Celebrity 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 Diane J. Cho Diane J. Cho was the Features Editor of PEOPLE Digital from 2019 to 2022. She worked at the brand for nearly four years covering news, features, human interest, evergreen, holiday gift guides and more. She launched the How I Parent and What It's Really Like to Be …. digital series and has interviewed several celebrities and influential leaders within the entertainment industry. Prior to joining PEOPLE, Diane worked at Bustle, VH1 and Complex. She received her bachelor's degree in Journalism from Rutgers University and her master's degree from Columbia Journalism School. People Editorial Guidelines Published on September 21, 2019 04:29 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos 01 of 15 Bowen Yang 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. 02 of 15 Simu Liu 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. 03 of 15 Lana Condor 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). 04 of 15 Awkwafina 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. 05 of 15 Charles Melton 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. 06 of 15 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. 07 of 15 Lauren Tsai 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. 08 of 15 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. 09 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. 10 of 15 Jake Choi 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). 11 of 15 Lyrica Okano 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. 12 of 15 Kelly Marie Tran 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. 13 of 15 Nico Santos 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. 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). 15 of 15 Vincent Rodriguez III 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.