Asian Entertainment News & Celebrity Gossip

… but seriously DaDump is still waiting for his invitations. Now I’m going to have to TiVo the damn thing.

In any event, there were plenty of real winners at the Los Angeles AZN Asian Excellence Awards bash Wednesday which honored Asian and Asian-Americans’ contributions to the world of arts and entertainment.

Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim, a winner last year, and Battlestar Galactica’s Grace Park served double duty as the evening’s hosts and nominees. Kim went up against his Lost costar Naveen Andrews, though both island dwellers were passed over for the Outstanding TV Actor prize in favor of Heroes‘ Masi Oka.

Park, too, had to take solace in simply being nominated, losing out in her Outstanding Supporting TV Actress bid to The Office’s resident airhead, Mindy Kaling.

Malakar was also among the nominees present at the awards bash, though as expected he lost out in his category, the Viewer’s Choice Award for Favorite Reality Star. Taking home the prize instead was Survivor: Cook Islands champ Yul Kwon.

For a full list of all the night’s winners and more pics, continue reading…!!

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From Lost to the frontiers of Space

It was officially announced that Lost creator JJ Abrams will direct Star Trek XI. As a result, casting news is heating up, with all kinds of exciting speculation about where the Enterprise is headed.

IGN claims Matt Damon is talking to Paramount about playing Captain Kirk. He’s long been rumored as Abrams’ first choice for the part. Now that the script is finished and JJ is set to direct, this would be the time to bring him in for a pitch. For the role of Spock, rumor has it that King Kong and Hollywoodland star Adrien Brody is in play. For McCoy, Paramount is talking to Gary Sinise for the role of Doctor “Bones” McCoy.

George Takei, Asian American Pioneering Actor

Those three are supposed to be pretty close to getting cast. IGN also mentions Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Jin on Lost, as a contender for the role of Sulu.

The Dumpling isn’t a Trekkie by any stretch of the imagination but Daniel deserves to be in a role where he gets to speak his native language, English, because apparently the Korean he speaks on Lost is too painful for native speakers to bear.

Lost regular Daniel Dae Kim reveals his late-in-life decision to become an actor did not sit well with his parents. In fact, the Korean-American heartthrob admits they freaked out “for a little while. I was in college, and I was going to be an attorney, so this was a major career change for me. And my dad’s a doctor who wanted me to follow in his footsteps, so being an actor was the furthest thing from his mind.” Now that the show’s a worldwide hit, “I’m happy to say they’re proud of what’s happened,” reports Kim. “My dad even tries to give me career advice every once in a while. I’ll talk to him about a potential project and that I’m in discussions for this particular role, and he’ll ask me questions like `Well, how much are they paying?’ and `What are the accommodations like?’ I get a kick out of that. I love it that he cares.”

Meanwhile, according to him, this season of Lost, “My character is going to start speaking more English, which I’m thrilled about,” says Kim. “He’s going to be taking some serious English lessons, and in the episodes coming up, he’ll start to learn quickly.” [DailyNews]

Rick Yune, Karl Yune, Will Yun Lee and Daniel Dae Kim

The Korean pop-culture wave has swept Asia. Now what? The challenges to Korean stars continue, and their next target is the heart of the international movie market, Hollywood. Park Joong-hoon, Lee Byung-heon and Jung Jun-ho already have their engines revving. With their dreams seeming to come into focus, the group of top stars may even be seen in Hollywood this year.

The U.S. magazine Variety recently said of the actor, “Of all Korea’s top-ranked male stars, Lee Byung-heon may be best placed to break through internationally.” As a K-Wave star with a huge following in Japan, Lee is also already linguistically prepared for the task. In TV dramas and films he has already shown off his near-perfect command of English on various occasions.

Among actresses, Kim Yun-jin is already on the list of global stars. With her outstanding English skills, she lent her charm to the TV series “Lost” and continues to embellish the covers of international magazines. The hopeful predict that calls from Hollywood are just a matter of time.

Most actors of Korean heritage are so-called 1.5 generation or second generation, so they speak perfect English. But they had their share of struggles, including a high cultural wall in Hollywood. But while the first generation had to be satisfied with extra or minor parts, recently actors of Korean heritage have appeared in starring roles, drawing up their own American dream. [Chosun]

Kim Yun-jin, Sandra Oh, Jeon Ji-hyun and Ha Ji-won

From Reality TV (Survivor: Cook Islands, Amazing Race) to top rated series (LOST, Heroes, CSI, Prison Break), Asian Americans are conspicuous on American television and this time, according to a recent AsianWeek article, for all the right reasons. No longer relegated to cooking shows, stereotypical side characters or news co-anchors, Asian faces are appearing as *gasp* their normal selves! Read more about this revolutionary concept and their increasing popularity at [AsianWeek]

In addition to John Cho being named one of People’s “Sexiest Men Alive” (see earlier posting), three other Asian American men were mentioned in the same issue. They include Hong Kong’s Edison Chen, the multi-talented Asian superstar, actor, rapper, and fashion designer, Daniel Dae Kim, the Korean American on the hit series LOST, and Yul Kwon, the 31year old Korean American Survivor contestant who graduated from Stanford and Yale Law and is now a management consultant.

Congrats to them and here’s to FINALLY getting rid of that William “She Bang, She Bang” Hung stereotype!

With his hit ABC show, Lost, well into its third season, it looks like Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Jin-Soo Kwon, is settling down in Hawaii.

The Los Angeles Times recently reported that the 38-year-old actor recently paid about $1.5 million for a four-bedroom, 3,500-square-foot house on Oahu. The property also has an office and a media room. Former Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Covergirl, Kathy Ireland, is his current neighbor with reports swirling that Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz are looking into nearby properties. At this rate, Daniel is never going to want to leave that island, both on TV and in real life!

As Korean dramas and movies spread like wildfire in Asia, a different form of ‘hallyu’ or Korean Wave seems to be taking place in the U.S.

Hollywood appears to be catching on to the so-called Korean Wave, as Korean-American and Korean characters are popping up in some top-rating U.S. TV shows and movies.

Strong-willed surgical intern Christina Yang in “Grey’s Anatomy,’’ rock band drummer Lane Kim in “Gilmore Girls’’ and mysterious married couple Sun and Jin in “Lost’’ are just some of the Korean and Korean-American characters on popular shows.

“It seems Korean (culture) is the ‘in culture’ among Asian cultures in the U.S. There are now a lot of Korean-American roles. Korean American actors and actresses are gaining a foothold in American TV series like Grey’s Anatomy,’’ Chung told The Korea Times.

Unlike in the past where Korean-American actors were usually limited to playing “token’’ Asian roles such as neighborhood grocer, dry-cleaner or someone who speaks in halting English, now Korean-Americans are playing more complex characters.

These roles are not too focused on the Korean or Asian aspects; instead they show the characters as fully integrated into American society.

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