US Golden Globe Awards provide golden showcase for Asians

World Today

Constance Wu as Rachel and Henry Golding as Nick in “Crazy Rich Asians”. (Photo Credit: Sanja Bucko. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Kimmel Distribution.)

The Golden Globe awards are just around the corner and it’s expected to be a banner year for Asians. Canadian Korean Actress Sandra Oh is one of the co-hosts of the program, and Asians are nominated in several categories.

Leading the way is the hit movie: ‘Crazy Rich Asians.’ CGTN’s May Lee reports.

2018 was a year full of challenges around the world, but in the entertainment industry, it was a year of incredible breakthroughs.  Leading the way was the book turned movie “Crazy Rich Asians,” the first Hollywood film in 25 years to feature an all-Asian cast. So far, it has grossed nearly $240 million worldwide and is a Golden Globe nominee in two categories: Best Motion Picture in a Musical or Comedy and a Best Actress nod for Constance Wu. 

Film critic Tim Cogshell said, “I’m not surprised at all that Crazy Rich Asians was nominated for a Golden Globe particularly in the musical comedy category and I think it bodes well, by the way, for possibly nominations for other awards this season including Academy Awards nominations.” 

“Crazy Rich Asians” along with blockbuster “Black Panther,” which featured a nearly all-black cast, ushered in a new and prosperous era of diversity in Hollywood. 

“Hollywood — look at the numbers, just look at what they’re telling you”, said Anne Thompson, Editor-at-Large at IndieWire. “Box office is driven by diversity, there’s no question about it. Look at Black Panther, it’s having an enormous impact. Crazy Rich Asians is having an enormous impact too and Hollywood gets it.”

Korean-Canadian actress Sandra Oh is also making an impact in the TV world. She is nominated for a Golden Globe for best actress in the drama “Killing Eve.” Oh won in 2005 for her role in ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. If she wins again, she will be the first Asian performer to win multiple Globes. But Oh is already making history by co-hosting the Golden Globe awards, the first Asian woman to do so. 

The road to better representation in Hollywood, however, hasn’t been an easy one. Just ask Daniel Mayeda, chair of the Asian Pacific Media coalition. Since 1999, the group has been pushing Hollywood studios to be more diversified. In the beginning, he said there was overt dismissiveness. 

“I remember in one meeting the president of the network rolling his eyes, sitting across the table from me, just rolling his eyes”, says Mayeda. “That was very early on. Now no one does that. All we’re asking for is a chance, to be shown, to be seen, to be able to explore our full selves not just as Chinese waiters, or geishas or kung fu artists, but as people, as people with the same kinds of loves, lives, hopes, dreams and fears as every other American.” 

The movement towards better representation is translating into even more recognition. Besides the Golden Globes, Asian led films, TV shows and talent are nominated for Screen Actors Guild awards and are expected to garner Oscar nominations as well, so it looks like 2019 is off to a very good start for the growing Asian movement in Hollywood.


Pavlina Osta on 2019 Golden Globe diversity