{"id":1495455,"date":"2022-05-28T07:44:55","date_gmt":"2022-05-28T11:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1495455"},"modified":"2022-05-28T07:47:35","modified_gmt":"2022-05-28T11:47:35","slug":"ken-watanabe-claims-asian-actors-were-only-cast-as-stereotypes-until-the-last-samurai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ken-watanabe-claims-asian-actors-were-only-cast-as-stereotypes-until-the-last-samurai\/","title":{"rendered":"Ken Watanabe Claims Asian Actors Were Only Cast as Stereotypes Until the Last Samurai"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fken-watanabe-claims-asian-actors-were-only-cast-as-stereotypes-until-the-last-samurai%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1495455&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Pulling a card from the playbook of fellow actor Simu Liu, veteran actor Ken Watanabe has claimed that up until the release of his film The Last Samurai, Asians were solely depicted as stereotypically racist caricatures.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_165353\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-165353\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: The Last Samurai (2003), Warner Bros. Pictures<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"cb-post-title\"><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/2021\/11\/01\/marvel-hypocritically-plays-up-racist-stereotypes-announces-new-asian-iron-fist-to-replace-danny-rand\/\">Marvel Hypocritically Plays Up Racist Stereotypes, Announces New Asian Iron Fist To Replace Danny Rand<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Watanabe offered his opinion on Asian representation in Hollywood during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2022\/may\/19\/ken-watanabe-cancer-childhood-hollywood-cliches-last-samurai-tokyo-vice\">recent interview with The Guardian<\/a> given in reflection of his career and in promotion of his recent HBO Max series, Tokyo Vice.<\/p>\n<p>Asked by outlet contributor Ann Lee for his thoughts on the accusations of white saviorism leveled against The Last Samurai over the years, many based on the misconception that the film\u2019s title refers to Tom Cruise\u2019s character, rather than Watanabe\u2019s, the Batman Begins and Pok\u00e9mon Detective Pikachu actor replied, \u201cI didn\u2019t think of it like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_165352\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-165352\" class=\"size-full wp-image-165352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903d0385fa5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903d0385fa5.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903d0385fa5-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903d0385fa5-1340x754-1.jpg 1340w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903d0385fa5-768x432-1.jpg 768w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-165352\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: The Last Samurai (2003), Warner Bros. Pictures<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI just thought we had the opportunity to depict Japan in a way that we were never able to before,\u201d he told Lee. \u201cSo we thought we were making something special.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Watanabe then asserted that \u201cBefore The Last Samurai, there was this stereotype of Asian people with glasses, bucked teeth and a camera.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was stupid, but after [The Last Samurai] came out,\u201d the actor added, \u201cHollywood tried to be more authentic when it came to Asian stories.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_165350\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-165350\" class=\"size-full wp-image-165350\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903cffb654d.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903cffb654d.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903cffb654d-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903cffb654d-1340x754-1.jpg 1340w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903cffb654d-768x432-1.jpg 768w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-165350\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: The Last Samurai (2003), Warner Bros. Pictures<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"cb-post-title\"><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/2021\/09\/01\/shang-chis-simu-liu-claims-i-thought-playing-a-guy-that-gets-beaten-up-by-a-main-character-was-the-pinnacle-for-asian-actors\/\">Shang-Chi\u2019s Simu Liu Claims \u201cI Thought Playing A Guy That Gets Beaten Up By A Main Character Was The Pinnacle\u201d For Asian Actors<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As noted above, Watanabe\u2019s opinion echoes the rhetoric regularly put forth by Liu, the star of Marvel\u2019s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, that up until recent years, Hollywood was brutally racist against Asians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s put it this way; in 2012 when I first started out, I thought that maybe if I worked really really hard, I could be a guy that gets beaten up by one of the main characters one day,\u201d Liu recalled to a fan during a Reddit AMA held in August 2021. \u201cThat was the pinnacle for actors that looked like me.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_128547\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-128547\" class=\"size-full wp-image-128547\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.08.13-07.10-boundingintocomics-6116c392afa9b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.08.13-07.10-boundingintocomics-6116c392afa9b.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/2021.08.13-07.10-boundingintocomics-6116c392afa9b-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.08.13-07.10-boundingintocomics-6116c392afa9b-1340x884-1.jpg 1340w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.08.13-07.10-boundingintocomics-6116c392afa9b-768x506-1.jpg 768w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-128547\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) in Marvel Studios\u2019 SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. Photo by Jasin Boland. \u00a9Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m ashamed to say that I\u2019ve put on the most ridiculous and offensive accents in the past, all because I thought that it was more important to give the casting director what they wanted than to be true to myself,\u201d Liu continued. \u201cOver time, as I toiled about in the industry and struggled to find my footing, I started to realize all of the ways the industry discriminated against us\u2026 and that we needed to become the masters of our own narrative\u2026 because the way that we were being portrayed was not positive or authentic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why representation behind the camera is just as important as in front,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_122363\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-122363\" class=\"size-full wp-image-122363\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.06.07-06.53-boundingintocomics-60be6b31c2900-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.06.07-06.53-boundingintocomics-60be6b31c2900-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.06.07-06.53-boundingintocomics-60be6b31c2900-300x200-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.06.07-06.53-boundingintocomics-60be6b31c2900-1340x892-1.jpg 1340w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.06.07-06.53-boundingintocomics-60be6b31c2900-768x511-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.06.07-06.53-boundingintocomics-60be6b31c2900-1536x1022-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.06.07-06.53-boundingintocomics-60be6b31c2900-2048x1363-1.