During the Critics Choice Association (CCA)’s Inaugural Celebration of Asian Pacific Cinema & Television, veteran actor James Hong received the prestigious Icon award along with a few other awardees.
The veteran actor reflects on his over 700 roles and how Asian representation has changed: “When I was a kid, ‘The Good Earth’ was played by Caucasian leads that taped their eyes up.”
In his speech, Hong commended Asian-American creatives for “carrying through” work to advance their careers in the entertainment world and emphasized that his ultimate goal was to stop hatred and boost the whole level of Asian-Americans.
“To see an organization collect all these people together and work together and stop this hatred for Asians is our main goal, I think, and just boost the whole level of Asian-Americans,” Hong mentioned to the PA News Agency.
Held at Fairmont Century Plaza, CCA’s celebrity-filled event highlighted both new and experienced talents and featured other notable figures from the Asian film industry.
At the age of 93, the veteran vigorously demonstrated a few martial arts movements for the photographers with a smile on his face during the occasion.
In his more than six decades-old career, Hong is a well-accomplished actor with hundreds of film and television credits who co-founded the East West Players in 1965, making him more than deserving to receive the Icon award.
The actor stated that CCA is perhaps one of the pioneering organizations that promote culture.
