Actor Mickey Rooney did yellowface in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Examples of yellowface mainly include the portrayal of East Asians in American film and theater, though this can also encompass other Western media. It used to be the norm in Hollywood that East Asian characters were played by white actors, often using makeup to approximate East Asian facial characteristics, a practice known as yellowface.

American media portrayals of East Asians have reflected a dominant Americentric perception rather than realistic and authentic depictions of true cultures, customs and behaviors.[1] Yellowface relies on stereotypes of East Asians in the United States.

Fu Manchu, Charlie Chan, and Madame Butterfly

  • Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan were the most common East Asian characters in film and television of the mid-20th century, and they were almost always played by white actors in yellowface. (Swedish actor Warner Oland, the first Charlie Chan in sound films, did not use yellowface. He was considered to look Asian, and was typecast in such roles from early in his career.) An updated film version of Charlie Chan was planned in the 1990s by Miramax; this new Charlie Chan was to be "hip, slim, cerebral, sexy and ... a martial-arts master",[2] but the film did not come to fruition.[2]
  • Madame Butterfly, an opera about a Japanese woman who falls in love with an American sailor who leaves her, and when he returns with an American wife, the devastated Cio-Cio San commits suicide. This immensely popular opera is often performed with a non-East Asian singer playing the role of Cio-Cio San.

