Kevin Tsujihara, The 1st Asian American To Run A Major Hollywood Studio

Okay, I'm late to the party on this one, but I had to blog about it regardless since it is a Jeremy Lin like watershed moment for Asian Americans. Kevin Tsujihara will become the first Asian American ever to be CEO of Warner Bros, let alone any major Hollywood studio and will be replacing Barry Meyer who has held the position for almost 14 years. According to the LA Times, Meyer had some kind words to say about Tsujihara,

"Everyone needs a leader, and Kevin was the person best equipped to unify the company at this time," Meyer said in an interview. "We just thought he was the best choice for the whole company...It was about the person and the character of the person," Meyer said. "The digital transition is one that is happening and it is affecting every part of our company. Kevin has really been at the forefront of that, and leading that charge, but Warner Bros. is really about the products that it makes."

I hope this means that more Asian Americans will finally have a fair shot at the big screen devoid of tokenized stereotypical Asian characters.

Jeremy Lin - Asian American Male Of The Year

It's about that time again where we start anew, but before we do, I want to give an Asian American Male of the Year award to the one and only Jeremy Lin. What Lin accomplished this year alone is truly remarkable. To go from being an NBA player who nobody had really heard of outside of the Asian community before his breakout game against the Nets, to a megastar athlete in a span of a few months calls for a resounding applause.

Far too long have Asian American men had been desperately seeking an Asian male role model to look up to outside the relic of Bruce Lee, though an unadulterated actor, fighter, philosopher and legend by anyones standards, Lin on the other hand has graced the front pages of major newspapers, magazines, mainstream media and entertainment outlets. Most Asian American parents that I knew of growing up didn't encourage their children to go into professional sports. The main focus has always been studying, which isn't a always a bad thing, but Lin achieved more than that. As a Harvard graduate, Lin not only turned the conventional wisdom surrounding Asian American men on its head, that of course being strictly academic, un-athletic and feeble, but also made up for the lost time and painful setback by the American idol reject William Hung.

Asians Majority of Silicon Valley Workers

San Jose Mercury reports that Asians are now the dominant workforce in Silicon Valley. Is it really surprising though? I guess, but when did Asians not dominate math, engineering and sciences? Its been going on for the last several decades unless you've never met an Asian person in your entire life. What I would prefer to see though is more Asian college graduates pursuing sales and marketing roles that require a different skill set and prepares for senior management.

Courtesy of San Jose Mecury

When one looks at most company management teams, the majority is still predominantly white. I don't have a problem with it personally as long as everyone has a fair shot at making it to the top. The way I see it is that Asian Americans are always hustling. As you can see from the pie charts above, it took a decade for Asians to increase their footprint in Silicon Valley by 12%. That's some impressive growth numbers and it just goes to show you that hard work and persistance pays off. 

Naturally, this can create stereotypes and lead to an imbalance where one ethnic group dominates a particular sector leaving other hidden talent to be overlooked. I believe this is unhealthy for the same reasons many Asian Americans argue for greater diversity in other arenas. For instance, blacks dominate 78% of the NBA. Yes, the same one that overlooked Jeremy Lin. And we all know whites dominate Hollywood. This infographic below says 70% of casting calls show preference for white actors.

That said, pursuing an engineering career for Asians is the perfect ice breaker for the world of technology and business, but can be limiting when there's a desire to climb the corporate ladder. The beauty of this country is that if you don't like it, you can do something about it by starting your own company as long as you have the right idea and the balls to risk everything for a shot at tremendous success. 

Take entrepreneur Brian Wong for instance. He's not based in Silicon Valley, but he is a business development techie. This guy is a smart mothafuckin' hustler i.e. a sales guy. At 21 years old he already has his own company, Kiip, that offers embedded rewards for mobile gaming apps. Okay, so he looks a tad dorky but he is only 21. Remember what Larry Ellison looked like when he founded Oracle? Look at him now: CEO, Playboy, Business Tycoon Extraordinaire. If Brian becomes a multi-millionaire or even more so a billionaire, which is highly probable, I don't think he'll have any trouble finding a hot date. 

He better watch out for gold diggers though. Yikes! 

