An Actor Speaks Out For Asians In Hollywood

SAN FRANCISCO - Actor Steve Park is a comedian who can't afford to be one in real life.

"Somebody asked me not too long ago who my role models were," said Park at a recent awards ceremony honoring the achievements of Asian-American artists and entertainers.

Park could name a few actors, no doubt, but instead he told the audience, "My role models were people like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Spike Lee and the Rev. Jesse Jackson."

Only moments earlier, Jackson had handed "Soul Brother No. 1, Steve Park" an Anna May Wong Award of Excellence for taking a stand against racism in Hollywood.

Recently Park wrote an open letter, which has received wide distribution on the Internet as well as some print forums, reporting racially offensive remarks made by an assistant director on the set of NBC's "Friends."

Park, who had a part in the episode, wrote that the assistant director called another Asian-American actor to the set over a walkie-talkie with the words: "I don't have time for this! Where's Hoshi, Toshi or whatever the (expletive) his name is . . . get the Oriental guy!"

The "Oriental guy" was veteran actor James Hong. Park filed a complaint with the Screen Actors Guild and the assistant director was disciplined.

Best known for his role in the television series "In Living Color," Park soon found himself an impromptu spokesman for the struggles of Asian Americans in an industry where success is determined by precedent and precedent is set by a stereotype-laden past.

"This is really like a dream come true," Park said at last weekend's Golden Ring Awards, an Asian-American event in the spirit of the NAACP Image Awards. Other honorees included director John Woo, actor Russell Wong and performance artist Brenda Wong Aoki.

Elsewhere, Park and Jackson's moment of unity might have seemed contrived, but this was a natural forum to address the intersections of race, entertainment and politics. It also gave a glimpse of up-and-coming Asian-American performers such as pop singer Jocelyn Enriquez and accomplished teenage violinist Rachel Kim.

In 1995, the San Francisco-based Asian American Arts Foundation hosted the first Golden Ring Awards to showcase the likes of director Wayne Wang, actress Joan Chen and comedian Margaret Cho. Oliver Stone, who produced "The Joy Luck Club," also was honored.

This year's lineup of honorees included, among others, the Los Angeles jazz band Hiroshima, Park and a special tribute to the original cast members of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Flower Drum Song," which was the first Broadway musical and Oscar-nominated film to feature a predominantly Asian-American cast.

What's stopping Hollywood from staging such productions today?

"The bottom line is dollars," said Nancy Kwan, who starred in "Flower Drum Song." "Asian actors are still struggling for better roles today as in the past. As more Asians settle in this country and the demand is there, I think it'll open up."

Kwan, who has received criticism for her portrayal of a prostitute in in "The World of Suzie Wong," said opportunities for Asian actors have improved, "but not nearly enough."

In his open letter, Park made that statement forcefully, detailing his struggle to find roles that were not insulting and stereotypical in Hollywood's "white, exclusionary culture."

Park himself has been criticized for his portrayal of the lonely Mike Yanagita in "Fargo." In a scene that some believe stereotypes Asian men as socially inept and pathological, Yanagita attempts to seduce a pregnant married woman.

Park said that he understands the criticism, but defends the role on the grounds that "a lot of white people come up to me and tell me how much they identify with the character," he said. "The character's plight crosses racial boundaries."

As for his own plight in Hollywood, Park stands his ground. Recently, a casting director for a big-budget film approached him during an audition.

"One of the first things he said to me was, `So what's this I read about you whining about something?' " Park said, adding that he would speak out regardless of potential setbacks to his career.

"We need to be more vocal, we need to be more aggressive," Park said. "I don't believe that Asian Americans can afford to be silent anymore."