Before the Civil Rights Movement

YearTitleActor(s) and Role(s)DirectorNotes
1915Madame ButterflyMary Pickford as Cio-Cio SanSidney Olcott
  • Many of the film's leading roles are white actors donning yellowface to play Asian roles
1918The Forbidden CityNorma Talmadge as San San Toy
E. Alyn Warren as Wong Li
Michael Rayle as The Mandarin
L. Rogers Lytton as Chinese Emperor
Sidney Franklin
1919Broken BlossomsRichard Barthelmess as Cheng HuanD.W. Griffith
1919Mr. WuMatheson Lang as Mr. Wu
Meggie Albanesi as Nang Ping
Maurice Elvey
  • British version
1922The Vermilion PencilAnn May as Tse Chan's wife
Bessie Love as Hyacinth
Sidney Franklin as Fu Wong
Norman Dawn
  • Many of the film's leading roles are white actors donning yellowface to play Asian roles
1923The Purple DawnBessie Love as Mui Far
Edward Peil Sr. as Wong Chong, the Tong leader
Charles R. Seeling
1927Mr. WuLon Chaney as Mr. Wu
Renée Adorée as Wu Nang Ping
William Nigh
  • American version
1928Spione (Spies)Lupu Pick as Doctor Akira MasimotoFritz Lang
  • A German spy thriller
  • Romanian-German actor Pick plays the Japanese diplomat; his three couriers are played by Asian actors
1928The Crimson CityMyrna Loy as OnotoArchie Mayo
1929The Black WatchMyrna Loy as YasmaniJohn Ford
1931–1949Charlie Chan film series Warner Oland as Charlie Chan
1932The Hatchet ManEdward G. Robinson and Loretta YoungWilliam A. Wellman
  • Makeup artists had noticed that audiences were more likely to reject Western actors in Asian disguise if the faces of actual Asians were in near proximity. Rather than cast the film with all Asian actors, which would have then meant no star names to attract American audiences, studios simply eliminated most of the Asian actors from the cast.[3]
1932Frisco JennyHelen Jerome EddyWilliam A. Wellman
  • Helen Jerome Eddy, portrays Frisco Jenny's loyal servant Amah.
  • Although not a success on the original release, in recent years, Frisco Jenny has been among the pre-Code films rediscovered and re-evaluated thanks to theatrical revivals and cable television screenings.[4]
1932The Mask of Fu ManchuMyrna Loy as Fah Lo SeeCharles Brabin
Charles Vidor
1932Thirteen WomenMyrna LoyGeorge Archainbaud
  • Ursula Georgi (Myrna Loy), a half-Javanese Eurasian woman who was subjected to harsh bigotry from the other women during her school days due to her mixed-race heritage. Georgi exacts revenge by using a suborned swami to manipulate the women into killing themselves or each other.
  • Not a popular success either critically or financially, Thirteen Women has achieved a "cult classic" status in recent years. A pre-Code era film, modern critics have stated that its theme was ahead of its time and out of step with the tastes of 1930s cinema patrons.[5]
1933The Bitter Tea of General YenNils AstherFrank Capra
  • General Yen was a box office failure upon its release and has since been overshadowed by Capra's later efforts. In recent years, the film has grown in critical acclaim. In 2000, the film was chosen by British film critic Derek Malcolm as one of the hundred best films in The Century of Films.
  • According to a New York Times review, Nils Asther's make-up is impressive, with slanting eyes and dark skin. He talks with a foreign accent.[6]
  • Toshia Mori who in 1932 became the only Asian actress to be selected as a WAMPAS Baby Star, an annual list of young and promising film actresses, was billed third in the film's credits, behind Barbara Stanwyck and Asther. This was her most significant film role; she returned to minor characters in her subsequent films.
1934The Mysterious Mr. Wong Bela LugosiWilliam Nigh
  • Bela Lugosi stars as Mr. Wong, a "harmless" Chinatown shopkeeper by day and relentless blood-thirsty pursuer of the Twelve Coins of Confucius by night.
  • They did not even bother to disguise Lugosi's thick Hungarian accent. It was directed by William Nigh, who three years later directed Boris Karloff in the Mr. Wong detective films.
1936Broken BlossomsEmlyn Williams as Cheng HuanJohn Brahm
  • Remake
1937The Good EarthPaul Muni as Wang Lung
Luise Rainer as O-Lan
All of the Lead Roles
Sidney Franklin
  • All of the lead roles were played by actors in yellowface while all the extras and minor roles were played by Asians.
  • Luise Rainer won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as O-Lan.
1937Lost HorizonH.B. WarnerFrank Capra
1937–1939Mr. Moto film series Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto film series
  • Between 1937 and 1939 eight motion pictures were produced by 20th Century Fox starring Peter Lorre as Mr. Kentaro Moto.
  • Unlike in the novels, Moto is the central character, wears glasses, and no longer has gold teeth. He is still impeccably dressed in primarily Western suits, only wearing a yukata when he is relaxing at home.
  • The stories are action-oriented due to Moto's liberal use of judo (only hinted at in the novels) and due to his tendency to wear disguises.
1938Shadows Over ShanghaiPaul SuttonCharles Lamont
1939Island of Lost MenAnthony QuinnKurt Neumann
  • Anthony Quinn is in yellowface and portrays Chang Tai, a "Chinese" agent.
1939The Mystery of Mr. WongBoris KarloffWilliam Nigh
  • Boris Karloff was in yellowface as the detective.
  • Amongst the Asians in the background: Chester Gan, Lotus Long as the maid, Lee Tung Foo as Mr. Wong's Butler and door opener.
1940The LetterGale SondergaardWilliam Wyler
  • Sondergaard plays a Eurasian, a trope of the Dragonlady.
  • Variety said, "Sondergaard is the perfect mask-like threat".[8]
1942Little Tokyo, U.S.A.Harold Huber as Takimura, American-born spy for Tokyo, June Duprez as TeruOtto Brower
  • While other works had used Asian make-up to ridicule or vilify Asian features, this B movie used yellowface directly to deny a group of Asian Americans their civil rights.[9] Twentieth Century-Fox seized on one of the most controversial aspects of the homefront, the roundup and internment of people of Japanese descent on the West Coast. Little Tokyo basically developed the theme that anyone of Japanese descent, including American citizens, was loyal to the emperor of Japan and a potential traitor to America.[10][11]
  • The movie employed a quasi-documentary style of filming. Twentieth Century sent its cameramen to the Japanese quarter of Los Angeles to shoot the actual evacuation. However, after the evacuation, night shots were difficult in the deserted "Little Tokyo". Night scenes were filmed in Chinatown instead. Chinese actor Richard Loo played one of the lead Japanese roles in the film.
1943BatmanJ. Carrol NaishLambert Hillyer
  • J. Carrol Naish is in yellowface and portrays Dr. Tito Daka, a Japanese mad scientist. The speaking roles of Japanese Navy sailors were also played by actors of non-Japanese descent in yellowface.
1944Dragon SeedKatharine Hepburn, Walter Huston, Aline MacMahon, Turhan Bey, Agnes Moorehead, J. Carrol Naish, and Hurd HatfieldHarold S. Bucquet and Jack Conway
  • Based on a best-selling book by Pearl S. Buck, the film portrays a peaceful village in China that has been invaded by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese war. The men in the village choose to adopt a peaceful attitude toward their conquerors, but Jade (played by Hepburn), a headstrong woman, stands up to the Japanese.
