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Virtues of Harmony II

2003

The Virtues of Harmony II is a long-running TVB television series, which follows its first series, Virtues of Harmony, a series set in Ancient China. This new, second series of the Virtues of Harmony is set in Modern Hong Kong.

Virtues of Harmony

2001

Virtues of Harmony is a long-running sitcom from Hong Kong, lasting 322 episodes with two direct seasons. Produced by Tsui Yu On, the sitcom was a TVB production and aired five days a week from September 17, 2001 to December 28, 2002. The series chronicles the comical events and life of the Kam household, a rich family during a prosperous time in the Ming Dynasty of China. The series was inspired by the 2000 TVB comedy drama Colourful Life. Originally planned to be an 150-episode sitcom, an extra 200 episodes were added due to the sitcom's rating success. After the episode finale, a spin-off sequel, Virtues of Harmony II was released in 2003, as well as a spin-off musical, which starred the same cast.

Bonnie Chiu Hok-Yee

Cast · Known for Virtues of Harmony II, Virtues of Harmony

Bondy Chiu Hok-yee (Chinese: 趙學而; born 31 March 1971 in Hong Kong) is an actress and singer in Hong Kong. She is best known for her role as Lam Yuk-lo in the long-running TVB series Virtues of Harmony.

Bernice Liu Bik-Yee

Cast · Known for Virtues of Harmony

Bernice Jan Liu Bik-Yee (born January 6, 1979 as 廖碧兒) is a Chinese Canadian actress, singer, and commercial model from Hong Kong. She has previously held the title Miss Chinese Vancouver 2000 as well as Miss Chinese International 2001, the latter position bringing her fame in Hong Kong. Liu is best known for her role as Princess Sam-tin in the long-running TVB sitcom, Virtues of Harmony, which was also her first role after joining TVB in 2001. Liu's singing breakthrough came to an attention in 2005 after she lent her voice for the theme song of the 2005 TVB serial drama, Into Thin Air. The theme song, "Truth," was Liu's first theme song and was one of the primary promotional songs for the TVB compilation album, Lady in Red (2006), which sold past 10,000 copies in the first day of release. Liu is also listed by critics as one of the few TVB artists to look forward to in a future singing career. Description above from the Wikipedia article Bernice Liu, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Jean Anouilh

Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's Vichy government. His plays are less experimental than those of his contemporaries, having clearly organized plot and eloquent dialogue. One of France's most prolific writers after World War II, much of Anouilh's work deals with themes of maintaining integrity in a world of moral compromise. Anouilh was born in Cérisole, a small village on the outskirts of Bordeaux, and had Basque ancestry. His father, François Anouilh, was a tailor, and Anouilh maintained that he inherited from him a pride in conscientious craftmanship. He may owe his artistic bent to his mother, Marie-Magdeleine, a violinist who supplemented the family's meager income by playing summer seasons in the casino orchestra in the nearby seaside resort of Arcachon. Marie-Magdeleine worked the night shifts in the music-hall orchestras and sometimes accompanied stage presentations, affording Anouilh ample opportunity to absorb the dramatic performances from backstage. He often attended rehearsals and solicited the resident authors to let him read scripts until bedtime. He first tried his hand at playwriting here, at the age of 12, though his earliest works do not survive. In 1918 the family moved to Paris where the young Anouilh received his secondary education at the Lycée Chaptal. Jean-Louis Barrault, later a major French director, was a pupil there at the same time and recalls Anouilh as an intense, rather dandified figure who hardly noticed a boy some two years younger than himself. He earned acceptance into the law school at the Sorbonne but, unable to support himself financially, he left after just 18 months to seek work as a copywriter at the advertising agency Publicité Damour. He liked the work, and spoke more than once with wry approval of the lessons in the classical virtues of brevity and precision of language he learned while drafting advertising copy. ... Source: Article "Jean Anouilh" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

2014

A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.

Peter Kohn

Producer · Known for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Peter Kohn is known for La La Land (2016), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) and The Manchurian Candidate (2004). He was previously married to Amanda Pays.

Chuck McMahon

Chuck McMahon is known for Exposure 36 (2021), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) and The Gateway (2015).

Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice (born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th United States secretary of state from 2005 to 2009 and as the 19th U.S. national security advisor from 2001 to 2005. Rice was the first female African-American secretary of state and the first woman to serve as national security advisor. Until the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008, Rice and her predecessor, Colin Powell, were the highest-ranking African Americans in the history of the federal executive branch (by virtue of the secretary of state standing fourth in the presidential line of succession). At the time of her appointment as Secretary of State, Rice was the highest-ranking woman in the history of the United States to be in the presidential line of succession.

