Eminently affable John Cho, probably still best known for his roles in the American Pie and Harold & Kumar franchises, is a hard-working TV and film actor with nearly a hundred credits to his name. But he can’t possibly appear in every major Hollywood production that comes along. Or can he? The parody Twitter account #StarringJohnCho, using some cleverly doctored poster art, imagines an alternate universe in which no blockbuster is complete without Cho. It’s not a bad idea. Wouldn’t, for instance, The Martian have been more compelling if the stranded astronaut in need of rescuing had been Cho instead of Matt “Always In Need Of Rescuing” Damon? The answer is yes. Yes, it would have been. Here’s proof:
Garry Marshall’s Mother’s Day currently holds a miserable 7 percent approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Maybe that score would be a little higher if only Cho had played Jason Sudeikis’ part. It’s a thought.
This Twitter account, fun as it is, has more on its mind than simply substituting various actors with Cho at random. Recently, the casting of Tilda Swinton in Marvel’s Doctor Strange has brought Hollywood’s lack of Asian representation into sharp focus. The hashtag #whitewashedOUT has been used to discuss the problem on social media. The point of the #StarringJohnCho account is that an actor like Cho, who was born in Korea, could easily fit into any number of Hollywood roles. Why not put him in a Jurassic Park sequel?
Or a Mission: Impossible movie?
It seems to be too late to do anything about Doctor Strange now, but maybe there’s room in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for at least one prominent Asian-American actor.
There. See how easy that was?