INTO THE BADLANDS Lewis Tan stars in “Into the Badlands” —INSTAGRAM
Actor and martial artist Lewis Tan was recently included in a CNN article listing Asian actors who could be the stars of their own Hollywood films. The 31-year-old actor shared an article, “‘Crazy Rich Asians’ proves Asian men can be leading men,” on Twitter.
Aside from Tan, the list included Godfrey Gao, Ross Butler and Daniel Dae Kim.
Tan, who was in the action flick “Deadpool 2,” said in a series of tweets, “Thank you, CNN … for including me on this list. There has always been Asian leading men; most … of Hollywood refused to see it, [and] they stereotyped us. I grew up watching this with my father, but it didn’t stop him. He built his own path.”
Tan’s stuntman father, Philip, played one of the Joker’s thugs in the 1989 “Batman” film.
The “Into the Badlands” actor added: “It didn’t stop those greats who paved the way and fought for every inch before this was a ‘trend’ or headline news, and it certainly hasn’t stopped me for the last 10 years. I have turned down more jobs than the ones I have taken even when I had nothing, spoken out even when it cost me. I am here for legacy, good work and the future generations.”
Tan, who is currently working on the Netflix series “Wu Assassins,” said he is “proud of all the progress” Asians have made: “[I’m] grateful for this time and confident in our future as artists. This pressure has made us great.”—OLIVER PULUMBARIT
Lewis Tan is working on the show “Wu Assassins”