Name: Anna Akana - Asians in Entertainment Key Note
Uploaded: 2016-08-28T00:55:58.000Z
Duration: 7 min 39 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

[Philip]: Here's... Here's.... We need a photo op, Anna, this is very important

The imperative

[Anna]:This doesn't work! [Philip]: Here, use mine. Use mine.

Two drinks in and I'm on medication, so we'll see how this goes.

First off, I just want to say I am– I am incredibly honored to be here

when Wes and Phil and Dan told me that they wanted to give me this award.

I thought, wow, you know my years of friendship with them have finally paid off.

Yes, um, I always wanted to be in entertainment.

You know when I was a kid, I told my dad I wanted to be an actor,

so he immediately enrolled me in karate classes.

But, of course, I didn't seriously pursue my dream until I was an adult

and only because I lost my little sister to suicide.

And I realized that when I died, I wanted to at least know that I had lived doing what I had loved.

Before my sister died, I thought that I was gonna be like a military officer or a veterinarian

because that's the practical route, right? That's a realistic path.

She killed herself when I was 17, and I was a senior in high school and I did not laugh for two years.

Um, it wasn't until I saw a stand-up special on TV that I laughed for the very first time

and the person on my TV was Margaret Cho.

You know, I looked at her on stage and I was like: "Oh hey, you know, maybe I can do that."

It was the very first time I had ever seen an Asian woman do stand up and before that,

the only Asian female face I had ever seen on TV was of course... Lucy Liu.

Thank you for the one woo, appreciate that. (Audience cheers)

But it– it is all thanks to seeing that one face on the screen that looked like mine

because I was able to think:  "Oh, she's doing that, maybe I could do that too."

You know I used to think that being Asian gave me an edge in this industry.

You know you would see how hard people worked and you're like: "Oh shit, I could do way better than that."

And hard work equals success, right? That's what we're taught by our parents,

that if you work hard, success will come.

So I thought that's what must happen with Hollywood.

But last year I booked the lead role in a feature film with a major studio.

I auditioned, I did callbacks with producers, and I met with the executives of the studio at the company.

We shook hands, they told me: "Oh, we can't wait to work with you."

"We're so excited that you're the lead of our movie."

And I drove home, like, singing the Katy Perry in my car.

Because this was my dream and I was finally living it and it had actually come true.

You know I could not believe that I wasn't just like a one-line co-star on "Awkward' talking about my small boobs.

Or I wasn't like, a supporting best friend who was like, upset about a B minus.

A few days later my manager called me while I was on set, directing a short film

He was like: "When you met with those executives, are you sure that you booked the lead role?"

And I was like: "Well yeah, we were talking about the lead character,"

"We mentioned it by name, I had auditioned with that dialogue."

And he said that they'd gotten the official paperwork in for the offer,

and what I was being given was the role of the best friend.

The lead was going instead to a white woman.

And we sat in silence for a bit and then, finally, I asked him very quietly,

And he didn't say anything for a hot minute,

but then he said: "Honestly? You know, that's what I'm thinking."

"I mean what else could it be? What could have changed in those couple of days?"

That was the very first time in my career that I realized that the color of my skin,

might actually stand in the way of me and my dream.

You know we hear stories of racism in Hollywood all the time.

We've encountered racism in our real life, we're not fucking idiots.

But somehow, this was– this was so different because it had never mattered before

you know I thought: "Oh if you work hard enough, you can achieve your dreams. If you work hard enough,"

"and hone your craft enough, and are talented enough, how can a Hollywood ignore you?"

And to me it felt crazy. 'Cause it was like, I thought this lead role was the success

after seven years of performing stand-up, and being in improv and acting classes,

and writing and editing and producing and directing and creating short films

and building a following and hosting a podcast, and running a clothing line,

and audition, and hustling, and just working fucking hard.

I would like to mention, just for clarity, I was Asian the whole time.

In the audition room, in the callback, in the meeting with the producers.

'Cause for two seconds I was freaking out, I was like:

"Did I wear foundation that was like, way too light for my skin?"

I was either the best friend or I was out. So I was out.

Then, there was Emma Stone in "Aloha," there was Scarlett Johansson in "Ghost in the Shell,"

there was Tilda Swinton, and Kimmy Schmidt season 2 episode 3,

the giant middle finger to the Asian community by calling us: Respectful Asian Portrayals in Entertainment

How is this still happening? But more importantly: How can we change it?

You know, Phil had a 17 minute video about whitewashing in Hollywood,

And the one thing I took away from it that I thought he– he put so perfectly was that it starts with us.

You know? Not demanding to be included but creating our own space in this world.

To encourage our peers to be writers and actors and directors and producers

and creators, instead of letting our parents convince us that we should be doctors and lawyers and scientists.

We all need to be someone's Margaret Cho.