Hollywood trailblazer Anna May Wong to be first Asian American featured on U.S. currency
When Anna May Wong, a Korean American actress, writer and producer, was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship in 2015, it would be the first time in more than 30 years that a woman had won the award.
Now a Chinese American actress, Wong was the first Asian American and Asian woman to be nominated for the 2019 Oscar best supporting actor/actress awards. The ceremony is April 7.
The Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Film Academy, which has presented the awards since 1988, decided to recognize Wong’s achievement with the release of a special commemorative U.S. dollar.
The movie “Little Women” is the first movie to feature a Vietnamese American actress in leading roles, but “The Last Song” is now the first movie to feature an Asian American actress as a leading role.
Wong’s nomination is an important move by the academy, said AAPI president and co-founder Chris Hoang.
“Anna May Wong brought us one step closer to ending the racism, intolerance, and bias that so many have experienced as they try to make a better world,” Hoang said in a statement.
“We owe our thanks to Anna for blazing the trail in making Asian American women’s voices have a seat at the table of power and influence in Hollywood, and honoring her with this award is an even greater testament to Anna’s tremendous perseverance.”
Since “The Last Song,” the film academy has chosen to acknowledge other Asian American women this year, including Bollywood star Iruka Utsumi in the “Best Actress” award. The academy is also recognizing a Chinese actress, Sreenu Sreenivasan, who starred in the film “Unbreakable.”
Wong is the first Asian American woman in film to receive the 2017 Asian American Achievement Award,