For a long time, Asians were portrayed as weak, nerdy and uncool in Hollywood—until Hong Kong-American actor Bruce Lee first upended this image with his martial arts moves and roles as the “strong Chinese hero” in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, a new generation of martial artists are taking over the screen; some of whom are mixed race and are at an intersection between east and west as they take up the “stereotypical” Asian practice of martial arts in western films. Tatler speaks to three mixed race action film stars on their experience in the martial arts and film scenes.
PICK LOVE NOT WAR: JASON TOBIN
From self-defence to landing diverse acting roles, martial arts have helped the actor find his place in the world
Jason Tobin is elated about his role in A Thousand Blows, a historical drama series slated for release this October on Disney+. He plays a Chinese man who runs a boarding house in 1830s Victorian London, where gangsters, murderers and immigrants fight for survival in the violent melting pot of the city’s East End.
Far from Young Jun, the brash, funny, martial-arts-practising gangster-playboy he played in all three seasons of the HBO action series , his character this time is mild-mannered, meek and not a fighter. “I never attempted to be Jackie Chan. I’ve always marketed myself as an actor: I want to be challenged; I want to play different things,” says Tobin, a martial artist who practises boxing, Thai boxing and Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial art. “As an actor, you get to be someone else and it’s very liberating, even for
