Tim Lounibos On Being an Asian American Actor
Tim Lounibos
“Back in the 90s, a number of us kept clamoring that if the product on the screen reflected the audience, the potential pool of viewers and ticket-buyers would expand dramatically, increasing ratings and sales…but to no avail. It wasn’t until streaming content and services came along that the business model had to change, because now they did begin to lose $$ and that’s the only loss that matters in this town. The system is finally figuring out that diversity and inclusion is a necessity…which makes it a win-win for all….
“INDULGE: What is Hollywood still getting wrong about Asian Americans and what are they getting right?
TIM: For me, #1 is that Hollywood has become hyper-sensitive to the ethnic background of an Asian American actor. Granted, sometimes it’s valid, but it’s being taken to such an extreme. Is he Japanese? Is he Korean? Is he Chinese? There are also non-Asian casting decision-makers who will state with authority what an Asian American would do or not do. For example, a Korean or Chinese American person could never marry a Japanese American person because of the warring history in those countries. I can’t tell you how idiotic that sounds to an Asian American person.”
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