  • Aline MacMahon was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress.
  • In Lion of Hollywood author Scott Eyman wrote that this was one of the worst of all MGM pictures (p. 364).[12]
1946Anna and the King of SiamRex Harrison, Linda Darnell, and Gale SondergaardJohn Cromwell
1946Ziegfeld FolliesFred Astaire and Lucille BremerLemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Vincente Minnelli, Merrill Pye, George Sidney, Charles Walters
  • Limehouse Blues: Conceived as a "dramatic pantomime" with Astaire as a proud but poverty-stricken Chinese labourer whose infatuation with the unattainable Bremer leads to tragedy. The story serves as bookends for a dream ballet inspired by Chinese dance motifs.
1955Blood AlleyAnita Ekberg, Berry Kroeger, Paul Fix, and Mike MazurkiWilliam A. Wellman
  • Despite the star power of its lead actors and director, Blood Alley received a lukewarm reception from critics.[14] The New York Times proclaimed, "Blood Alley, despite its exotic, oriental setting, is a standard chase melodrama patterned on a familiar blueprint."[15]
  • Far better were Paul Fix, Berry Kroeger, and Anita Ekberg, who weren't the most convincing "Chinese" in the world but who seem to fit right in with the blood-and-thunder proceedings.[16]
1955Love is a Many Splendored ThingJennifer JonesHenry King
1956The ConquerorJohn Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, Thomas Gomez, and othersDick Powell
  • The picture was a critical and commercial failure (often ranked as one of the worst films of the 1950s). Wayne, who was at the height of his career, had lobbied for the role after seeing the script and was widely believed to have been grossly miscast. (He was so "honored" by The Golden Turkey Awards.)
1956The King and IYul Brynner and Rita MorenoWalter Lang
  • Brynner (who was born in Asia, in Vladivostok,[18] which is now in Russia, and has both European and Asian ancestry including Swiss and Mongolian Buryat) reprised his role as King Mongut of Siam from the original Broadway production.
  • Moreno, who is of Puerto-Rican heritage, played Tuptim.
  • The film was banned in Thailand (formerly Siam in King Mongkut's days).
1956The Teahouse of the August MoonMarlon BrandoDaniel Mann
  • Brando spent two hours a day for the standard prosthetic eyepieces and makeup. His role was made all the more noticeable because he is the only actor in yellowface in a sea of Asian extras and secondary characters.[19]
  • Brando actually attempted an "authentic" Japanese accent and he even has some Japanese dialogue.
1957SayonaraRicardo Montalbán as NakamuraJoshua Logan
  • A movie dealing with racism, prejudice, and interracial marriage in post war Japan
1958The Quiet American (1958 version)Giorgia Moll as PhuongJoseph L. Mankiewicz
  • Adaptation of Graham Green's novel.
1958The Inn of the Sixth HappinessCurd Jürgens and Robert DonatMark Robson
1961Breakfast at Tiffany'sMickey RooneyBlake Edwards
  • Rooney's performance of Japanese character Mr. Yunioshi was later criticized in subsequent years as an offensive stereotype.[20][21]
  • The 2009 DVD re-release of the film included "a brief and necessary featurette on the character of Mr. Yunioshi, offering an Asian perspective on yellowface".[22]
1961The Devil's DaffodilChristopher Lee as Ling ChuÁkos Ráthonyi
1961The Terror of the TongsChristopher Lee as Chung King and othersAnthony Bushell
1961Flower Drum SongJuanita HallHenry Koster
  • The film and stage play were based on the 1957 novel of the same name by the Chinese-American author C.Y. Lee.
  • In 1960, producer Ross Hunter cast Anna May Wong in Flower Drum Song. However, Wong became ill in December 1960 and was replaced by Juanita Hall.
  • This movie was unusual (for its time) in featuring nearly all Asian-American cast members (one of the few speaking white parts being that of a mugger), including dancers, though two of the singing voices were not Asian ones. Starring in this movie were Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Benson Fong, James Hong, Reiko Sato and the original Broadway cast members Jack Soo, Miyoshi Umeki and Juanita Hall (an African-American actress who previously played the Pacific Islander Bloody Mary in the Broadway and film productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific).
  • In 2008, Flower Drum Song was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[23]
1962The Manchurian CandidateHenry SilvaJohn Frankenheimer
1962A Majority of OneAlec GuinnessMervyn LeRoy
1962Dr. NoJoseph Wiseman and Zena MarshallTerence Young
  • In the first James Bond film Canadian actor Joseph Wiseman played the titular villain, self-described as half-Chinese and half-German. Kenyan-born English actress Zena Marshall played the villainess Miss Taro.
196355 Days at PekingFlora RobsonNicholas Ray
19647 Faces of Dr. LaoTony RandallGeorge Pal
1965Pierrot le fouAnna KarinaJean-Luc Godard
  • Lead actress Anna Karina donned yellowface makeup during a mid-film skit satirizing the American involvement in the Vietnam War.
1965Genghis KhanRobert Morley, James Mason and othersHenry Levin
1965Marco the MagnificentAnthony Quinn, Robert Hossein and othersDenys de La Patellière, Noël Howard
1965Gilligan's IslandVito Scotti
1965Get SmartLeonard Strong and Joey Forman
  • Leonard Strong guest stars as "The Claw" in two episodes of season 1; "Diplomat's Daughter" and "The Amazing Harry Hoo", where he would pronounce his name as "The Craw" due to his stereotypical inability to pronounce the letter L, and would angrily respond "Not Craw, Craw!" whenever addressed by his mispronounced name.
  • He is joined by Joey Forman in "The Amazing Harry Hoo", who plays the role of "Detective Harry Hoo", a parody of Charlie Chan. Forman reprises his role as Harry Hoo in the season 2 episode: "Hoo Done It".
1965The Return of Mr. MotoHenry SilvaErnest Morris
  • In 1965, Mr. Moto's character was revived in a low-budget Robert Lippert production filmed in England starring Henry Silva.
  • In Mr. Moto Returns, a.k.a. The Return of Mr. Moto, Mr. I.A. Moto is now a member of Interpol.
  • The extremely tall Silva conveyed an almost James Bond-like playboy character; in the fight scenes he is clearly not proficient in martial arts. He speaks in a lazy 'Beatnik' manner.
  • Nowhere in the film is it even mentioned that Moto is Japanese. He is referred to as an "oriental" and, oddly, in the trailer, Moto is referred to as a "swinging Chinese cat". It is only when he is disguised as a Japanese oil representative, Mr. Takura, that a more stereotypical portrayal of a Japanese businessman is given.
19667 WomenWoody Strode and Mike MazurkiJohn Ford
1967The Time TunnelArthur Batanides, Vitina Marcus, and othersSobey Martin
  • The episode "Attack of the Barbarians" takes place in 13th century East Asia and all Mongol characters, including Batu Khan are played by white actors in makeup.
1968BewitchedRichard HaydnR. Robert Rosenbaum
  • Haydn portrays Japanese businessman, Kenzu Mishimoto in "A Majority of Two" (Season 4, Episode 29).

