15 Asian Rising Stars in Hollywood You Need to Be Paying Attention to

This talented group has been writing, directing and starring in all of your favorite films and television shows

By Diane J. Cho
September 21, 2019 04:29 PM

1 of 15

Bowen Yang

Credit: FilmMagic

Talent: Comedian, writer, actor

Best known for: Writing for Saturday Night Live, his laugh-out-loud Twitter impressions and co-hosting the Las Culturistas podcast with Matt Rogers

Upcoming roles: After making his SNL debut as a staff writer in 2018, Yang is now going to be a featured player on the comedy sketch series, alongside newcomer Chloe Fineman. Yang is the first ever Asian-American cast member to join the show.

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2 of 15

Simu Liu

Credit: George Pimentel/Getty

Talent: Actor

Best known for: Playing Jung Kim on Kim's Convenience

Upcoming roles: Marvel’s superhero Shang-Chi in the upcoming film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which is slated for a 2021 release.

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Lana Condor

Credit: Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

Talent: Actress

Best known for: Playing Lara Jean Covey in Netflix's To All the Boys I've Loved Before and Jubilee in X-Men: Apocalypse

Upcoming roles: Condor will be reprising her role as Lara Jean in not only a sequel to the film, called P.S. I Still Love You (2020), but also a third movie based on the story, called Always and Forever Lara Jean (release date TBD).

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4 of 15

Awkwafina

Credit: George Pimentel/Getty

Talent: Actress, rapper

Best known for: Albums Yellow Ranger and In Fina We Trust and films Ocean's 8, Crazy Rich Asians and The Farewell

Upcoming roles: Awkwafina will star in her own upcoming Comedy Central series called Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens, a half-hour scripted comedy loosely based on her life, according to Deadline.

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Charles Melton

Credit: Jim Spellman/WireImage

Talent: Actor

Best known for: Playing Reggie Mantle on Riverdale and Daniel Bae in the film The Sun Is Also a Star

Upcoming roles: Melton will be joining Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys 4 Life, which is headed to theaters in January 2020.

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Ki Hong Lee

Talent: Actor

Best known for: Playing Minho in The Maze Runner film trilogy and Dong Nguyen in Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Upcoming roles: You can catch Lee next in the upcoming dark comedy, Looks That Kill, which is currently in post-production according to IMDB.

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7 of 15

Lauren Tsai

Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Talent: Reality star, actress, model, illustrator

Best known for: Playing herself on the reality show Terrace House: Aloha State and Switch in the FX series Legion

Upcoming roles: Tsai hasn't revealed her upcoming projects, but based on her Instagram, she's been modeling for brands like Revlon and Rodarte.

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Alan Yang

Talent: Screenwriter, producer, actor

Best known for: Writing for Parks and Recreation, co-creating Netflix's Master of None and producing Amazon Prime's Forever

Upcoming roles: Yang executive produced the 2019 comedy, Little America, and the 2019 drama, Tigertail.

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9 of 15

Hiro Murai

Talent: Filmmaker

Best known for: Directing episodes of FX's Atlanta and HBO's Barry and directing music videos for Childish Gambino, A Tribe Called Quest, Earl Sweatshirt, Flying Lotus and more

Upcoming roles: Murai has been tapped to adapt post-apocalyptic novel Station Eleven for television, according to Indiwire.

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Jake Choi

Credit: Heidi Gutman/Getty Images

Talent: Actor

Best known for: Playing Miggy Park on Single Parents and Charles Bae in The Sun Is Also a Star

Upcoming roles: Choi will play the role of Colton in the upcoming comedy Keep Hope Alive (2020) and Richie in the upcoming dramedy Definition Please (2020).

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11 of 15

Lyrica Okano

Credit: Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images

Talent: Actress

Best known for: Playing Nico Minoru in Hulu's Runaways

Upcoming roles: Catch Okano next in the thriller Story Game as Chika and the comedy short Jelly as Becca.

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Kelly Marie Tran

Credit: Eric Charbonneau/LeStudio

Talent: Actress

Best known for: Playing Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Upcoming roles: Tran will reprise her role as Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and will return as Jules on Sorry for Your Loss season 2, which premieres on Oct. 1, 2019 at 3 pm EST on Facebook Watch.

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Nico Santos

Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Entertainment Weekly & People

Talent: Actor

Best known for: Playing Mateo Liwanag in NBC's Superstore and Oliver T'sien in Crazy Rich Asians

Upcoming roles: In addition to continuing his role as Mateo in Superstore, Santos has also filmed a TV pilot for Best Seller, a comedy that is currently in post-production and executive produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.

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14 of 15

Ross Butler

Talent: Actor

Best known for: Playing Zach Dempsey in 13 Reasons Why

Upcoming roles: Butler will be playing Trevor in the upcoming All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020).

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15 of 15

Vincent Rodriguez III

Credit: Eric Charbonneau/LeStudio

Talent: Actor

Best known for: Playing Josh Chan in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Upcoming roles: While it's unclear what Rodriguez has planned next, you can bingewatch him right now as Detective Rudy Cruz in Insatiable on Netflix.

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By Diane J. Cho