In a recent article for Cinematical, I wrote: "Too often, Asian-American actors are relegated to bit parts (the food delivery guy, gangster #3, mysterious prostitute) simply because of their race." Historically, there's another reason why Asian-American actors have not been cast in leading roles, even when the role is that of an Asian or Asian-American character: the "yellow face" factor, in which a non-Asian actor is cast as an Asian.

Playwright/actor David Henry Hwang has written a play with that title, which was inspired by the controversy that arose in the early 1990s when non-Asian actor Jonathan Pryce was cast as a Eurasian character in the original stage production of Miss Saigon. (Hwang's play opens shortly off-Broadway in New York.) Robert B. Ito wrote a biting article on the subject in Bright Lights Film Journal that gave historical context.

Philip W. Chung commented on the phenomenon last week in AsianWeek: "Often, these 'yellow face' performances [by non-Asian actors] both reinforced and embodied all the negative stereotypes -- funny accent, slanted eyes, buck teeth, and enough 'Orientalism' to send the yellow fever meter through the roof." Chung compiled a list of 25 "yellow face" film performances "that have arguably had the most impact on our cultural landscape." Last week's article counted down from #25 to #11.

Chung starts off his list with a recent example -- Christopher Walken in Balls of Fury -- and then stretches back to Richard Barthelmess in D. W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms (1919), which he says formed a "template for Hollywood's take on Asian men ... unrealistically noble, feminine and utterly asexual." Chung takes a fascinating skip through the decades and points out "yellow face" performances by Fisher Stevens (#20), Eddie Murphy (#18) and Peter Lorre (#13).

AsianWeek's Top 10 will be counted down this week. Who do you think should be included on the list?

Justin Lin's Finishing the Game brought the point home strongly: Too often, Asian-American actors are relegated to bit parts (the food delivery guy, gangster #3, mysterious prostitute) simply because of their race. Of course, it can be argued persuasively that all actors of color are denied opportunities because of their appearance. As independent film producer Karin Chien pointed out in a television interview, though, people will say: "What about Jackie Chan? Or what about Jet Li? ... Asian cinema is a completely different thing altogether. It's a bit difficult, as an Asian-American producer, to fight for the cause of Asian-American films when we are grouped together with Asian cinema."

This list is an attempt to identify just a few of the Asian-American actors who have not yet crossed over to broad, mainstream recognition but who caught my eye this year. (Among others, you won't find Lucy Liu, John Cho or Kal Penn here; they're all folks that have established varying degrees of stardom.) It's also intended to serve as a starting point for Cinematical readers to name other talented Asian-American performers: Who do you like, who should be better known, who is ready to break out as a star?

Roger Fan

Fan made an impression in Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow as the class leader who lured Ben (Parry Shen) into a life of crime. Before that, he played parts like Student #2 (Party of Five), Hood #1 (Blue Haven) and Student #15 (ER). His next two parts after BLT were not much bigger: Executive #1 (Stuck on You) and News Anchor #1 (D.E.B.S.). With his performance as Bruce Lee-imitator Breeze Loo, who lives in a delusional dream world in which he's a much bigger star, Fan brought a human touch to his comedy. In person, Fan is so funny he can make you spit; at a post-screening Q&A in Dallas, he had the crowd in stitches. Fan's comic genius deserves a much bigger stage -- and more starring roles.