Asian American Pioneers

At the time of the birth of Hollywood, Asian actors and characters were treated as stereotypes of their culture and they were often cast in roles that played them off as a villain, and had little ethnic relevance. There were several anti-miscegenation laws active during the early 1900's, and so Asian actors were prevented from taking on roles that involved romance with a white lead. Even when a script called for an Oriental lead, white actors were often cast in that place with yellow face, which prevented many Asian actors from landing roles mean't for them. After reading about some of the biggest Asian American stars at the time, I can most relate to Hayakawa's story because he was introduced to the world of theater and cinema after watching a theater performance, which is a similar way I got intrigued by the arts. I found his achievements to be significant because he went from flunking out of school to landing several roles with legendary directors like DeMile and Ince, as well as being the first Asian American to open and operate a Hollywood studio, known as Haworth Pictures Corp.