After the Civil Rights Movement

Note: This is also after the anti-miscegenation laws were repealed in the United States of America that prevented East Asian actors from playing opposite white actors as love interests.

YearTitleActor(s) and Role(s)DirectorNotes
1970The Yin and the Yang of Mr. GoJames Mason as Y.Y. GoBurgess Meredith
1972 The Paul Lynde Show Ray Walston as Mr. Temura George Tyne
  • Season 1, Episode 11: "Meet Aunt Charlotte"[24]
1972–1975Kung FuDavid Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine
  • David Carradine wore yellowface makeup to look Eurasian
1973Lost HorizonJohn Gielgud as Chang
Charles Boyer as The High Lama
Charles Jarrott
1974Arabian NightsSalvatore Sapienza as Prince YunanPier Paolo Pasolini
  • Film commentator Tony Rayns said this casting decision was likely done because the native Nepalese actors would probably have taken issue with being nude on film
1975One of Our Dinosaurs is MissingPeter Ustinov and othersRobert Stevenson
1975The White, the Yellow, and the BlackTomas Milian as Sakura ("The Yellow")Sergio Corbucci
1976Murder by DeathPeter SellersRobert Moore
  • Peter Sellers plays Inspector Sidney Wang, based on Charlie Chan and appropriately accompanied by his adopted, Japanese son Willie (Richard Narita). Wang wears elaborate Chinese costumes, and his grammar is frequently criticized by the annoyed host much the same way that Inspector Clouseau. It could be argued that Sellers' role is in itself a parody of yellowface casting in earlier films.
1977Doctor WhoJohn Bennett as Li H'sen Chang[25]David MaloneySerial: The Talons of Weng-Chiang
1980The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu ManchuPeter SellersPiers Haggard
Peter Sellers
Richard Quine
  • This is the last Fu Manchu created.
1980Flash GordonMax von Sydow as Emperor MingMike Hodges
  • Ming the Merciless is the sci fi version of Fu Manchu.
1981Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon QueenPeter Ustinov as Charlie Chan
  • In 1980, Jerry Shylock proposed a multimillion-dollar comedy film, to be called Charlie Chan and the Dragon Lady. A group calling itself C.A.N. (Coalition of Asians to Nix) was formed, protesting the fact that two white actors, Peter Ustinov and Angie Dickinson, had been cast in the primary roles. Others protested that the film itself contained a number of stereotypes; Shylock responded that the film was not a documentary.[26] The film was released the following year as Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen and was an "abysmal failure".[27] More successful was Wayne Wang's Chan Is Missing (1982), which was a spoof of the older Chan films.[2]
1981Raiders of the Lost ArkMalcolm Weaver as "The Ratty Nepalese"Steven Spielberg