Francine Maisler

Casting · Known for Blade Runner 2049, Civil War, Digger

Francine Joyce Maisler (born May 8, 1961) is an American casting director who has built a reputation as one of the most influential casting professionals in contemporary cinema and television. She began her professional journey at Actors' Equity Association, the union, in New York before transitioning into casting. Maisler rose to prominence after her work on the film Reality Bites, and her breakthrough into major studio and director-led film work came when she was hired to cast the ensemble for The Usual Suspects. Over the span of her career, Maisler has cast more than seventy feature films and numerous television productions. She has collaborated with many of cinema's most lauded directors, including Alejandro González Iñárritu (films such as The Revenant and Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)), Terrence Malick (e.g., The Tree of Life), and Denis Villeneuve (including Dune and its sequel). She is a recipient of fifteen awards from the Casting Society of America (Artios Awards) and has received over fifty nominations. She has also won two Robert Altman Awards (from the Independent Spirit Awards) and two Primetime Emmy Awards; one in the category of Drama for her work on Succession and another in the category of Comedy for The Studio.

Zach Galifianakis

Cast · Known for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), The Hangover, The Hangover Part III

Zachary Knight Galifianakis (born October 1, 1969) is an American actor and comedian. He appeared in a Comedy Central Presents special and presented his own talk show, Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis, which earned critical acclaim. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2017. Galifianakis has starred in films including The Hangover trilogy (2009–2013), Due Date (2010), It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010), The Campaign (2012), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) and Masterminds (2016). He has also voiced characters in animated films such as Puss in Boots (2011), The Lego Batman Movie (2017), Missing Link (2019), Ron's Gone Wrong (2021) and The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022).

Jeremy Shamos

Cast · Known for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Disclosure Day

Jeremy Shamos (born February 22, 1970) is an American actor. Shamos was born in New York City but raised in Denver, Colorado. He has a M.F.A. from New York University. Shamos is a character actor. His most notable roles are Craig Kettleman on Better Call Saul, Johanes Karlsen in Nurse Jackie, and Ralph in the film Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Shamos is also a stage actor, starring in productions including Steve Martin's Meteor Shower, Clybourne Park for which Shamos was nominated for a Tony Award, The Qualms, The Assembled Parties, Dinner with Friends, 100 Saints You Should Know, and Elling.

Geoffrey J.D. Payne

Geoffrey JD Payne was born in Warwick, New York and later raised in the artistic seaside community of Rockport, Massachusetts. At the age of 16, Payne attended a workshop in upstate NY to begin his training. There, he was scouted and went on to a mentorship for 3 years in musical theater. At age 19, Payne was encouraged to branch out into New York City. After receiving a scholarship, he attended the Weist Barron School for TV & Film. In 2006, Payne began his immersive training at the prestigious Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Upon graduation in 2008, Geoffrey appeared in several Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway theater productions. Some credits include; "Choose Your Grown Adventure", "This is Our Youth," "Books On Tape," and "Humans Anonymous". At that time, Geoffrey co-founded The Altruistic Theater Company. Since 2016, Payne acted in a short film written by the Oscar winning writer Nicolas Giacobone and director Miguel J. Soliman entitled "Desde El Principio" ("Birdman or The unexpected Virtue of Ignorance" & "The Revenant"). Other short film credits include "The Quiet" and "Boys & Toys". Geoffrey's focusing his efforts on his current work entitled "Headway".

