George Takei is described as one of the most interesting Angeleno’s featured in L.A. Weekly’s People 2013.At the age of 76, Star Trek actor Takei has become one of the most beloved celebrities. A glimpse in the past, however, shows us that things were not always so easy for him. Takei faced the cold slap of racism at an early age. He was only five years old during the internment of Japanese-Americans in 1942 when he and his family were driven out of their home and into an internment camp.Things were not any easier when Takei decided to pursue acting. He had to hide his sexual orientation after deciding that his race was already enough for people to discriminate.
His luck finally took a turn when he got the role of Hikaru Sulu on the original Star Trek. Takei waited until he had a strong fan base, became a pop-culture icon, and had a handful of work options before revealing his sexual orientation. Today, Takei is ”now a social media maven, a theatrical producer and, with his husband, the former Brad Altman (now Takei), a poster child for marriage equality.” After enduring so much struggle, we are glad to see Takei’s success and wish him the best.
Click on to check out the other Asians featured in L.A. Weekly People 2013:
ABC announced on May 10th that they’ve picked up the pilot for the Marvel television series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Wasting no time to promote the show, a teaser trailer was also released. While it’s only 32 seconds, we catch a glimpse of actress Ming-na Wen (as character Melinda May) punching a guy in the face at the :18 mark.
Other cast members include: Clark Gregg (who reprises his role from the Marvel films as Phil Coulson), Elizabeth Henstridge (“Agent Jemma Simmons”), Iain De Caestecker (“Agent Leo Fitz”), Brett Dalton (“AgentGrant Ward”), Chloe Bennet (“Skye”) and J. August Richards.
DEPT POP-arazzi
ISSUE Spring 2013
story Hilal Nakiboglu
photo Russ Elloway
TEHMINA SUNNY
After a small role in the award-winning film ARGO, the London-born Indian actress appears next in a film with Josh hartnett and in NBC’s highly anticipated series MISTRESSES.
Audrey Magazine: First of all, congratulations on your involvement with Argo [Sunny played the Swissair ticketing agent].
Tehmina Sunny: Thank you! It was such a wonderful experience. I’ve always admired Ben Affleck as an actor, so to be actually working with him was incredible. He’s an amazing director, very respectful and down-to- earth. He had a great team around him, too.
AM: You have a film coming out later this year, with Josh Hartnett, called Singularity. Tell us about your character.
TS: I play the antagonist, Sonubai. She’s quite ruthless and not shy about getting what she wants, even if she hurts people in the process.
AM: Was she fun to play?
TS: Very. It’s only now that I’m playing the more ruthless characters. It’s fun. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting tougher, but I’m being seen more for these roles, and I love it.
AM: And Josh Harnett?
TS: His process was fascinating for me to watch. He’s opened me up to new ways of thinking about how to play a character and work with material. I’m so excited about that project. It just looks so stunning: the cinematography, the costumes, and the storyline. I believe it’ll be premiering at Cannes this year.
AM: How do you get ready for an event like Cannes?
TS: I stick to what works for me. I try to do yoga three or four times a week. Sometimes Pilates. A little bit of weights, but not too much. I love my cardio. I love spinning. I like running, because it puts me back in my own world, which I need sometimes.
AM: In her book, Mindy Kaling says that as she runs, her mind generates these detailed revenge fantasies. Does yours do that, too?
TS: [Laughs] Not quite. Running clears my mind. If I’m feeling anxious or even afraid of something, I’ll run, and it makes me better.
AM: What are you watching on TV right now?
TS: Everything. Homeland. I’m an avid Good Wife fan. I enjoy How I Met your Mother and Modern Family. I have eclectic taste.
AM: The Good Wife stars fellow British Asian actress, Archie Panjabi. Do you two hang out?
TS: She’s based in New York, so not really. But I did meet her at an Emmy party. When I was younger, I saw her in a film called East is East, and since then, I’ve followed her career. It was really nice touching base with her. She was very friendly and asked me, “How are you finding it here? How do you find the process?” And I was saying that four years ago, when I started, there was nothing. The calls that went out were very, very specific. Now, there seems to be more diversity and different roles within projects that I can be seen for. It’s great that the doors are opening.
AM: And what role would you like to see open up for you next?
TS: I’m not going to lie: I’d love to be the next Bond girl.
Holy moly. Actor Jung Seok-won (Rooftop Prince and Haeundae Lovers) makes hearts race in his latest editorial for Esquire Korea by showing off his well-sculpted body (those abs! that back!). Unfortunately the 28 year old is taken – he recently announced his upcoming marriage to singer Baek Ji-young (who’s 9 years older than him!). In any case, all we can do is appreciate his good looks (and body) from afar. More pictures after the cut!
Hannibal is premiering on NBC on April – learn a little bit about the actress who plays Beverly Katz – Hettienne Park!
DEPT Pop-arazzi
Author Han Cho
Issue Fall 2012
A Real Life Modern Family
Contributor Han Cho gets a peek into the everyday life of Modern Family’s youngest member (and her mom).
