It's time for Asian-American leading men, says the NY Times

I somehow wound up in the Asian Masculinity subReddit, and this is definitely a recurring thing there. They HATE Ken Jeong! He’s their Stepin Fetchit.

Only if they're 20 or under. Then they hit the wall. Faster than the British.

I don't think Kumail Nanjiani is anyone's idea of a leading man--not because he's South Asian, but because he's not handsome.

There are genuinely handsome actors of South Asian ancestry: Rahul Kohli ("Fall of the House of Usher"), Anirudh Pisharody ("911"), Ray Panthaki ("The Serpent Queen").

Kumail Nanjiani is the one? Hardeeharhar. He tried and failed. He's kind of gross looking.

I want to see Daniel Dae Kim star in a film noir detective story set in the 1940s

I guess Henry Golding doesn't count since he isn't American.

It’s surprising how many of them have massive dongs. There’s a Reddit for big Asian dick.

Tony Leung walked so they could run.

The Asian guy who used to be on Lost is so hot. If he doesn’t look old yet they should make him a leading man.

Khalil Kain is a quarter Chinese. I know his mom. He should have become a leading man.

i thought op's pic was of Barry Keoghan

“How Hollywood’s Lack of Asian-American Leading Men Hurts the Harris/Walz Campaign”

—NYT

Nobody wants to see that.

If the viewing public DID want to see them in leading men roles, then it already would have happened.

The market wants what the market wants.

And it doesn't want them. They're not at all sexy or attractive.

Or even masculine, for that matter.

Industry executives decide which movies get made, r13. Not "the market". Sidney Poitier was the only black leading man for a while because a group of men sitting in a conference room decided that one black leading man was sufficient. Who's to say that they wouldn't have made money by casting a slew of black men as leads?

Please spare us your opinion on who is and isn't attractive or masculine. No one on this site gives a fuck what gets your ugly little nubbin hard.

R13, lots of sexy Asian guys around.

[quote]They're not at all sexy or attractive. Or even masculine, for that matter.

BWAAAAH. You imbecile.

One of my physical therapists is a Vietnamese-French muscle stud in his mid twenties with a kind personality and a stunning face. I wonder sometimes about his dick and hole.

Joel Kim Booster has a great body but his face is not great. I say this as someone who thinks there are tons of gorgeous Asian men -- the forementioned Tony Leung, Steven Yeun is hot in that normal guy way, Henry Golding, Riz Ahmed, Charles Melton, MANNY JACINTO! Manny is SO HOT. And that's before you even dive into the actual movie stars in Asia (Leung aside)

But JKB is a real butterface.

Keanu Reeves doesn't count?

I find Filipinos extremely sexy. And they’re Asian.

There's a scene in Fire Island where Bowen Yang's character tells Joel Kim Booster that life is really hard for men who aren't gorgeous and JKB would never understand because he's so beautiful. The fact that JKB wrote that dialogue makes me dislike him, r18. He clearly thinks he's hot shit.

[quote] The market wants what the market wants. And it doesn't want them. They're not at all sexy or attractive.

Post your photo, then.

Here he is, R22.

r21, if Bowen Yang worked out as much as Joel Booster Kim did and lost weight, he would be the hotter of the two.

He has the better face. JBK just works out like a fiend.

I completely agree with R8.

Tony Leung is especially sexy in the Wong Kar-Wei films he starred in.

Ohtani beats these pinks.

The Yune brothers were fine in their day.

John Cho is hot and a super chill guy

Charles Melton can be very attractive depending on the angle of his face.

Having worked with Simu Liu and Lewis Tan, I really don't find them attractive anymore.

What did Liu and Tan do to turn you off, r27?

Bruce Lee and Brandon Lee were both hot AF and would kick these idiots asses.

There are and have been some very hot Asian actors over the years. Where the fuck have people been?

The South Korean actor who killed himself was hot as fuck.

I don’t think so.

