My new hero, Roger Fan, airs his complaints about the Hollywood Establishment (HE) in a blog he and some colleagues have been maintaining. It's a must-read for any Asian looking to start a career in Hollywood as an actor. If you're already here, you already know this stuff, but it's enjoyable nevertheless. Of course, most of you actors will continue to take what little scraps are fed you anyway, but at least we can join along in the tirade. In fact, many of the comments are by other Asian actors.
Roger, by the way, was the one who helped me find my way in this business originally. He told me how to take a headshot, how to locate agents to send my headshot, and what to generally expect in this business. I totally respect Roger's path in this business, as he has done whatever it takes to achieve his level of success.
It does ring familiar, however. Back about a decade ago, an old friend, Steve Park, wrote a mission statement to the HE after a rather insensitive (and subtly racist) comment by an assistant director on the set of Friends.
Steve's statement was subsequently reprinted and rementioned about a million times until Mr. Park was forced to walk his talk by quitting the whole Hollywood thing and moving to New York. I miss Steve and his friendship, and I also miss his acting. He once asked me to write an editorial about his role in the movie Fargo, and I quickly obliged.
I just hope that Roger will retain some anonymity through his blog, as I doubt he intended for this commentary to reach as far as Mr. Park's did. Then again, maybe he had finally reached his limit.
