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+--- Thread: Chinese actors portraying Japanese in American movies (/thread-5623.html)
Chinese actors portraying Japanese in American movies - Hashiriya - 2010-05-13
Does this seriously bother anyone besides me? I suppose it is just because Chinese actors are on average a lot cheaper than their Japanese counter-parts. But really, I just saw a Disney movie last night entitled "Old Dogs" that had a seriously bad case of this. If anybody wants a seriously good laugh, I suggest watching it just to listen to the "translator". Hearing her horrible Japanese accent while speaking Japanese to the Chinese portraying Japanese is just too funny. You can only imagine my Japanese wife's reaction to this. It is no wonder why people in America say Japanese and Chinese look the same. Because they are all Chinese!
Chinese actors portraying Japanese in American movies - Smackle - 2010-05-13
Old Dogs is a horrible movie. You should be ashamed of yourself for even admitting that you watched it.
Chinese actors portraying Japanese in American movies - Hashiriya - 2010-05-13
lol but at the same time, you are admitting that you watched it too!
Chinese actors portraying Japanese in American movies - Codexus - 2010-05-13
Don't let it bother you. It's no different than all the computer silliness or scientific non-sense you see in movies. What's important is the story and you're politely invited to pretend that you don't see the zipper on the Ewok's back so that you can enjoy the movie.
Chinese actors portraying Japanese in American movies - Smackle - 2010-05-13
Hashiriya Wrote:lol but at the same time, you are admitting that you watched it too!I only watched the trailers and got confirmation it was horrible from the reviews.
Chinese actors portraying Japanese in American movies - Jarvik7 - 2010-05-13
1) To most westerners, all Asians are the same thing
2) Chinese actors can be hired cheaper with less hassle (apparently JP acting guilds are extremely controlling)
3) Chinese actors tend to have better English
4) There are more Hollywood-famous Chinese/HK actors than Japanese actors, although this is a catch-22
Re #1: It goes in reverse too. To Japanese people all non-Asian foreigners are the same thing, which is why you get Nigerians/Germans/etc who can barely speak English and only with a very heavy accent playing Americans.
Also, people say that Japanese and Chinese look the same because they DO look the same. Han Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese are of the same racial stock. Visual differences are largely just due to differences in fashion.
Chinese actors portraying Japanese in American movies - Blahah - 2010-05-13
Not really any different from British playing Americans or vice-versa. Doesn't bother me at all.
Chinese actors portraying Japanese in American movies - Nukemarine - 2010-05-13
From my understanding with respect to non-Japanese playing Japanese roles where speaking English is required, there's not a wide choice to choose from. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but there aren't many Japanese actors with strong enough English skills to get roles.
Then there's the "if you build it, none might come" problem. You've got a Korean playing a Japanese character on Heroes (the Ando character and his power of awesome). Notable also were many Chinese playing the various parts in Memoir of a Geisha. Sulu in the new Star Trek movie is played by a Korean. There was open casting in all of these yet supposedly no Japanese tried out for the parts.
No offense, but Ken Watanabe can't be in every movie that requires a Japanese person to speak English. Like it or not, if a Japanese actor is going to be in anything other than a niche movie outside of Japan then they're going to have to use another language (likely English).
Chinese actors portraying Japanese in American movies - kainzero - 2010-05-13
Isn't this true in Asian movies and dramas as well? Granted, they're usually fully fluent in whatever language they're speaking (Takeshi Kaneshiro comes to mind).
Also, American movies do funny things. Both Street Fighter movies have some hilariously awkward casting. The movies themselves are hilariously bad.
Chinese actors portraying Japanese in American movies - theBryan - 2010-05-13
Nukemarine is right, casting directors would prefer japanese actors and actresses but they often go with chinese, korean, or asian-american actors because there is a dearth of japanese actors willing and able to act in international films.
However, hopefully that will change. It seems that televison producers especially are noticing the value of appealing to the asian markets and are including japanese and korean characters in order to boost international appeal.
Three big examples of course being Heroes, Lost, and FlashForward, and in FF they actually hired a Japanese actress to play a Japanese role (Takeuchi Yuuko). Hopefully this will open avenues for more Japanese roles and Japanese actors to fill them. But the language barrier still remains an issue.
Japan produces top quality cinema so there is plenty of talent but it doesn't seem to be utilized much beyond the scope of J-cinema.
Chinese actors portraying Japanese in American movies - nest0r - 2010-05-13
We've got a long way to go, but we'll get there.
Till then, I'll continue to smack people when they call the sushi I'm preparing Chinese food, I'll continue to cringe when I see someone who is obvious-at-first-glance Korean playing a stereotyped Japanese role and categorize them as part of a carnivalesque system that thrives on superficial ignorance, and yet continue to root for that same Korean or similar instances because I think it's part of a necessary arc (of which discourses such as these play a large part in helping to evolve).
Especially for Asian Americans, I also think TV is where a lot of evolution's going to come, because the stories involved can be localized and very popular (or part of the self-fulfilling prophecy about what could be popular) without having to be about 'ninjas' and 'geishas' and 'samurais'. I was really impressed with the people involved with Lost and its South Korean characters, for example.