Agree Daniel Dae Kim is super hot.

GAY men should be leading men. Get your priorities straight.

There's plenty of Asian media out there for Asian men.

We're still way behind in how people perceive us - keep your focus.

I get the point—there’s no reason that Asian men can’t be romantic leads.

On the other hand, 60% of the U.S. is white; 5.7% is Asian.

I liked Kumail Nanjiani even before he bulked up. Andrew Koji is a great leading man.

r27, they're douchey- Simu complained that the L.A. background were unattractive for a particular scene (they used models in Australia for the same scene), and said that Awkwafina wasn't hot enough to play his love interest in Shang Chi, and Lewis comes from a stunt background, so has that alpha male attitude. Lewis looks better in person than on screen.

Oh and bulked up Kumali was hotttt in person.

R36, Simu is right, though.

The guy at op has a weird looking face but I agree there’s tons of hot Asian guys

R10, they are Asians with Latin temperaments and can be highly dramatic and vengeful lovers.

I'm tired of this desired quota system - Asian men should be leading men. What about Middle-Eastern men? African men - not just African-American? Latino Men?

And Asian is such a broad term - are we talking East Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), SE Asian (Thai, Vietnamese, etc.), South Asian (Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi)?

You don't hear the same thing being said in those countries.

[quote] I'm tired of this desired quota system

No one cares how you feel except you.

[quote] Charles Melton can be very attractive depending on the angle of his face.

Melton was gorgeous in "Riverdale." He was not as attractive in "May/December," but Tiodd Haynes wanted him to look like a former beautiful boy who had grown fatter and less attractive in his unhappy marriage to the Julianne Moore character.

R42 - exactly - same back at you. What a stupid comment on a message board where we all give our opinions. Grow the fuck up.

Let us not forget BD Wong, still going strong.

I've always thought Daniel Henney was very handsome.

Also, Alex Landi from Grey's Anatomy is pretty hot (in the gay world a surgeon that hot would never end up with schlubby guy like Levi Schmitt).

If Asian leading men do start appearing more often, I pray it's not in the mold of K-pop "pretty" boys.

Did anyone except R41 mention quotas? Don't think so.

I think Joel Kim Booster is good looking, but if that is him in OP’s picture (can’t see the full article) it is a terrible photo. Nobody wants a hangdog leading man, no matter what his ethnicity.

John Cho and Stephen Yeun are two other good looking actors, although Cho has now aged into fatherly characters.

The show Beef is the first and only TV show or movie where all of the Asian men were hot.

Simu Liu is very hot too bad people say he’s a douche

I really liked Harry Shum Jr. as the romantic lead in “All My Life” and have been hoping he’d get other lead roles.

Hot Asian guys are HAWT. The guy in OP post pic is a NAWT.

op is that chairman mao?

Personally, I find Asian guys who look like this better looking than the one who look like Simu Liu.

[quote] Hot Asian guys are HAWT.

Thanks for elevating the level of discussion here.

John lone was gorgeous.

[quote] Joel Kim Booster has a great body but his face is not great.

He’s mentally ill and hates Jews too.

[quote] Let us not forget BD Wong, still going strong.

He’s a fag.

BD Wong is all over the apps with his giant Prince Albert piercing. The girls on LPSG have his number.

R20, they are Asians with Latin temperaments and can be highly dramatic and vengeful lovers.

[quote] [R20], they are Asians with Latin temperaments and can be highly dramatic and vengeful lovers.

Plus they make for beautiful ladyboys!

There’s a woman on TikTok who is friends with and a “sister in law” of Henry Golding via her husband, who is a very hot Asian guy. Tall, muscular, and masculine.

Is BD Wong related to Sum Ting?

I love Asian guys, both of the "brown" and "yellow" kind. I especially like Japanese Samurai types with the robes and sexy bare feet. I always found their image very sensual. Too bad right now it seems the only popular type in Japan are pretty tweeny looking boy band boys. And I always had a bit of a fetish for brown/ indian men with british accents. There are hot men of any variety.

