1910s. Hayakawa then become the first (and to this day only) Asian American to own a Hollywood studio, and it gathered over $2 million in profit. But, Asian Americans in the industry were suffering as well. Anna May Wong was an aprising actress but during her career, she suffered from the frequent stereotyping of Asian women as "China dolls" or "Dragon ladies." He had immense talent, but she frequently played secondary roles to white actresses. The got very close to getting an Asian role in a major studio film, "The Good Earth" (1937), but she ended up looing the role to Luise Rainer, a white actress in yellowface, who won an Oscar for the role. This was common back then; white actors in yellow-face were commonly cast as Asian characters. Their achievements that they did complete were so significant because of the amount of struggle they endured.
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