Marvel star slates 'racist' Hollywood over name change

BBC News ^ | 31st August 2017 | BBC News

[Ennis85]

Chloe Bennet, who stars in TV series Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, has said she had to change her name from Chloe Wang in order to make it in Hollywood. The actress praised Ed Skrein for recently pulling out of Hellboy. His casting had been criticised for "whitewashing" the original character, who is of Asian heritage. She told an Instagram follower who queried her name change: "Hollywood is racist and wouldn't cast me with a last name that made them uncomfortable." "Changing my last name doesn't change the fact that my BLOOD is half Chinese, that I lived in China, speak Mandarin or that I was culturally raised both American and Chinese... It means I had to pay my rent." She added: "I'm doing everything I can, with the platform I have, to make sure no one has to change their name again, just so they can get work."

Chloe, who plays a secret agent, has previously explained how her name change led to a more successful career almost immediately. "Oh, the first audition I went on after I changed my name, I got booked," she told The Daily Beast last year. "So that's a pretty clear little snippet of how Hollywood works." The actress has since created RUN (Represent Us Now) a group which campaigns for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities to be better represented in Hollywood. She praised Skrein's decision earlier this week, saying: "DAMN, that's a man. Thank you @edskrein for standing up against Hollywood's continuous insensitivity and flippant behaviour towards the Asian American community.

"There is no way this decision came lightly on your part, so thank you for your bravery and genuinely impactful step forward. I hope this inspires other actors/film makers to do the sam. "Fellas, take note. That's how it's done."

[LeonardFMason]

Make that RACIST PEDOPHILES please.

High time to take down that sordid town. My dream is for a hundred conservative “fans’ to stealthily gather near the OSCAR’s red carpet and demand to know what Hollyweird is going to do about RACISM, SEXISM, PEDOPHILES, and the CASTING Couch.

[WashingtonSource]

What a clueless whiner. Asians, including Chinese, have succeeded in Hollwyood as Asians. Did she ever hear of Bruce Lee? Did anyone ever doubt for a second he was not Chinese?

[Altura Ct.]

so thank you for your bravery

- you and the Marines at Iwo Jima.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

Sessue Hayakawa and Anna Mae Wong were big stars in the early (”super-racist”) days of Hollywood, and they didn’t have to change their names.

[bgill]

Jackie Chan recently admitted how much he despises America. Yet, he loves his millions America afforded him.

[Herodes]

Let’s not forget Rock Hudson. His real name was Roy Harold Scherer, Jr.

Additionally...although Hudson was born in Illinois, he was reared in California.

[VanDeKoik]

THIS IS JUST A SAMPLE OF ACTORS THAT CHANGED THEIR NAMES TO MAKE IT EASIER TO LAND ROLES.

This includes blacks, whites, jews, females, and males:

Bob Hope was born Leslie Townes Hope

Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson

Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz

Woody Allen was born Allan Stewart Konigsberg

Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske

Whoopi Goldberg was born Caryn Elaine Johnson

Rock Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer, Jr

Meg Ryan was born Margaret Mary Emily Hyra

Michael Caine was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite

Dean Martin was born Dino Paul Crocetti

Ginger Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath

It isnt all about you, snowflake.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

Oops!

Correction on Anna May Wong—she was born Wong Liu Tsong.

But still retained some of her original Chinese name.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Yeah, and Arnold Dorsey changed his name to Engelbert Humperdinck.

[Steve_Seattle]

"But they are dying to make a movie with a black (and possibly homo) James Bond."

If they want a black or gay or female Bond, they should create a new character. They've already messed around too much with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, to the point of basically creating new characters out of them.

[BlueLancer]

And let's not forget my favorite Asian actor: Mako (born Makoto Iwamatsu)

Born in Japan, Mako was living there with his grandparents while his parents studied art in the United States, when Japan and the U.S. went to war in 1941. His parents remained in the U.S., working for the Office of War Information, and, at the cessation of the conflict, were granted U.S. residency by Congress. Mako joined his parents in New York and studied architecture. He entered the U.S. Army in the early 1950s and acted in shows for military personnel, discovering a talent and love for the theatre. He abandoned his plans to become an architect and instead enrolled at the famed Pasadena Community Playhouse in California. Following his studies there, he appeared in many stage productions and on television. In 1966, he won an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his first film role, as the coolie Po-Han in The Sand Pebbles (1966).

[Steve_Seattle]

There was a local sportscaster in the Seattle area in the 1960’s named Rod Belcher, and the rumor was that he was offered a job with one of the national networks if he would change his name. He wouldn’t do it, and remained a local personality, although I think he eventually moved on to another market.

[longtermmemmory]

is she the one from “alternative lifestyle” nuStar Trek going to CBS?

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Schwarzeneggar had become a name outside of Hollywood before he got there...

Well...Chloe Bennet has...um...well...wait...

Ah yes! T&A. She has that in spades. Which I'm sure had a little something to do with her getting hired. Moreso than her name.

[MichaelRDanger]

Apparently the irony is lost on the BBC that the “holier than thou” Hollywood liberals are closet racists?

[BitWielder1]

Tough call here, do I side with an actress who voluntarily changed her name to get an advantage but still cries racism, or do I side with Hollywood who is notoriously racist, sexist AND leftist.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

is she the one from “alternative lifestyle” nuStar Trek going to CBS?

No. Chloe is not on the list of actors for the new Star Trek: Discovery series.

[FlipWilson]

If you go to Google Maps and look at a picture of Hollywood and its environs from space, it’s street layouts, etc. resemble the stars and bars of a confederate flag. Not saying anything but just saying.

[dfwgator]

“Wang” is also a slang these days for a male body part.

Everybody Wang Chung tonight!

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Lucy Lu didn't seem to have any problem.