Daily Times

Aside from action star Dwayne Johnson’s hit movies, Hollywood’s most popular films have rarely featured Asians or Pacific Islanders in leading roles on the big screen, according to an academic study released on Tuesday.

The findings showed “an epidemic of invisibility” for Asians and Pacific Islanders (API) in movies released from 2007 to 2019, said the study from researchers at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.

They also said the under-representation and stereotypical portrayals may have contributed to recent incidents of violence and harassment against Asians in the United States.

About 7.1 percent of the US population identifies as Asian or Pacific Islander. In the 1300 top-grossing films during the study period, 3.4 percent of leads or co-leads were played by API actors, the researchers found.

Of 44 films with API actors in leading roles, 14 of them starred Johnson, the former wrestler known for the Fast & Furious and Jumanji films. Johnson’s mother is from the Pacific Island of American Samoa.

Six movies featured a female API character in a lead role, the study said. The report adds to research that has found under-representation of women, people of color, and LGBTQ characters in movies and television. In response, Hollywood studios have pledged to increase the diversity of people in front of and behind the camera.