#StarringJohnCho
What if more Asian actors played leading roles? A cheeky website has some fun with that concept
How would it look if there were more Asian actors playing lead roles in Hollywood blockbusters?
Check out the #StarringJohnCho website and see for yourself.
The website has inserted Cho’s image into a number of mainstream movie posters, including Batman, Go Rogue and Mother’s Dayto draw attention to the fact that “whitewashing Asian roles in film abounds.”
It notes that it’s common practice for white stars to be cast as Asian characters, such as Scarlett Johansson playing Motoko Kusanagi in the dystopian crime story Ghost in the Shell, blonde and blue-eyed Emma Stone as Alison Ng in Aloha and Jim Sturgess as Jeff Ma in 21.
Cho is best known as the actor who took on the iconic role of Sulu in the Star Trek reboot, and as one of the titular characters in the Harold & Kumar trilogy.
However, Asian actors generally remain consigned to bit roles, the website argues.
“#StarringJohnCho is a social movement that literally shows you what it would look like if today’s Hollywood blockbusters cast an Asian-American actor — specifically, John Cho — as their leading man,” it says.
The website argues that it makes economic sense to cast more Asian leads, as diverse casts promise higher box office profits.
“Support #StarringJohnCho by sharing the hashtag and help ignite this necessary conversation,” it says.
The site says it was created by 25-yearold digital strategist William Yu, who Photoshopped Cho onto a collection of mainstream movie posters. It also carries a disclaimer which states that Cho has no affiliation with it.