We are experiencing an important and exciting time for Asian representation in Hollywood, with 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings proving to be one of Marvel’s biggest recent successes and Everything Everywhere All At Once winning the Best Picture Oscar in 2023, to name a few pivotal examples. Luckily, it does not stop there, as there are many Asian actors who are promising to make a real splash in upcoming 2023 movies and some fascinating upcoming TV shows in leading roles. Take a look at some of our most anticipated examples.
Anna Cathcart (XO, Kitty)
In addition to playing Cinderella’s niece, Dizzy Tremaine, in Disney’s Channel’s Descendants movie series, Anna Cathcart is best known from Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before cast as Lara Jean Song-Covey’s youngest sister, Kitty. The Canadian-born, half-Chinese, half-Irish actor (according to Bustle) is reprising the role in her own spin-off series, XO, Kitty, which premieres on Netflix May 18th and follows the teen on her own search for true love in Seoul, South Korea.
Ben Wang (American Born Chinese)
Based on the graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang, Disney+’s American Born Chinese stars Ben Wang as Jin Wang — an ordinary teen who embarks on an extraordinary adventure when he becomes embroiled in a war of godly proportions. The young actor — who also starred in a 2023 Disney+ original movie called Bo Can Dunk — shares the screen with several members of the Everything Everywhere All At Once cast (Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, and James Hong) in the series, which premieres on the platform on May 24th and is executive produced by Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton.
Greta Lee (Past Lives)
Greta Lee — an American-born daughter to Korean immigrants, as a Vogue article mentions — has been working in the business for more than two decades, from guest spots on shows like Nurse Jackie to joining The Morning Show in Season 2, more recently. However, 2023 marks her first time standing front and center in the spotlight as the lead of writer and director Celine Song’s drama, Past Lives, in which she plays a married woman who begins to question her life choices after reconnecting with a childhood friend (Teo Yoo).
Leah Lewis (Elemental)
Leah Lewis — who was adopted from China as an infant, according to Orange Observer — has gained a great deal of traction in the last few years from playing Georgia “George” Fan on The CW’s Nancy Drew TV show, leading Netflix’s coming-of-age LGBTQ+ drama, The Half of It, and voicing Batgirl on recent Batman TV show, Batwheels. The singer and actor is getting animated again for her biggest role yet in Pixar’s upcoming film, Elemental — coming out June 16th — in which she voices an incendiary young woman who forms a close bond with a water-based being (Mamoudou Athie).
Ashley Park (Joy Ride)
After breaking out on Broadway and originating the role of Gretchen Wieners in the musical adaptation of Mean Girls, Ashley Park went on to join Netflix’s Emily in Paris cast as Mindy Chen. On July 7th, audiences can see her lead the hilarious ensemble cast of co-writer and director Adele Lim’s Joy Ride, as a young woman traveling with her friends to China in search of her birth mother.
Sabrina Wu (Joy Ride)
Making their acting debut alongside Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, and Sherry Cola in Joy Ride is comedian Sabrina Wu. A child of Chinese immigrants, Wu’s previous claim to fame is writing for the Disney+ original TV show, Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.
Hudson Yang (Honor Student)
Leading the Fresh Off the Boat cast as a young, fictionalized Eddie Huang made Hudson Yang one of the most promising young talents of his generation. The now 19-year-old actor is showing his more serious side in co-writer and director Tamika Miller’s upcoming thriller, Honor Student, in which — according to Deadline — he plays a prep school student seeking to avenge his twin brother, who was killed in a mass shooting.
Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Ahsoka)
Since making her debut in 2016’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Australian-born Natasha Liu Bordizzo — who is of Chinese and Italian descent — has led an impressive career that also includes The Greatest Showman. Soon, she will be able to say she is part of the Star Wars universe as a live-action version of Sabine Wren, the popular Star Wars Rebels character, on Ahsoka, which premieres on Disney+ in August.
Chase Sui Wonders (City On Fire)
After proving to be a standout in the 2022 horror hit, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Chase Sui Wonders would reunite with Pete Davidson in the Bupkis cast (and, possibly, in a real-life romance if the rumors are true). However, know for sure — from a preview by People — that the actor is leading the cast of the new crime drama, City on Fire, which you can stream with an Apple TV+ subscription, now.
Jimmy O. Yang (The Monkey King)
After stealing the show in HBO’s Silicon Valley cast as Jian Yang, Jimmy O. Yang would also appear in Crazy Rich Asians, and released a funny Amazon Prime original stand-up special called Good Deal in 2020. According to Netflix Life, the comedian is lending his voice to the title character of The Monkey King — an animated, upcoming Netflix movie expected to hit the platform on August 18th.
BONUS: Hoa Xuande (The Sympathizer)
Following his recurring role on Netflix’s live-action series adaptation of the hit anime, Cowboy Bebop, Hoa Xuande will star as the central character of a whole different kind of thriller, set to premiere on Max (formerly HBO Max) in 2024. He stars alongside Sandra Oh and executive producer Robert Downey Jr. in the Vietnam War-era drama, The Sympathizer, which is based on Viet Thanh Nuyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a half-French, half-Vietnamese man working for Communist forces as a spy.
Keep an eye out for what other exciting projects these Asian actors have in store!