Ken Curtis

Cast · Known for Have Gun, Will Travel

Ken Curtis (born Curtis Wain Gates; July 2, 1916 – April 28, 1991) was an American actor and singer best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the Western television series Gunsmoke. Early years Born on July 2, 1916 as the youngest of three boys in Lamar in Prowers County in southeastern Colorado, Curtis lived his first 10 years on a ranch on Muddy Creek in eastern Bent County. In 1926, the family moved to Las Animas, the county seat of Bent County, so that his father, Dan Sullivan Gates, could run for sheriff. The campaign was successful, and Gates served from 1926 to 1931 as Bent County sheriff. Curtis was the quarterback of his Bent County High School football team and played clarinet in the school band. He graduated in 1935. During World War II, Curtis served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945. He attended Colorado College to study medicine, but left after a short time to pursue his musical career. Film Columbia Pictures signed Curtis to a contract in 1945. He starred in a series of musical Westerns with the Hoosier Hot Shots, playing singing cowboy romantic leads. By virtue of his second marriage, Curtis was a son-in-law of film director John Ford. Curtis teamed with Ford and John Wayne in Rio Grande. He was a singer in the movie's fictional band, The Regimental Singers, who actually consisted of the Sons of the Pioneers; Curtis is not listed as a member of the principal cast. Possibly, he played a bit part, but Curtis is best remembered as Charlie McCorry in The Searchers, and for his appearances in The Quiet Man, The Wings of Eagles, The Horse Soldiers, The Alamo, and How the West Was Won. Curtis also joined Ford, along with Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon, in the comedy Navy classic Mister Roberts. He was featured in all three of the only films produced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney's C. V. Whitney Pictures: The Searchers (1956); The Missouri Traveler (1958) with Brandon deWilde and Lee Marvin; and The Young Land (1959) with Patrick Wayne and Dennis Hopper. In 5 Steps to Danger (1957 film), he is uncredited as FBI Agent Jim Anderson. Curtis remains best known for his role as Festus Haggen, the scruffy, cantankerous, and illiterate deputy in Gunsmoke. He first appeared in 1962 and joined the regular Gunsmoke cast in 1964, replacing Chester Goode, played by Dennis Weaver. While Marshal Matt Dillon had a total of five deputies over two decades, Festus held the role the longest (11 years), in 304 episodes. Festus was patterned after "Cedar Jack" (Frederick Munden), a man from Curtis' Las Animas childhood. Cedar Jack, who lived 15 miles south of town, made a living cutting cedar fence posts. Curtis observed many times that Jack came to Las Animas, where he would often end up drunk and in Curtis' father's jail. Festus' character was known, in part, for the nasally, twangy, rural accent which Curtis developed for the role, but which did not reflect Curtis' actual voice. Curtis married Torrie Connelly in 1966. They were married until his death in 1991 and he had two step-children. Death Curtis died on April 28, 1991, in his sleep in Fresno, California, after suffering a heart attack. He was 74. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in the Colorado flatlands. CLR From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hamish Allan-Headley

Cast · Known for Mayor of Kingstown, Daredevil: Born Again

Hamish Allan-Headley is an actor, known for Thinly Veiled (2009), Unidentified Objects and Warriors of Virtue (1997).

Tom Virtue

Tom Virtue (born November 19, 1957) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the television series Even Stevens (2000–2003) and The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008–2013).

Marianne Hoppe

Born in Rostock, Hoppe became a leading lady of stage and films in Germany. She was born into a wealthy landowning family and was initially privately educated on her father's private estate. Later she attended school in Berlin and in Weimar, where she began to attend theatre.[1] Hoppe first performed at 17 as a member of Berlin's Deutsches Theater under director Max Reinhardt. In 1935 she was hired by the controversial German actor and Director of the Prussian State Theatre under the Third Reich, Gustav Gründgens. They were married from 1936-46, until their divorce. Speaking years after the marriage had ended Hoppe stated, "He was my love, but never my great love, that was work."[1] One of the characters in the film Mephisto was reportedly based on her. Hoppe made no secret of her contacts with the Nazi elite in the 1930s/40s, including being invited to dinner by Hitler.[2] Her role in Der Schimmelreiter (The Rider of the White Horse, 1934) made her famous almost overnight, while her "Aryan" face made her a darling of the Nazi elite.[1] Later Hoppe would label this period of her life as "the black page in my golden book".[1] During her time acting at the home of the Prussian State Theatre, the Schauspielhaus, Hoppe developed her analytical approach to acting, which she stated consisted in her "taking apart every sentence" and giving the use of language a brilliance. This method was to be associated with Hoppe throughout her working life.[1] In 1946 her only child, Benedikt Johann Percy Gründgens, was born. Four years later after her divorce from Gründgens, Hoppe had a great success as Blanche Dubois in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, and increasingly played avant-garde roles, written by authors such as Heiner Muller (Quartett, 1994) and Thomas Bernhard, who became her partner in private life as well. She became a favourite of the young and iconoclastic directors Claus Peymann, Robert Wilson and Frank Castorf. Hoppe died in Siegsdorf, Bavaria, in 2002 from natural causes, aged 93. "German theater has lost its queen", said Claus Peymann of the Berliner Ensemble, whose theatre featured Hoppe's last performance, in Bertolt Brecht's Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, in December 1997.[2] In one of her last interviews Hoppe stated, "I have a go at happiness every day. That takes discipline, a virtue every halfway decent actor should have."

