Famous Asian Movie Stars

Recognized the world over for its diversity and quality, the film industry in Asia is thriving and competitive. Asia has produced several movie stars who have garnered fame at home and abroad, especially in the United States of America.

Asian movie stars in America

In the early years of Hollywood, American actors of European descent played the majority of non-stereotype Asian roles, while most Asian actors were confined to stereotypical ones; there were few Asian-American stars except for Anna May Wong, a 1930s film star of Chinese ancestry. Things changed very little until the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals "The King and I," "South Pacific" and "Flower Drum Song" reached the screen; the latter, made into a successful movie in 1961, was the first musical with a predominantly Asian cast. Subsequently, Bruce Lee became a star in the early 1970s with his kung fu movies, such as "Enter the Dragon"; he died in 1973. Today, as Asian-Americans have made great strides in American society, more Asian-Americans have found prominence in the field, if not exactly stardom. Prominent American actors of Asian descent include Jason Scott Lee, Lucy Liu and “Star Trek” star George Takei.

Asia’s biggest movie stars

In Asia, Indian Bollywood films have made celebrities out of the likes of Rajinikanth, Dilip Kumar, Ashok Lumar, Raj Kapoor, Aamir Khan, Shah Ruku Khan and Dev Anand. China has produced international movie stars from Jet Li to Chow Yun Fat to Jackie Chan. Japanese movie stars of various eras have included Toshiro Mifune, Ayako Wakao, Anna Tsuchiya and Sonny Chiba.

Asia has made great strides in its countries' film industries over the decades; the world is coming to learn more and more about its star actors and to appreciate their contributions to Asian cinema in the past, present and future.