American actor Steve Park recalls a racist incident that witnessed the set of FriendsIn 1997. In a recent episode of the Pods Pods he meets the world, he spoke of the displaced comment of a deputy director of the time, his attempt to alert the media thereafter and the consequences in his career.
Steve Park, actor of Korean origin known for his roles in Fargo EITHER A serious manHe appeared in two episodes of the cult series, in Seasons 2 and 3, between 1996 and 1997. In one of these two episodes, he shared the poster with James Hong, an American actor of Chinese origin.
“It was a time, I had the feeling that the environment was a bit toxic,” he says, as variety relays.
“James Hong was the actor who was in the episode with me, and (the deputy director) called him to enter the set and basically said: ‘P *****, where is the Asian? Bring the Asians.”
“It goes beyond this series. This is not the first time,” he continues. “It was a normal environment in Hollywood in 1997, I imagine. And nobody felt the need to correct it or say anything. Therefore, it was normal behavior.”
Attempt to alert
Steve Park says he sent an open letter to Los Angeles Times by the Council of Screen Actors Guild, the main union of actors in the United States. And he informs that the Californian newspaper would have sent “some reporters” for the interviewer, without publishing his story.
Then he decided to send his open letter by email to all his contacts and received “responses from all over the country, from publications that asked me permission to publish it,” he recalls. “It has gone viral before there is the word viral.” Entertainment Weekly publishes an extract:
“If it were an isolated accident, I would not have been forced to write this letter. Unfortunately, I see that this attitude and this behavior are the norm in Hollywood. I know that many people who have experienced this type of indignity in the set of a film or a television series, and may be sure that this type of thing is also happening in the business world.”
“Racist crimes against US-Asian peoples are increasing in this country, and the negative portraits of Asians in the media only encourage this trend,” he added.
Hollywood extraction
Steve Park then distanced himself from Hollywood: “I had become very aware of ethnic inequalities, if angry (…) I decided to retire.”
The decision has not been final: in recent years, the actor has appeared in The French office AND Asteroid city of Wes Anderson. It is also in Mickey 17The new Bong Joon-ho movie made by Robert Pattinson, in theaters since Wednesday, March 5.
The series FriendsComedy comedy in six friends in New York embodied by Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courtey Cox, Matt Leblanc and Lisa Kudrow, has already been criticized. 20 years after its stop, it is regularly indicated for jokes that are considered transfobic, homophobic or thickness, as well as the lack of diversity of its cast.
Source: BFM TV
