From Always Be My Maybe to Cowboy Bebop, Asian representation in shows and films is on the rise on Netflix
Gone are the days where Asian actors are simply relegated to sidekick status or forced to play cringe-y caricatures of simplistic stereotypes.
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With audiences calling for and welcoming more diversity in Hollywood over the past few years, we’ve been chalking up some wins on-screen with nuanced portrayals of Asian characters as well as relatable representation of our culture in Western media, and these shows are prime examples of Asian talents being at the front and centre of the story:
1. John Cho in 'Cowboy Bebop'
Five years since the #StarringJohnCho hashtag sparked a widespread call for more diversity and Asian American leading men, the campaign is definitely still going strong.
Since becoming the face of a movement, John Cho–who was born in Seoul and moved to Los Angeles with his parents as a child–has marked a handful of milestones for Asian representation in Hollywood, including becoming the first Asian American actor in history to headline a mainstream thriller film with 2018’s Searching.
See also: 3 Asian Actors Making Their Hollywood Debut This Year, Thanks To Marvel
In the Cowboy Bebop live-action series, he plays Spike Spiegel, the impossibly cool bounty hunter with even cooler hair who travels the solar system with his ex-cop partner, Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), in pursuit of the universe’s most dangerous bounties.
Stream Cowboy Bebop on Netflix here.