Charlotte Riley

Cast · Known for Edge of Tomorrow, Masters of the Universe

Charlotte Frances Riley (born 29 December 1981) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Sarah Hurst in Easy Virtue (2008) and  Catherine Earnshaw in ITV's adaptation of Wuthering Heights (2009). Description above from the Wikipedia article Charlotte Riley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Winston Rekert

Winston Houghton Rekert (June 10, 1949 – September 14, 2012) was a Canadian actor. He was best known for starring in the television series Adderly and Neon Rider. In 1985, he played the role of Detective Langevin in the American film Agnes of God. In the same year, he received a Genie Award nomination for Best Actor at the 6th Genie Awards for his performance in the film Walls. From 1986 to 1988, he starred as the lead character in the Canadian television series Adderly, a comedy drama that was a spoof of the spy genre. In 1987, he won a Gemini Award for Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Continuing Dramatic Role for his work on the series. Following Adderly's cancellation, Rekert's childhood friend, Danny Virtue, pitched him an idea for a television series that eventually became Neon Rider. The series ran from 1990 to 1995 and starred Rekert as Michael Terry, a therapist who ran a ranch for troubled adolescents. He also worked on the series as a writer, director and producer. Through the show, he became involved with a variety of youth groups and was named the national spokesman for Youth at Risk. In 2003, he won his second Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series for his appearance on the television series Blue Murder. In April 2012, he was awarded with the Sam Payne Lifetime Achievement Award—an annual award that "recognizes professional performers displaying humanity, artistic integrity and encouragement of new talent." He died on September 14, 2012, at the age of 63 after a three-year battle with cancer. ​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jacqueline Defferary

Jacqueline Defferary is a British actress. She is married to actor Alasdair Craig. Defferary's first screen role was in 1992 as Daisy in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries serial "Kissing the Gunner's Daughter". She has also appeared in several episodes of ITV police drama The Bill. In 1995 she appeared in two sitcoms starring Rowan Atkinson. In the Mr. Bean: Live Action Series episode Tee Off, Mr. Bean, she played a woman in a launderette, and in The Thin Blue Line episode titled "Yuletide Spirit", she played a homeless woman. The same year she was in an episode of the Gerry Anderson television series Space Precinct as Lynn/Srprite. In 1997 she appeared as Julie (7 episodes) in the short-lived BBC sitcom A Perfect State. In 1997 she had a role in Cadfael (Season 3, Episode 2, "St Peter's Fair") as Emma Vernold, and also played "Cicely" in the comedy sketch "Look Listen & Take Heed – Women Keep Your Virtue" on Harry Enfield and Chums. She originated the role of Sally in the stage play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick (based on the Carry On series of films), and played the role again in 2000 for its television adaptation, renamed Cor, Blimey!. In 2001 she starred in the Urban Gothic episode "The End" as Lucy Morgan. 2006 saw her feature in Elizabeth David: A Life in Recipes. In 2009 she appeared as Mrs Taylor in four episodes of the BBC One soap opera EastEnders. In 2014 she appeared in Agatha Christie: Ordeal By Innocence (TV Mini-Series) as Glenda. In 2018 she appeared in Father Brown "The Devil You Know" (Series 6 Episode 6) as Shirley Krieger. Her film credits include Red Mercury (Amanda),[7] Pandaemonium (Miss Holland) and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (Annie, waitress).

Diana Georger

Diana was born in Rochester, New York and went to Cardinal Mooney High school. She graduated from Ithaca College with a BFA in Theatre with an emphasis in vocal performance and dance. She studied abroad in London. She has a brother David, 2 years younger, who is an attorney in New York City. She lives in Los Angeles with her two boys, and husband Paul Jackson, a production designer. The film Visas and Virtue (1997) won the 1997 Academy Award for Live-Action short film. Diana was involved in the project from the very first reading of Tim Toyama's staged reading at East West Players in Los Angeles. She continues to perform regularly on stage and is an associate member of the exceptional Buffalo Nights Theatre Company in Los Angeles.

Claire Foy

Cast · Known for The Crown, The Magic Faraway Tree

Claire Elizabeth Foy (born 16 April 1984) is an English actress. She studied acting at the Liverpool John Moores University and the Oxford School of Drama, and made her screen debut in the pilot of the supernatural comedy series Being Human, in 2008. Following her professional stage debut at the Royal National Theatre, she played the title role in the BBC One miniseries Little Dorrit (2008) and made her film debut in the American historical fantasy drama Season of the Witch (2011). Following leading roles in the television series The Promise (2011) and Crossbones (2014), Foy received praise for portraying the ill-fated queen Anne Boleyn in the miniseries Wolf Hall (2015). Foy was educated at Aylesbury High School from the age of 12 and later attended Liverpool John Moores University, studying drama and screen studies. She also trained in a one-year course at the Oxford School of Drama. She graduated in 2007 and moved to London's Peckham district to share a house with five friends from drama school. While at the Oxford School of Drama, Foy appeared in the plays Top Girls, Watership Down, Easy Virtue, and Touched. After appearing on television, she made her professional stage debut in DNA and The Miracle, two of a trio of single acts directed by Paul Miller at the Royal National Theatre in London (the third was Baby Girl). Foy gained international recognition for portraying the young Queen Elizabeth II in the first two seasons of the Netflix series The Crown, for which she won a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy, among other awards. In 2018, she starred in Steven Soderbergh's psychological thriller Unsane and portrayed Janet Shearon, wife of astronaut Neil Armstrong, in Damien Chazelle's biopic First Man. For the latter role, she was nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. Description above from the Wikipedia Claire Foy licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Kimberley Nixon

