Keanu to play lead role in The 47 Ronin.
Wow. Millions of Asian people on the planet and they couldn`t find one to take a lead role. Instead they pick a half-Chinese-Hawaiian.
Ok then Hollywood. Whatever.
Keanu to play lead role in The 47 Ronin.
Wow. Millions of Asian people on the planet and they couldn`t find one to take a lead role. Instead they pick a half-Chinese-Hawaiian.
Ok then Hollywood. Whatever.
cracks knuckles What was that about half-Chinese people?
Although I agree with you about the casting.
So one of the Ronin's a gaijin, that looks more like a twist if anything.
cracks knuckles What was that about half-Chinese people?
Although I agree with you about the casting.
I take it you're half-chinese yourself?
if anything the japanese should be offended. apparently hollywood thinks they can't act.
Well only have they not hired an asian actor to play the role they have picked someone who can't even act. Reeves must really know the right people to get these roles.
@Bad-Beat:
Well only have they not hired an asian actor to play the role they have picked someone who can't even act. Reeves must really know the right people to get these roles.
Actually he's half-Asian but still.
So one of the Ronin's a gaijin, that looks more like a twist if anything.
He's the leader.
Reminds me of how ABC Family had to go and pick the most blatantly Korean girl they could possibly find to play the lead in their "Samurai Girl" series. :/
Keanu Reeves is way too overused, he is like the savior of everything in every single action movie that he is in.
Reminds me of how ABC Family had to go and pick the most blatantly Korean girl they could possibly find to play the lead in their "Samurai Girl" series. :/
Or how about The Legend of Chun Li?
Do Japanese actors really suck THAT much? Are companies THAT afraid of their Engrish? Not EVERY Japanese actor sounds like frickin' Sukiyaki Western: Django. I mean for Chrissake, even at least a Japanese American you'd think? Just….not 'Masi' Oka
The only Japanese actor that Hollywood seems to recognize is Ken Watanabe. (well, and Toshiro Mifune, but he's dead)
But that begs the question: What was wrong with using Watanabe!?
@Yusuke:
Keanu Reeves is way too overused, he is like the savior of everything in every single action movie that he is in.
Don't forget some of the comedies he's done as well. He was the co-savior in both Bill and Ted movies.
But that begs the question: What was wrong with using Watanabe!?
Going by Hollywood logic, I would presume that age is the issue there.
Reeves is half-asian? That's news to me!
But… I already knew that.
Do Japanese actors really suck THAT much? Are companies THAT afraid of their Engrish? Not EVERY Japanese actor sounds like frickin' Sukiyaki Western: Django. I mean for Chrissake, even at least a Japanese American you'd think? Just….not 'Masi' Oka
Well, out of all the anime I've seen there have been only three actors/actresses who could speak English with some fluency - Satoshi Hino, Miyuki Sawashiro and Nami Miyahara. I've never heard Hino actually speak, and Sawashiro lacks the comfortability and confidence of an English-speaking actor. That is, she's far more accomplished than someone who speaks Japanese-only, but not quite up to "actor status" if we say actors/actresses need more command of their language than ordinary people.
Miyahara is an exception, she can not only speak she can sing and her voice is like an angel's (no joke). She's only gotten into the voice acting business recently though.
The point of this is, even if there are people who are capable of fulfilling this role, it would be a chronic, financial pain to find them. Even in the robust voice acting industry there are only a handful of competent bilingual speakers, I can only imagine the difficulty in finding someone like that in the acting business. It would be easier to just pull out a strawman.
He seem like a good pick to me. And I'm pretty sure Reeves can act.
They don't necessarily have to be bilingual, you know. There are plenty of Japanese-Americans out there. And still, there's also guys like the fellow who played the mainchara in Kamen Rider Kabuto, who is just randomly fluent in English.
And regardless of anything, it's not at all hard to find actual Japanese people for roles. Hell, the fucking DISNEY CHANNEL has Koyamada Shin on call for whatever random crap they want to use him in. :/
The point of this is, even if there are people who are capable of fulfilling this role, it would be a chronic, financial pain to find them. Even in the robust voice acting industry there are only a handful of competent bilingual speakers, I can only imagine the difficulty in finding someone like that in the acting business. It would be easier to just pull out a strawman.
You`d be surprised at the number of Japanese thesps that can speak perfectly good English. They just happen to be in Indie films. But aside from that, and I do agree it IS easier just to pick some remotely Asian-looking individual with a name, there are also Japanese Americans or half-Japanese individuals as well in the acting world.
Just….Keanu???
Hmm, just thinking of all the Asian actors that have gained some notoriety here in the states
Jackie Chan
Jet Li
Lucy Liu
George Takei
Sandra Oh
Margaret Cho
Masi Oka
Daniel Dae Kim
Yunjin Kim
John Cho
B.D. Wong
James Hong
Gained Notoriety, but dead:
Bruce Lee
Pat Morita
Miyoshi Umeki
Thuy Trang
Anna May Wong
Haing Ngor
Sessue Hayakawa
Mako
Yeah, I'd say that's a fairly considerable list, but not as good as it could be (when compared to white and black actors anyway). Well, the movie'll probably suck. Truth be told, I never saw the original.
And I'm pretty sure Reeves can act.
Johnny Mnemonic
Thats case closed for me on that subject
But in all seriousness, I was joking with agreeing with the "retard" comment. I don't think Keanu Reeves is bad at all.
James Hong is awesome, I only wish he had more roles. Like Mako, his popularity has only really surged recently through television exposure - we now live in an age where people actually care about the voices behind commercials or cartoons, people are finally getting noticed.
Don LaFontaine became "famous" after that Geico commercial, even though he's been an industry legend for decades. After that, normal people knew his name and genuinely felt for him and his family when he passed.
Don LaFontaine became "famous" after that Geico commercial, even though he's been an industry legend for decades. After that, normal people knew his name and genuinely felt for him and his family when he passed.
The thing about LaFontaine, I think, is that a good amount of people were aware of the "voice of that guy who does movie previews", but that's all he really was, nobody knew his name or face. I too, must confess, that I didn't know his name or face before the Geico commercial.
But I digress.
if anything the japanese should be offended. apparently hollywood thinks they can't act.
What's strange in this case is that Asians are usually typecast as martial artists, ninja, or samurai. I guess they were looking for a real big-name actor for this one, or was scripted with Reeves in mind.
Though I never knew Reeves had Chinese ancestry. He always came across as a WASP.