Asian America

Many Asian actors have the problem of getting typecast into roles that reflect American stereotypes of the Asian culture in general.  The role of martial artist, for example, is a popular one, followed by gangster, doctor, computer specialist, and lawyer.  But with Ken Leung, who stars as a new character in the hit series “Lost”, this is clearly not the case for his current role. 

Playing a psychic Asian American “ghostbuster”, Ken’s character doesn’t just break the mold for Asian actors by occupation, but also by temperament.    Hot-headed, sarcastic, and somewhat obnoxious, Ken’s character (who’s, out of all things, named “Miles Straume”) comes off as both aggressive and dominating, which definitely stands out on screen.  This, as a whole, is groundbreaking for Asian actors in general, simply because of the character’s contrast with another new character, Daniel Faraday, a timid physicist, who’s played by the Caucasian actor, Jeremy Davies. 

It would have been all too easy for Ken Leung (who also played the unique role of an Asian American actor in “Shanghai Kiss”) to be cast as an Asian version of Daniel Faraday—a submissive scientist who’s a bit too technical for his own good.  That would have been the typical thing to do and, in most cases, the expected thing to do.  

But hats off to the “Lost” producers for making the decision to go against the grain and honors, especially, Ken Leung, for bringing to life such a non-typical personality for a non-typical Asian American role!

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