In honor of Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we are joined by actors from across film and television for a special roundtable discussion. Desmond Chiam (Marvel's Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Prime Video's With Love), Max Huang (Warner Bros. Mortal Kombat ), Sierra Katow (HBO Max's The Sex Lives of College Girls) and Mike Cabellon (NBC's Mr. Mayor) share their thoughts on the current state of AAPI representation in entertainment, what they hope to see more of throughout Hollywood in the near future, and the impact that some of their own roles have had on their community.
I began by asking the group if, as they look back on the history of entertainment, this is the best time to be an Asian American actor.
"So far!" Mike Cabellon replies with a laugh. "There's no part in history where I'm like, 'I'd rather have been alive then,' but I also hope that we're doing enough work that it'll be better for the next generation."
"We're on an incline," Desmond Chiam adds. "As each second passes that becomes the new best time to be an Asian American actor."
"I feel very privileged to be living in this day and age," Max Huang chimes in. "With this whole, let's call it the 'Asian Wave,' I feel that I jumped right on and feel very lucky and happy to be here."
"Hearing from actors who've been working for a long time or started a while ago, those stories, compared to what we get to do? It's like, 'Oh wow, thank you!'" Sierra Katow adds. "I like to think that our achievements are our own, but they did a lot of work -- and we get to benefit from it."
"We're definitely standing on the shoulders of giants," Chiam says.
Watch the full AAPI Actors Roundtable discussion above.
You can listen to the full interview here or wherever you download your podcasts: Apple, GooglePodcasts, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Stitcher and