It is no news that Hollywood has had a long-raging racism problem; one that is still yet to be completely uprooted. While some actors and actresses have stepped forward to try to talk about this problem, their words have only made so much of a difference. However, Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada isn’t one to just sit straight and watch racism unfold.
For one who has been one of the most notably commended and respected actors in all of Hollywood and Japan, Sanada doesn’t fear risking his fame when it comes to matters like these. If anything, he shows more guts in calling out Hollywood over its racist practices and problems than perhaps all of Hollywood’s actors and actresses themselves!
Hiroyuki Sanada Fearlessly calls out Hollywood over its Racism
Even though Hollywood is one of the oldest and largest entertainment industries in the world, there have been quite some instances where its projects have earned massive backlash due to their lack of authenticity.
For example, casting a non-Native American to bring to life the heartbreaking story of a Native American, or casting a Chinese or a Korean actor in a Japanese role; all of which natives find to be truly offending against their respective cultures.
While this is only one example, there have been many instances like these where racism became an issue of offense for many people. For Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada, this very thing is offensive as well.
Talking to the South China Morning Post, he called out Hollywood over this very racism problem.
“Sometimes they don’t understand the difference between Chinese and Japanese people,” Sanada expressed, “and they cast Korean-American or Chinese actors for the Japanese roles. Those things happen a lot, so that’s why it should change and it must be authentic – the set, the costume, the dialogue, everything.”
However, at the same time, the Shōgun star also admitted that those times are somewhat changing now, and people are trying harder to understand the importance of different races and their respective cultures.
“I think little by little they start to understand, and they cast Japanese people for Japanese roles, like in [Minamata],” said Sanada.
Yet even as times are changing, and people are learning, there are still barriers to be broken completely, especially about people’s understanding of Japanese culture. And to do just that, Hiroyuki Sanada is all prepared.
Hiroyuki Sanada is ready to change misunderstandings of Japanese culture in Hollywood
There have indeed been multiple barriers between people’s understanding of different races and their respective cultures, and while many point these out after getting offended, not everyone steps up to eliminate these very racism problems in Hollywood. For Hiroyuki Sanada, it is the opposite.
While it does offend him to see Hollywood misunderstanding Japanese culture, instead of sitting back and pointing it out, The Last Samurai actor decided to take action and clear these misconceptions. In fact, he jumped into Hollywood with this very goal! As he told SCMP:
“Soon I got my first Hollywood role in The Last Samurai and even if I’d hated that kind of thing before – I was far from a Hollywood person – doing Shakespeare changed my mind. I became determined to jump in there and change their misunderstanding and say everything about our culture even if it was going to be my first and last Hollywood movie.”
Continuing, Sanada further expressed just how desperately he wanted to break all these barriers and fend off all these misinterpretations of people about Japanese culture. He said:
“I moved to LA because I felt there was no more wall between east and west in our industry, and if there is still one there I need to break it and make a bridge for the next generation.”
Well, for what it’s worth, Hiroyuki Sanada has more than just succeeded in achieving this very goal of his to a considerable extent, and his recent masterpiece Shōgun is only further helping him make the much-needed difference and eliminate this raging racism problem in Hollywood.