I watched the Wim Wenders film "Perfect Days" and though the lead Kôji Yakusho was super handsome for an older dude. Yum!

Yes, Asian men are really ugly, aren't they? Take Hidao Muraoka - hideous.

Steve Yeun's dad thought he was doing porn.

Takeshi Kaneshiro was so beautiful when he was younger, too bad he didn't age well. Not American, but I thought I should include him.

That Simu guy can get it.

there's an Asian guy on Chicago Med, hot as hell.

I disagree.

Simu Liu is Canadian, not American.

What's the deal with YouTube clips on DL?

Chow Yun Fat, aging but still has it.

[quote]Takeshi Kaneshiro was so beautiful when he was younger, too bad he didn't age well.

Fully agree on both counts. He used to be my go-to guy when I had to name a hot Asian man - and Godfrey Gao.

No it’s not.

I can’t believe Godfrey Gao is dead. He was so hot.

Rob Yang is a slim good looking Asian guy- Does the datalounge agree?

I don't understand why all the Asian men in gay porn are downright hideous, except Reece Colton but he's clearly mixed. Are the hot ones not interested in porn, or are they not given the chance because they don't look stereotypical enough?

Oooh, you must be an Asian. Oooh, you must be an Asian. In your eyes, I can see it in your eyes.

R73 - Andrew Koji is British, not American.

The guy who used to be on CSI Las Vegas, Archie Kao. I didn’t watch it so I don’t know if he’s a good actor but those cheekbones. He’s certainly beautiful.

R81 Yes, I knew that already, Mom. I assumed that since everyone is so conditioned to follow the rules of political correctness, OP and the NY Times meant Asian--in general. Like referring to Idris Alba as African-American.

r63, they did that to Idris?? Oh my sides.

Ricky Mendoza

R55 Where, exactly, do you think the usual level of 'here' is? You pointless bitch.

I like that Oriental actor from that country over there. What's his name, from you know where. Siam.

R84 Oh, yeah. I've heard news anchors and read it in magazines. But if you didn't know he wasn't from America, it's a simple mistake. One of the reasons I prefer being called Black as opposed to AA. It's always sounded too social construct-y to me. Same with LatinX. I REFUSE it.

Capitalising black is entirely social construct-y, r88. It's akin to Latinx.

R89 Actually, it's just proper grammar--and not akin to Latinx AT ALL.

You tried it, tho.

Capitalisation has nothing to do with grammar, r90. Moreover, up until a few years ago and even now in just a few contexts, the word black in reference to people was pretty much universally written with a lower case b. It's been a choice on the part of some in very recent years to write it with a capital b, and that attempt has been concurrent with the attempt to impose Latinx and part of the exact same forced cultural trend. It's also an American-centric trend that has nothing to do with the huge majority of black people in the world, i.e. those in Africa, just as Latinx is an imposition by American Anglophones on the Spanish speakers of the world.

I thought this thread was about Asian-American actors, not the capitalization of the name of another race.

I used to have a thing for Tim Kang when he was on THE MENTALIST, but I lost it when he lost his looks in the MAGNUM P.I. reboot.

I’ve always thought Randall Park is real cute, middle-aged boyfriend material.

The youthful Sessue Hayakawa was very attractive, and in his early leading man days in Hollywood silent films, he was briefly the first Asian film star in the U.S. along with Anna May Wong. You can see late-career Hayakawa in his Oscar-nominated performance in THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI.

R92 You are correct. Somehow R91 escaped his nuthut. OR he was kicked out. I'm going with the latter.

ANYWAY

R93 Yes, Tim Kang! I forgot about him from The Mentalist. Jesus, he was hot. Randall Park with facial hair is as well.

Did we add Christopher Sean to the list?

Randall is a good guy too. Very humble, deceptively witty.