A Quote by Ronny Chieng

Sometimes, we want Asians in the media, but we don't want them to talk about being Asian. For me, that's interesting because I'm from Asia. If you want me to be on television but I can't be Asian, I'm not being true to myself.

Ronny Chieng

Quote Author

Ronny Chieng
Malaysian - Comedian

I think that's what we need more of: Asian-Americans on movie screens and TV screens where they're normalized. Where it's not about them being Asian or a person of color. It's just about them being a human. I think that's why sometimes when I see movies with an Asian family, but it's very stereotyped, I don't find that relatable.

Arden Cho

What I crave, and what I want to see on television, is when you see a minority character, not to have it being about them being black or Asian or Latino. If you watch 'Friends,' for example, it's not about a group of people being white. It's about a group of people being friends, you know? You should just let the characters exist.

Zazie Beetz

I'm definitely more Asian than a lot of people who have never been to Asia. But by blood and by race, they instantly say I deserve to be Asian. I've worked really hard to be Asian, and I think I'm Asian enough.

Henry Golding

I always feel like people misunderstand the difference between an Asian story and an Asian-American story. That's completely different, too. I have friends who grew up in Asia, and our experiences are so different. Even though we might look the same, I feel like being Asian and then being Asian-American is completely different.

Arden Cho

Because I sidestepped all the stereotypical roles, in a way I've made a career out of not being Asian - a lot of my roles weren't written as Asian - so there's an impulse in me that wants to take a U-turn and play a very grounded, real Asian character, maybe an immigrant.

John Cho

When you're the only Asian in the room, the last thing you want to do is to point out you're Asian. And be the Asian dude.

Jon M. Chu

As a community, we're fighting for Asians to play Asian roles. And then there's the other battle, which is Asian Americans playing roles that aren't written for Asians, and I think that's something that completely should happen; Why can't an Asian American male just play a leading cop figure... or the Matt Damon roles?

Ross Butler

There was always a struggle with being Asian and not being Asian enough. It's going to be down to me to own my race.

Henry Golding

For once in my life, I wanted to flaunt my Asian side instead of hiding it to fit as somebody else... 'Crazy Rich Asians' made me want to get in touch with my roots, instead of running away from them.

Jimmy O. Yang

I want to challenge myself to see where my limit is and experiment with a lot of different films. A lot of artists from Asia focus too much on their Asian background. I don't want to let go of my background, but to be a success in the U.S., which is my goal, I realize I need to surround myself with American filmmakers and producers.

Rain

I started asking friends, my white friends around, I said, "What's something that you think all Asians have in common?" They almost always immediately said, "Slanted eyes." I thought that's really interesting. No. 1, it simply isn't true. Not all Asian Americans have slanted eyes, and of course, Asians aren't the only ethnic identities to have them. No. 2, we could talk about our slant on life and what it's like to be people of color, while at the same time, using this outdated and obscure racial slur, and turning it on its head.

Simon Tam

Really annoys me any time I see Asian fusion too. Asia is a big place; which Asian are you talking about? You notice it's never Uzbek or Tajik food. It's Thai, and it's generally insulting.

Anthony Bourdain

For me, it's about being true to myself and being true to our goals and not being afraid to declare what you want.

Scott Moir

Working on 'Fresh Off the Boat' has been really enlightening to me because it's made me actually think about the roles that Asians and Asian-American women have played in media. Not because I didn't think it was important before, but because before, I was really focused on just paying my rent.

Constance Wu

Does people not asking me about Asian American literature mean they don't see it as its own literary tradition? I certainly believe in it as its own literary tradition, because your race plays a great factor in how you are seen by the world, and how you see the world; the fact that I'm an Asian American isn't incidental to who I am as a writer. Where it becomes difficult is defining what, if anything identifiable at all, makes an Asian American book an Asian American book, other than the fact of its creator being Asian. And I'd argue that there is nothing identifiable beyond that.