Kimberley Nixon (born 24 September 1985) is an English-born Welsh actress. Nixon is known for her role as Sophy Hutton in the BBC One period drama Cranford, and appearances in various films such as Wild Child and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. She also starred as Josie Jones in the Channel 4 comedy-drama Fresh Meat and as Sarah Pearson in the BBC Two comedy Hebburn. Born in Bristol to Welsh parents, Nixon and her six brothers were raised in Ynysybwl near Pontypridd, Wales, where she attended Coedylan Comprehensive School, now known as Pontypridd High School. After high school, Nixon trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff alongside Tom Cullen and Aneurin Barnard. Before her graduation in 2007, she signed to Universal Studios after appearing in a college production of The Comedy of Errors. She is a former member of the National Youth Theatre of Wales. Nixon's career began in 2007, when she starred as the motherless Sophy Hutton in the BBC One costume drama series Cranford. In 2008, she had supporting roles in the films Wild Child and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. Nixon appeared in Easy Virtue and played one of the leads in Cherrybomb opposite Rupert Grint and Robert Sheehan, before starring in Black Death. In 2011, Nixon played Josie in the Channel 4 TV comedy-drama series Fresh Meat, and starred alongside Michael Sheen, Andrea Riseborough and Iwan Rheon in Resistance, an adaptation of an Owen Sheers novel, which was released in the UK in November 2011. Nixon starred alongside Jaime Winstone and Aneurin Barnard in Elfie Hopkins and the Gammons, a horror film about an aspiring teen detective who stumbles into her first real case when investigating the mysterious new family, the Gammons, in her neighbourhood. The film was released on 20 April 2012. In 2012, Nixon starred in the movie Offender, a thriller about a man who sets up his own imprisonment in order to avenge the assault of his girlfriend. She also had leading roles in the ITV drama series "Kidnap and Ransom" and the BBC Two comedy-drama series Hebburn, alongside Chris Ramsey and Vic Reeves. The sitcom is written by stand-up comic Jason Cook and is based on his experiences of growing up in the north-east of England. Nixon starred in the medical drama Critical, with Lennie James, Emma Fryer and Paul Bazely, that debuted on Sky 1 on 24 February 2015. She also starred in a Welsh thriller titled Kingdom of Rain, with Julian Lewis Jones and Robert Kazinsky. She took a lead role in the third season of Outlander.

Chris Tashima

Writer · Known for Independent Lens

Chris Tashima is an award-winning American actor and director. He has starred in numerous independent feature films, most notably as the romantic lead opposite Joan Chen, Allison Sie, Kelly Hu and Autumn Reeser, in Eric Byler's Americanese which won a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble Cast at SXSW. He was awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role, at the inaugural Love International Film Festival, for his portrayal of Papa Nakaji in Tim Savage's World War II family drama Under the Blood Red Sun produced by Dana Satler Hankins. He portrayed real-life educator/activist Shigeo Yoshida in the 442nd RCT origin story Go For Broke from producer/screenwriter Stacey Hayashi. Most recently, he played the hard-nosed Uncle Bob in the generational family comedy No No Girl from writer/director Paul Daisuke Goodman--for which he received two nominations at the Austin Revolution Film Festival, and he plays Hiro in Brian M. Tang's action/fantasy short Kodama, receiving its world premiere at SXSW 2023. Tashima received an Academy Award® for directing the dramatic short film Visas and Virtue, a re-telling of the heroic actions of Holocaust rescuer Chiune Sugihara. In addition he co-wrote the screenplay adapting a one-act play by Tim Toyama, and starred as the Humanitarian diplomat Sugihara. He also directed, co-wrote and starred in the WWII Japanese American internment short film Day of Independence which was nominated for a NATAS Northern California Area Emmy®. These two directorial works came from Tashima's own Cedar Grove Productions, an indie entertainment house aiming to "Boldly defy mainstream Hollywood by giving Asian Americans the close-up onscreen."