“Sorry, the house is such a mess!” exclaims Ko- rean American comedian and actress Amy Anderson, gesturing to the toys that litter the room. She scoops up her daughter Aubrey Anderson-Emmons and their chihuahua Bob Barker, only to have them both wriggle out of her arms and scramble upstairs. She laughs, “This is my life. Little person, little dog.”
DEPT Pop-arazzi
STORY Olivia Ouyang
ISSUE FALL 2012
Go On, NBC
Suzy Nakamura plays teacher’s pet to Matthew Perry’s class clown in the highly anticipated return of the Friends’ star to NBC.
Suzy Nakamura
Matthew Perry (Friends) returns to NBC as Ryan King, a sports newscaster who loses his wife in a texting and driving accident. Ryan thinks he’s ready to go back to work, but his boss, played by John Cho, is insisting that he go to therapy. Ryan reluctantly complies, wreaking havoc at the group meetings led by a woman whose only training is her previous work with a Weight Watchers outreach program. Among the group therapy members is annoying teacher’s pet Yolanda, played by Suzy Nakamara.
The art of film and television was introduced to the Philippines in the late 1890′s and although this is the youngest of the Philippine arts , it has developed into the most popular. Because of its appeal, the Philippine Entertainment Industry appears to be growing larger every year. And when we say large, we mean it. With new faces popping up everyday, it would take a very long time to name all of the young and rising Filipina Actresses currently gracing the screen.
We decided to take a different approach. Yes, there are many Filipina actresses, but who are the ones we consider timeless? Who are the leading ladies we can watch years from now and still find ourselves mesmerized by? Who’s performances bring us to tears? In honor of Women’s History Month, we present to you the Ten Timeless Filipina Actresses:
Dept: Pop-arazzi
Author: Kanara Ty
Title: Where My (AA) Girls At?
Don’t like what HBO’s Girls is saying about this generation? Then tell your own story.
Mindy Kaling.
Before HBO’s Girls was set to premiere this past spring, the comedy about 20something struggling post-grads in New York City sparked a debate about race and representation in Hollywood. My initial thoughts after I finished the first episode of Girls? Sure, it was hard for me to relate to anything that was going on on the show (I’m not white, I don’t come from a privileged, wealthy background, nor do I live in New York City), but I was immensely surprised at how
entertaining I found the show to be — namely the awkwardness/quirkiness of the female lead characters. Lena Dunham, who impressively writes, directs and stars in the show, has already been hailed as the next Tina Fey.
Dunham has yet to be dubbed the “voice of her generation” (as her character in Girls states) — and rightfully so. Having such a title bears the social responsibility of, well, speaking for a diverse generation of people who come from different backgrounds and experiences. Fact of the matter is, Dunham is talented — her writing is witty, intelligent
and full of charisma. Girls speaks of her own personal experiences; as that saying goes, write what you know. And she does a damn good job of it. Instead of pointing fingers at Dunham, we should be asking the programming departments of major television networks about the diversity in their programming — I mean, they are responsible for
what gets on the air.
Shortly after Girls aired, the extended trailer for FOX’s The Mindy Project premiered and, of course, was met with much applause. It’s been a while since an Asian American woman has taken the reigns of a comedy on a major televisionnetwork and, well, it looks like Mindy Kaling has hit it on the head. However, Kaling still sits alone, as we have yet to really see excellent programming starring Asian American talent that’s also relatable. (Sorry Maggie Q — I wish I could relate to your kick-ass assassin character, but it’s just not happening.) One could argue that Asian American programming now has a place on YouTube. You have your WongFu boys, KevJumbas and Ryan Higas. In a significant move, there’s now the YouTube Original Channels, which features programming in entertainment, beauty, sports and technology. This includes Michelle Phan’s FAWN (For All Women Network) and the Asian American pop culture blog’s YOMYOMF (You Offend Me, You Offend My Family). Speaking of the YOMYOMF Channel, I should make note of BFFs. BFFs is a comedy webseries that features Asian American actresses in the leading roles. While the series was met with lukewarm reactions, I have to say it’s a start, which is better than nothing at all.
If there’s anything I can truly criticize, it’s that there’s not enough self-expression among this generation. When the reality show K-Town (on YouTube’s Loud Channel) surfaced, it was met with so much negativity from Asian Americans whwere afraid of how they were going to be represented. But in all honesty, have our purported “positive” stereotypes (read: the model minority) played in our favor in American society? Going along with this idea of social responsibility, the key thing to note is that there are multiple voices of this generation, but many of them go unspoken. Dunham, Kaling or YouTube celebrities should not be the only ones speaking for us. Whether their work makes us happy, angry, sad or stir any sort of emotion, rather than sit back and mouth off on our soap boxes about what we think others are doing, think about what we can do right. We’re all quick to hate on each other; instead, let’s let theseconversations inspire one another.
Happy Friday! We are allowed to cheat and GIVE YOU TWO DAILY SHAG POSTS (click here for the other one). We’re giving you double-dose of Smoking Hot Asian Guy (SHAG) this week with Daniel Henney. Let us the count the ways how much we love this video – click on!
