Is Asian representation in media going beyond supporting roles?

Asian American and Pacific Islanders – or AAPI – are the fastest-growing major racial and ethnic group in the United States. With more than 25 million Asian Americans living in the U.S. and the tremendous success of movies like “K-Pop Demon Hunters”; streaming shows like “The Summer I Turned Pretty”; the popularity of sports stars like Olympic skater Alyssa Liu and baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani; plus the worldwide fandom of bands like BTS, it’s surprising how *little* representation for Asian and AAPI stories there is on-screen. In a 2025 study by The Asian American Foundation, 37 percent of Americans said they couldn’t think of ONE film with an Asian American character. So what’s the status on Asian representation on the big and little screen?