You've Seen Me Before

About this book

A sweeping memoir of an Asian American Hollywood pioneer, star of Everything Everywhere All at Once and Mulan, from coming of age under the Chinese Exclusion Act to becoming one of the hardest-working actors in the business. You might not know actor James Hong's name, but we can guarantee you've seen him before. With over seven hundred acting credits and counting, James is one of Hollywood's most prolific actors and a pioneer in Asian American entertainment. Born to Chinese immigrants in Minneapolis, Hong endured the aggressive anti-Asian racism of the 1930s, served in the army during Korean War, and--somewhere in the mix--was bitten by the performance bug that would eventually lead to a seventy-year long career in showbiz (and counting). From his iconic role as Chi-Fu in Disney's Mulan to the hilariously terrifying Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China and Kung Fu Panda's beloved Mr. Ping, James has been capturing viewers hearts for years. And who could forget his powerful, viral speech as he accepted the Best Ensemble Cast honors on behalf of Everything Everywhere All at Once at the Actor Awards? Drawing on never-before-seen archival materials and hours of interviews, this is a powerful first-person journey through James's incredible life and unique family history: a quintessential Asian American post-immigrant story, filled with new anecdotes and wisdom drawn from an unprecedented career, threaded through with an incisive look at nearly a century of Hollywood history.