You’ve seen Sung Kang in the “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.” Here’s his funny talk show on cars. Would you want to be interviewed by Sung Kang? Funny stuff.

Have you noticed the significant increase in Korean-American actors and actresses on TV and movies lately?  Have you noticed there are more men than women in Hollywood?  You would think that there would be more women in front of the camera because let’s be honest, Korean women are great to look at which makes sense in such a visual medium.  Not that the Korean men aren’t studs but who doesn’t like looking at a Korean women?  They are undeniably beautiful women.  Then again, I guess it does take more than just looking good in front of a camera to make it in Hollywood.

This is a an anecdotal story I’m going to share and it does not provide any empirical evidence as to why there are more Korean guys than gals on the screen.  However, it does suggest something.  In my earlier days living in NYC, I roomed with actors and guys who worked at a movie studio.  I was the odd man out because I had a regular job unrelated to the entertainment industry.  I once asked one of my buddies if he ever saw Asian guys out on the audition circuit.  He quickly responded, “Are you kidding me?!  Those guys get more work than most actors out there.”  Huh?! What?  He continued to tell me that though there are only a few roles seeking Asian male faces, there were even less auditioning for them and he suggested that I just give acting a try – even though I had very little acting talent.  Well, to best illustrate this perception, let’s do a quick roll call here.

Ladies on a TV show or in a film in 2009
Smith Cho, Moon Bloodgood, Grace Park, Jamie Chung, Kelly Choi, Margaret Cho, Jenna Ushkowitz, Sandra Oh, Lindsay Price & Yunjin Kim

Guys on a TV show or in a film in 2009
Daniel Henney, Tim Kang, Ken Jeong, Aaron Yoo, John Cho, Rex Lee, C.S. Lee, Justin Chon, Rick Yune, Sung Kang, Rain, Lee Byung Hun, Daniel Dae Kim & James Kyson Lee

We may have missed a few folks but these are the Korean-Americans who were in a prominent role in their film or show.  Now 14 to 10 in favor of the men doesn’t seem like a big difference, but if we were to count up the hours of coverage or viewer impressions, then we would see the greater disparity. We don’t have time to count up every second and sum it all up but here are a couple proxies.

Weekly TV program comparison: Tim Kang, Ken Jeong, Rex Lee, John Cho, C.S. lee, Daniel Dae Kim and James Kyson Lee are in key roles on current weekly network television shows.

Movies: Only Moon Bloodgood and Jamie Chung were in big screen films this year versus John Cho, Aaron Yoo, Ken Jeong, Justin Chon, Rick Yune and Sung Kang.  And don’t forget that Hollywood is really gambling with Ninja Assassins and the predominantly Korean cast with Rain as the lead role.

So what are we trying to say?  Simple observations suggest that America is becoming more accepting of the Asian male and there are more opportunities for them.  But what about the ladies?  My conclusion is that there’s that much more competition on the female side of the fence where they’re competing against more open non-ethnic/racial specific roles.  Though they may be going on casting calls for Asian-American woman between 25-30, they’re also going on casting calls for (all) women between 25-30.  I thoroughly root for all the Korean women on the big and small screen, but I wish there were more of them up there.   Don’t you?

If you’ve been watching the baseball playoffs, you’ll notice that they keep playing the Ninja Assassin trailer during commercials.  And guess who’s the lead actor in this all-Asian affair?  It’s Korean pop sensation RAIN.  The man known as the nemesis to Stephen Colbert.  It’s coming out this Thanksgiving to kick-off the holiday season, and it looks like the studio is being aggressive by buying expensive commercial time during the playoffs.

Rain isn’t the only Korean guy in this big studio movie. Also co-starring with the Kpop sensation is Randall Duk Kim, Rick Yune and Sung Kang. Pretty cool that there all these Korean dudes in a big studio film. Check it out this Thanksgiving.

Synopsis from IMDB:  Ninja Assassin follows Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.

In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) has stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an underground network of untraceable assassins from the Far East. Defying the orders of her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), Mika digs into top secret agency files to learn the truth behind the murders. Her investigation makes her a target, and the Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi (Rick Yune), to silence her forever. Raizo saves Mika from her attackers, but he knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated. Now, entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the streets of Europe, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan.

Hold your seats because it’s going to get crazy when Ninja Assassin comes out this Thanksgiving.  This will be the first Hollywood or big studio film to have a Korean in the lead role with Asian superstar Rain.  John Cho of course shared his lead with Kumar (Kal Penn) of the Harold and Kumar franchise, but Rain will be the man in Ninja Assassin.  He’s joined by other Korean actors in this movie: Rick Yune, Randall Duk Kim, and Sung Kang.  Ninja Assassins is directed by James McTeigue who had previously been assistant director to the Matrix franchise and Star Wars.  The movie is being produced and distributed by Hollywood heavyweights Joel Silver, the Wachowski Brothers and Warner Brothers.  It’s gonna be off the hook!

IMDB Synopsis:  Ninja Assassin follows Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.

In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) has stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an underground network of untraceable assassins from the Far East. Defying the orders of her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), Mika digs into top secret agency files to learn the truth behind the murders. Her investigation makes her a target, and the Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi (Rick Yune), to silence her forever. Raizo saves Mika from her attackers, but he knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated. Now, entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the streets of Europe, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan.

See the latest action clip from Ninja Assassin.

There’s a lot of buzz in the Internet for Warner Bros’ big budget movie Ninja Assassin which has a large Korean cast in it with Rain, Rick Yune, Sung Kang, and Randall Duk Kim.  It’s set to open during Thanksgiving weekend to kick start the holiday movie season.  We’ve said it before and we’ll continue to say it: 2009 seems like the year where more and more Korean artists, actors and singers may finally make it American mainstream.

Ninja Assassin follows Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.

In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) has stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an underground network of untraceable assassins from the Far East. Defying the orders of her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), Mika digs into top secret agency files to learn the truth behind the murders. Her investigation makes her a target, and the Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi (Rick Yune), to silence her forever. Raizo saves Mika from her attackers, but he knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated. Now, entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the streets of Europe, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan.

Korean actors and singers are the most popular across Asia, and with that success, many of these artists are trying to break into the biggest country for entertainment: the good ol’ USA.  A couple of magazines have taken notice such as this week’s People Magazine highlighting the attempts of the Wonder Girls, Se7en and BoA entering the U.S.  BoA just released her self-titled American album in mid-March.  Se7en is touring the coutry from New York to Atlanta (this weekend) and the Wonder Girls just finished off their first set of concerts in the U.S. with the JYP Tour.  

Complex magazine has taken notice as well but they must have an affinity for Koreans because they’ve done polls on the Wonder Girls and Girls Generation as well as features on Jarah Mariano and Grace Park.  In a recent issue, Complex raises the flag on the Korean invasion into the American market:  ”Which Korean entertainer will become an American star?”

In their (subjective) opinion, they rate the crossover potential of Boa, Se7en, Jeon Ji-Hyun, Rain, Bae Seul-Ki and Lee Byung-Hun.   There’s certainly challenges for these artists to import their brand and talents into the U.S. market, but there are a few folks who reside state side that are doing it organically:  Tim Kang, Aaron Yoo, Sung Kang, Kim Yun-Jin, Daniel Dae Lee, John Cho, Grace Park, Justin Chon, Moon Bloodgood  and many more.  I guess it’s attacking the U.S. market domestically and internationally.