Last Thursday, a bunch of Asian and Pacific Islander celebrities — from Hasan Minhaj and Simu Liu to Deepti Vempati and Jessica Henwick — attended the Asian Pacific Islander Excellence Celebration, an occasion hosted by Netflix, the Hollywood Reporter, and Gold House to commemorate the API group’s 2022 successes.
And it looks like virtually each artistic was there: actors, musicians, comedians, actuality stars (sure, from Love Is Blind and Bling Empire), you title it.
The night time started with a Squid Game–impressed efficiency by GRV Dance Crew (full with pink guard and inexperienced participant outfits), and MAMA Night Market (which goals to protect immigrant tradition by meals) offered an unimaginable vary of meals from native API-owned companies.
Los Angeles–primarily based artist Simon Kim even unveiled a mural of API characters from Netflix’s 2022 lineup, that includes the faces of Jason Momoa, Arden Cho, Randall Park, Shen Wang, Simone Ashley, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Jo Koy, the forged of Bling Empire, the notorious doll from Squid Game, and extra.
Needles to say, it was fairly the night time. In her welcome remarks, host Rebecca Sun, the Hollywood Reporter’s senior editor of variety and inclusion, made positive to emphasise the significance of “[amplifying] storytelling from underrepresented communities,” in addition to the truth that the API group is “not a monolith.”
Throughout the night time, quite a few celebrities stopped to speak about Asian and Pacific Islander media and illustration, notably following the wins of 2022, so here is what they needed to say:
1.
Hasan Minhaj: “If you think about the way Hollywood looked at our culture 20 years ago, we were deemed culturally irrelevant. Now, we’re making some of the most relevant, poignant, cutting-edge work.”
2.
Yoshi Sudarso: “There’s a lot [of impactful work]. That’s the beauty of it; you won’t get bored because there’s so much of it.”
3.
Jessica Henwick on the abundance of API media right now: “Saying ‘Asian’ kind of doesn’t mean anything anymore. We’re getting into specificity and finding original authentic voices.”
4.
Rich Ting: “We’re finally being recognized for all the assets and multitudes we have as [APIs]. We’re not all Chinese. We don’t all speak a certain way. There are thousands of stories within our community.”
5.
Deepti Vempati on Asians and Pacific Islanders in actuality TV: “[It’s] very white-dominated, and we’re still making our way in.”
6.
Kevin Kreider: “Nobody’s seen us like that, being in a reality TV show. People haven’t seen us as romantic leads before, but we are. People haven’t seen us as women powerhouses — I’m not a woman powerhouse, but I’m just saying, people haven’t seen that, and we are.”
7.
Dinah Jane on Pacific Islanders in media and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in DC’s Black Adam: “We’re used to being very humble, so for us to step out and show that we’re here too — that matters. I feel like [successful East Asian media, like Squid Game] kind of gives us Polynesians the drive to stand right behind you guys and say, ‘Let’s all do this together as a community.'”
8.
Dr. Gabriel Chiu on the API group’s journey towards justice and equality: “You have to take steps before you can run. And as you can see from tonight, we’re starting to run.”
Hopefully, we see these wins for the API group proceed by 2023 and past. So far, we’re already anticipating new Star Wars collection The Acolyte (starring Lee Jung-Jae and Manny Jacinto, amongst others), the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender collection, Season 3 of Indian Matchmaking, Season 2 of Pachinko, new Disney+ collection American Born Chinese (starring Michelle Yeoh), Season 2 of Our Flag Means Death, the ultimate season of Never Have I Ever, and extra!
What do you consider these celebs’ remarks? If you are Asian and/or Pacific Islander, have you ever felt extra seen and seen your self on display in any of their works this yr? Share your ideas within the feedback beneath!