As more and more people are taking up arms against the whitewashing that goes on in the movie business, those in the industry are increasingly struggling to defend it.
Actors themselves, like Ed Skrein, have started actively turning down roles which are meant for ethnic minorities.
After being cast as Ben Daimio in Hellboy, Skrein publicly left the project after learning the comic book character is supposed to be Asian.
He wrote in a statement on Social Media, 'It is our responsibility to make more decisions in difficult times and to give voice to inclusivity.'
And the casting directors who are still giving non-white roles to white actors are running out of excuses.
There have been claims that Asians in films aren't 'bankable', or that they couldn't find Asian actors who 'speak perfect English' (yep, someone said that), but this next one might have just topped the list as the worst excuse of all time.
An anonymous casting director has been quoted in an article for Paste saying:
'I work with a lot of different people, and Asians are a challenge to cast because most casting directors feel as though they're not very expressive.
'They're very shut down in their emotions … If it's a look thing for business where they come in they're at a computer or if they're like a scientist or something like that, they'll do that; but if it's something were they really have to act and get some kind of performance out of, it's a challenge.'
Take a moment to really let that comment sink in.
Yeah, pretty effing racist, right?
There is a lot going on here, and it might be worth noting that in the US 'Asian' usually refers to East Asian people, not including South Asians as it does in the UK.
But the people of Twitter decided to take matters into their own hands, calling out the outmoded Hollywood mindset.
A hashtag has emerged.
Asian-Americans and Asians from around the world used the tag #ExpressiveAsians to show off a little bit of the range of emotion and 'performance' achieved by Asian actors of both sexes.
Some people posted their favourite Asian actors:
Whilst others just showed-off their own physical-comedy chops:
Hopefully these Tweets will make a difference.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