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.06.07-06.53-boundingintocomics-60be6b31c2900-360x240-1.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.06.07-06.53-boundingintocomics-60be6b31c2900-600x400-1.jpg 600w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-122363\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) in Marvel Studios\u2019 SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. Photo by Jasin Boland. \u00a9Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Admittedly, unlike the Marvel star, Watanabe cites the early 2000s as the turning point for Asians in Hollywood rather than last year and doesn\u2019t claim to have been any sort of heroic figure in the conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, he still posits that Asian actors were relegated to nothing more than stereotypical roles until 2003, an assertion that falls flat with even a cursory glance at the history of Asian actors in Hollywood.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_165351\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-165351\" class=\"size-full wp-image-165351\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903d01b6cdb.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903d01b6cdb.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903d01b6cdb-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903d01b6cdb-1340x754-1.jpg 1340w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-02.52-boundingintocomics-62903d01b6cdb-768x432-1.jpg 768w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-165351\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: The Last Samurai (2003), Warner Bros. Pictures<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"cb-post-title\"><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/2021\/08\/20\/shang-chi-star-claims-marvel-film-will-change-the-world-finally-give-audiences-an-aspirational-asian-character\/\">Shang-Chi Star Claims Marvel Film Will \u201cChange The World,\u201d Finally Give Audiences An \u201cAspirational\u201d Asian Character<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While such stereotypically racist depictions did exist at one time, particularly in the pre-1950s era of Hollywood, Asian actors have since gone on to embody far more varied roles than simply \u2018buck-toothed foreigner.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In 1966, Asians got what was arguably their actual turning point in Western media representation with the debut of George Takei on Star Trek, whose Captain Sulu was shown serving as the senior helmsman and chief physicist of the USS Enterprise.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_134789\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-134789\" class=\"size-full wp-image-134789\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.10.14-08.24-boundingintocomics-616892169c6d7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2021.10.14-08.24-boundingintocomics-616892169c6d7.jpg 750w, https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/2021.10.14-08.24-boundingintocomics-616892169c6d7-300x160.jpg 300w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-134789\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Star Trek Season 1 Episode 14 \u201cBalance of Terror\u201d (1966), Desilu Productions<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The 1970s saw the rise of Bruce Lee, whose athletic feats as a master of hand-to-hand combat on the big screen not only captivated Western audiences, but were so lauded that he eventually became ingratiated into the US cultural zeitgeist as a respected household name.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, the 1980s and 1990s saw Asian actors not only continuing to thrill audiences with over the top martial arts films, as seen in the then-rising careers of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but also portraying such \u2018respectable\u2019 roles as doctors, for example Ming-Na Wen\u2019s Dr. Jing-Mei Chen on ER, and military commanders, as seen with Daniel Dae Kim\u2019s Lt. John Matheson on Crusade.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_165355\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-165355\" class=\"size-full wp-image-165355\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-03.01-boundingintocomics-62903eefd9bd6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-03.01-boundingintocomics-62903eefd9bd6.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-03.01-boundingintocomics-62903eefd9bd6-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-03.01-boundingintocomics-62903eefd9bd6-1340x754-1.jpg 1340w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022.05.27-03.01-boundingintocomics-62903eefd9bd6-768x432-1.jpg 768w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-165355\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: ER Season 1 Episode 21 \u201cHouse of Cards\u201d (1994), NBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ultimately, while Watanabe\u2019s assertion seems more misguided in comparison to the arrogance of Liu\u2019s take on the subject, it still disingenuously centers recent events in the here and now and in doing so erases the actual history of Asian actors in Hollywood.<\/p>\n<p>What do you make of Watanabe\u2019s take on Asian representation in Hollywood? Let us know your thoughts on social media or in the comments down below!<\/p>\n<p class=\"cb-post-title\"><strong>NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/boundingintocomics.com\/2021\/08\/13\/mattel-apologizes-after-tokyo-olympics-barbie-criticized-for-not-being-visibly-asian\/\">Mattel Apologizes After Tokyo Olympics Barbie Criticized For Not Being \u2018Visibly Asian\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pulling a card from the playbook of fellow actor Simu Liu, veteran actor Ken Watanabe has claimed that up until the release of his film The Last Samurai, Asians were<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":1495528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1495455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1495455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1495455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1495455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1495528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1495455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1495455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1495455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}