Malcolm Weaver plays a Nepalese man at 36:56 in.

1982Conan the BarbarianGerry Lopez as SubotaiJohn Milius
  • The character Subotai is a 'Hyrkanian' who in the mythos of Conan the Barbarian are the ancestors of Asians and further the character is named after Subotai one of the general so Genghis Khan, but the character however is played by the Hawaiian actor Gerry Lopez.
1982The Year of Living DangerouslyLinda Hunt as Billy KwanPeter Weir
1983Reilly, Ace of SpiesDavid Suchet as Inspector TsientsinMartin Campbell
  • British ITV television mini-series
  • Episode 2: "Prelude to War"; Suchet dons eyelid makeup/prosthetics to play the Chinese character, who remarks on the disadvantages of "not being white".
1984The Adventures of Buckaroo BanzaiPeter Weller as Buckaroo BanzaiW.D. Richter
  • Buckaroo Banzai is supposed to be half-Japanese, with a Japanese father played by James Saito and American mother played by Jamie Lee Curtis.
1985Remo Williams: The Adventure BeginsJoel Grey as ChiunGuy Hamilton
  • Film based on the Destroyer book series. Joel Grey garnered a Saturn Award and a second Golden Globe nomination for "Best Supporting Actor" for his yellowface portrayal.
1986Short CircuitFisher Stevens as Ben JabituyaJohn Badham
  • Fisher Stevens plays a character from India.
1988Short Circuit 2Fisher Stevens as Ben JahveriKenneth Johnson
  • Fisher Stevens plays a character from India, whose last name has been changed from Jabituya to Jahveri in this sequel.
1991Twin PeaksPiper Laurie as Mr Tojamura (a disguise worn by Catherine Martell)Mark Frost, David Lynch
  • episodes 11,12,13,14. Catherine Martell who is presumed dead in a fire inexplicably returns as Mr. Tojamura, a Japanese banker who offers to buy the Great northern hotel. Laurie wears both prosthetics and makeup to portray Mr Tojamura.
1994Sabotage Adam YauchSpike Jonze
1996–1999Tracey Takes On... Tracey Ullman as Mrs. Noh Nang Ning
  • Ullman wore prosthetics to make her look East Asian.
1997–2002MADtvAlex Borstein and Guest Star Role Susan Sarandon as Ms. Swan[29]
1998 Something Stupid Magda Szubanski as Chu Yang Phat
  • Magda Szubanski plays Chu Yang Phat, the host of a Chinese variety show called Rei-Jing. Szubanski wore a black wig, and donned a stereotypical Chinese accent.
1999-2002 Ushi & Van Dijk Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki Dutch TV show in which Dutch actress Wendy van Dijk plays Ushi Hirosaki, a Japanese journalist. The show had local versions in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Hungary.[30][31][32]

