Why are Asian characters in movies always foreign? Is it so hard to believe that someone can be cast in an Asian American role and not have a “foreign” accent? There are so few movies that have Asian American actors in them and it seems like most of the time those characters end up being stereotypical versions of what Americans think Asian characters are like. A movie I saw not too long ago finally broke that stereotype, The Edge of Seventeen, and not only had an Asian American teenager in it that didn’t have the stereotypical Asian parents but also was the love interest of the movie. Asian American men are often overlooked as attractive love interests and it was refreshing to see an Asian American man play the love interest, even though he was the protagonist’s second choice.

One of the other few Asian American men to be known not by his race was Glenn Rhee, played by Steven Yeun, in The Walking Dead (one of my fave shows, rip glenn ily). Glenn, at first, was debased down to his ethnicity by some of the more ignorant redneck’s but as the show progressed, we got to see Glenn turn into a strong leading character whose development surpassed his ethnicity. He was the only Asian character on the show and sadly was killed off, which was canon to the comic books, but Glenn left a lasting impact on The Walking Dead franchise and Steven Yeun’s portrayal is amazing.