Beloved ‘Karate Kid’ Actress Says Exactly What We All Want From Asian Men in Movies

April 27, 2017

“Karate Kid” actress Tamlyn Tomita has expressed her desire to see more “hot” Asian American men in movies. To her, there simply aren’t enough of them.

The Japanese-born American star made her comments on a panel presented by Guy Aoki at the San Fernando Valley Japanese American Citizens League. She said movie stars are usually white men, while few African American actors are “hot,” citing Denzel Washington as an example.

But according to Tomita, there is even less representation of “hot”male actors from other ethnicities. She urged (via Resonate):

“I’d like to uplift Asian American actors and Latino American actors to be put up there as hot items we can all lust for because it makes us want to watch their movies so much.”

Speaking alongside fellow actors and actresses Amy Hill, Chris Tashima, Clyde Kusatsu, Elizabeth Sung, Francois Chau and Keiko Agena, the 51-year-old encouraged unity among all Asian Americans:

“We’re all part of this story of America. Whether or not you have an accent or if you’re from another country or Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian, South Asian, we are all part of the same community and there are always similarities we can share.”

In addition, Tomita asked viewers to use social media as channels to communicate their requests to actors:

“We need to ask you what you want to see and what you expect of us. When you say you really enjoy something or dislike something, tell us what you want to see.”

Tomita made her screen debut in “The Karate Kid Part II” in 1986. The following year, she released the first song of her music career under British label Polydor.

She also appeared in “Come See the Paradise” (1990), “The Joy Luck Club” (1993), “Picture Bride” (1994), “Four Rooms” (1995), “Robot Stories” (2003), “The Day After Tomorrow” (2004) and “Gaijin 2: Love Me as I Am” (2005).

Who doesn’t want to see more “hot” Asian actors?

Share this Article