21st century

YearTitleActor(s)DirectorNotes
2003 Micukó: A világ ferde szemmel Judit Stahl as Micukó Hungarian version of Ushi & Van Dijk. Canceled after Hungarian TV channel TV2 received protest letters from the Embassy of Japan in Budapest, claiming the program was discriminatory towards the Japanese people.[33][34]
2003 Oumi Mi Ridell as Oumi Swedish version of Ushi & Van Dijk
2004 Noriko Show Outi Mäenpää as Noriko Saru Finnish version of Ushi & Van Dijk
2005Little BritainMatt Lucas as Ting Tong MacadangdangDeclan Lowney
  • Matt Lucas plays Ting Tong, a kathoey mail-order bride. The character repeats such catchphrases as "Please Mr. Dudley!" (in a stereotypical accent) "My name Ting Tong, Ting Tong Macadangdang." "Did you have good time?"
  • The character also appeared in Little Britain Abroad (2006)
2005We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the YearChris Lilley as Ricky Wong
  • We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year is an Australian Television series, Ricky Wong is a 23-year-old Chinese physics student who lives in the suburb of Wheelers Hill, Melbourne, Victoria. He is often exuberant and tells his colleagues that "Physics is Phun" and that they are in the "Wong" laboratory. This character is largely a vehicle for parodying the stereotypical "Chinese overachiever", or model migrant.
2006Cloud 9Paul Rodriguez as Mr. Wong
  • Cloud 9
2007Balls of FuryChristopher Walken as FengBen Garant
  • Feng is a parody of the yellow peril and Fu Manchu stereotype.
2007NorbitEddie Murphy as Mr. WongBrian Robbins
2007GrindhouseNicolas Cage as Dr. Fu ManchuRob Zombie
  • Fake Trailer: Werewolf Women of the SS
2007I Now Pronounce You Chuck & LarryRob Schneider as Morris TakechiDennis Dugan
2008My Name Is BruceTed Raimi as WingBruce Campbell
2009Crank: High VoltageDavid Carradine as Poon DongNeveldine/Taylor
  • Poon Dong, played by David Carradine, is the head of the Chinese Triad. The name of the character is a pun, being both a stereotypical Chinese-sounding name and slang for genitalia.
2009Chanel – Paris – Shanghai A Fantasy – The Short MovieFreja Beha, Baptiste GiabiconiKarl Lagerfeld
  • Karl Lagerfeld Opened His Pre-Fall Show in Shanghai With a Film That Included Yellow Face.[37] Lagerfeld defended this as a reference to old films. "It is an homage to Europeans trying to look Chinese", he explained. "Like in The Good Earth, the people in the movie liked the idea that they had to look like Chinese. Or like actors in Madame Butterfly. People around the world like to dress up as different nationalities." "It is about the idea of China, not the reality."[38] Chinese persons played the maid, a courtesan and background characters.
2009HangerWade Gibb as RussellRyan Nicholson
2009 Ushi & Dushi Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki Spin-off from Ushi & Van Dijk
2010–2011Come Fly with MeDavid Walliams and Matt Lucas as Asuka and NanakoPaul King
  • Walliams and Lucas play two Japanese girls who have flown to the airport to see their idol, Martin Clunes.
2010 Ushi & Loesie Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki Spin-off from Ushi & Van Dijk
2011-2012 Ushi & The Family Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki Spin-off from Ushi & Van Dijk
2011 Angry Boys Chris Lilley as Jen Okazaki
  • Jen Okazaki is the mother of fictional teen skateboarding superstar, Tim Okazaki, who live in the city of Santa Barbara, California after migrating from Japan. Jen is portrayed as a stereotypical tiger mum, often pushing her son with extremely strict homeschooling and training regimes. She also has excessive control on Tim's skateboarding career, marketing him as not only a cute Japanese boy, but as a homosexual, of which she monetises by selling phallic merchandise under the name "GayStyle Enterprises."
2012Cloud AtlasJim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, James D'Arcy, and Keith DavidLana and Lilly Wachowski
  • A significant number of cast members applied makeup, focusing mostly on the eyes, to make their features appear more Korean/East Asian in one of the film's stories. The film is based on the idea of having the same actors reappear in different roles in six different story lines, one of which is set in 'Neo Seoul' in the year 2144. The film thus also has Asian actresses Bae Doona and Zhou Xun appear in non-Asian roles, and African-American actress Halle Berry portrayed a white character. Blackface is not used in the film, however.
2012WrongWilliam Fichtner as Master Chang
2013Ushi Must MarryWendy van Dijk as Ushi HirosakiPaul Ruven
  • Spin-off from Dutch TV show Ushi & Van Dijk. Last work in which Wendy van Dijk plays Ushi Hirosaki.
2013The Walking Dead: A Hardcore ParodyDanny Wylde as Glenn RheeDanny Wylde
  • A pornographic parody of The Walking Dead, controversy erupted over the character Glenn being portrayed by a White actor under heavy make-up and prosthetics.[39][40]
2014Baby Geniuses and the Treasures of EgyptJon Voight as MoriartySean McNamara
2014How I Met Your MotherCobie Smulders, Alyson Hannigan, Josh Radnor
2015AlohaEmma Stone as Alison NgCameron Crowe
2016 Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie Janette Tough as Huki Muki Mandie Fletcher
2017 Ghost in the ShellScarlett Johansson as Motoko KusanagiRupert SandersThe film was criticized in the United States for casting Johansson (who is not of Japanese descent) as Motoko Kusanagi. However, some fans in Japan pointed out that Motoko Kusanagi has an artificial (cyborg) body, and thus, does not have to be ethnically Japanese.[42] Michael Pitt also plays the villain Hideo Kuze, a role that is ethnically Japanese in the source material.

Yellowface worn by a character in a film

In some films, white characters, played by white actors, have played East Asians, often as a disguise.

YearTitleActor(s)DirectorNotes
1945First Yank into TokyoGordon DouglasTom Neal
  • A US soldier undergoes plastic surgery to look Japanese in order to rescue an American scientist held in Japan.
1961The Twilight ZoneDean StockwellBuzz Kulik
  • Stockwell plays an American officer in World War II who mysteriously finds himself in the body of a Japanese officer three years earlier.
1962My GeishaShirley MacLaineJack Cardiff
1965Gendarme in New YorkLouis de Funès and Geneviève GradJean Girault
  • Officer Cruchot and his daughter Nicole disguise themselves as Chinese in one scene.
1967You Only Live TwiceSean ConneryLewis Gilbert
  • James Bond disguises himself as a Japanese bridegroom in order to elude SPECTRE assassins.
1978Revenge of the Pink PantherPeter SellersBlake Edwards
  • Inspector Clouseau had many disguises and this included the quintessential Chinaman stereotype.
1981Hardly WorkingJerry LewisJerry Lewis
1987Snow WhiteDiana RiggMichael Berz
  • The Evil Queen disguises herself as an evil geisha merchant, even going as far as to do a mock Japanese accent, to kill Snow White with poisoned combs.
1999Galaxy QuestTony ShalhoubDean Parisot
  • Tony Shalhoub's character, Fred Kwan played East Asian Chief Engineer Chen wearing yellowface makeup in the fictional 1970s TV series Galaxy Quest. Shalhoub's role is a parody of yellowface casting in the past.
2001VidocqInés SastrePitof
  • Sastre's character, Préah, who is a dancer in a brothel, disguises as an East Asian in order to attract audience.
2008Be Kind RewindJack BlackMichel Gondry
2011Sherlock Holmes: A Game of ShadowsRobert Downey Jr.Guy Ritchie
  • The character of Sherlock Holmes donned yellowface to disguise himself as a Chinese man for a short while in the film.
2014Magic in the MoonlightColin Firth as Wei Ling SooWoody Allen
  • Colin Firth portrays an Englishman who dons yellowface in order to pass as a Chinese illusionist.

Books about yellowface

  • Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era (2022) by Esther Kim [44] - provides history and examples of yellowface

See also

References

  1. Kashiwabara, Amy, Vanishing Son: The Appearance, Disappearance, and Assimilation of the Asian-American Man in American Mainstream Media, UC Berkeley Media Resources Center, archived from the original on September 22, 2018
  2. 1 2 3 Sengupta, Somini (January 5, 1997). "Charlie Chan, Retooled for the '90s". The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  3. "The Hatchet Man". Tcm.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  4. "Frisco Jenny". Tcm.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  5. Basinger, Jeanine (June 16, 2008). "Few female ensemble films". Variety.
  6. Hall, Mordaunt (January 12, 1933). "Radio City Music Hall Shows a Melodrama of China as Its First Pictorial Attraction". The New York Times.
  7. "Lost Horizon (1937)". Tcm.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  8. "The Letter". Variety. December 31, 1939. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  9. "Selective Filmography". Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  10. Hal Erickson (2012). "Movies: About Little Tokyo, USA". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012.
  11. "At the Palace". The New York Times. August 7, 1942. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012.
  12. Dargis, Manohla (July 10, 2005). "'Lion of Hollywood': Mogul of Make-Believe". The New York Times.
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