Yellowface In Hollywood. The Saga Continues.

Here we go again. Hollywood's perpetual yellowface in blockbuster films continues. Never mind that Hollywood repeatedly fails to deliver brilliant performances based on popular selling novels and video games, Cloud Atlas is yet another forgone opportunity for an Asian American MALE actor to shatter antiquated stereotypes and finally play a role that reflects reality. I don't know about you, but all of my Asian American guy friends aren't comic reliefs, hanging from wires, demonstrating martial arts or speaking with thick Chinese accents. Warner Bros. could have easily chosen an Asian or Asian American male actor to reflect the times. Instead, Hollywood's predisposition to choose white actors in yellowface was sufficient just like they did with The Last Airbender, 21, Dragonball-Z, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Kung Fu...

"Asian men are not allowed to get intimate with beautiful women on screen." -Behind closed doors 

The movie is based on the novel, Cloud Atlas, which consists of six nested stories interwoven from the perspective of the main character of each subsequent story. One of those stories takes place in a futuristic Korea where actress Doona Bae plays Sonmi's character next to her white cast mate Jim Sturgess, you know, the same guy who played the lead role, originally an Asian from MIT in 21.

Jeremy Lin, Reinvents the Asian-American Male Image

[Update] Changed the title. I liked the phrase "soft bigotry of low expectations" but Timothy Dalrymple already claimed it in his blog. Sorry Tim!

Oh God not another post on Jeremy Lin?  Yes, and definitely not the last.

The guy was slept on for the longest time albeit several of us out there believed in him from his glory days at Harvard. You think he was slept on because race was a factor? That there were low expectations preconceived by soft bigotry in his physical appearance? No question.

Look, I've always been on the lookout for quality Asian-American role models who radically defy the stereotypes Asian-Americans, men especially, have had to endure since day one. Whether they're going around being reckless playboys, chief executives or transcendent athletes, I really don't care nor will I judge their moral code of conduct. As long as they don't wear the Asian-American stereotypical dress-code being a nerd, martial arts junkie, dorky fob or having zero Game then it's fine with me. In fact, there's actually nothing wrong with being any of those aforementioned types, but when it's the same old story that you see and hear everyday, everywhere in American mainstream media and entertainment, having to be constantly placed into one of those buckets starts to appear as if it's racially motivated.

I don't know about you, but I can guarantee there were at least several thousands of AA men who started to tear up or literally cry out of pride and joy. I'm not embarrassed to admit I was one of them. While watching him play the Lakers I could feel this sensation around the perimeter of my eyes as they were filling up with tears, ready to gush out at any moment's notice. As much as I tried to swallow them whole it was no use. I had already begun to ball. No pun intended. 

Jeremy Lin-spirational

Jeremy,

I'm pretty sure you're never going to visit my blog, because you're a wholesome guy who has much better things to do than to read this silly blog. Neverthless, I still want to give you a shout out and a bunch of props for your performance recently. It's not like you sucked and suddenly bursted on the scene. You just weren't given the opportunity to shine like the superstar you were always meant to be on the basketball court.

Since your days at Harvard I've been watching you always on the lookout for the latest and greatest Lin news. Thankfully, I didn't have to go searching on some AA blog to find you but instead easily find you on the the sports section's front page.

I hope your streak is just the beginning of many more praiseworthy games to come. Handle it!


MaSir

Tony Hsieh: The Asian-American CEO of the Year

Tony Hsieh may not be the Asian-American man of the year but he is definitely a legitimate candidate. Yahoo! published a story on their website not too long ago which really sparked my interest, because yes he is Asian-American, a male at that and in a high profile position that most Asian-Americans aren't exposed to in their careers. Whenever I read up on financial news or stories on successful business leaders, rarely do I see an AA male in the limelight. So to see Tony sitting in the drivers seat and consistently winning the online shoe business race for a renown company like Zappos, man that shit is inspiring!

Amazon purchased his billion dollar company last year and left him as CEO. He is getting paid a measly $36,000 annually to run the business which he made even prior to the acquisition. His only requirement, that he would get to run the company as a separate organization from Amazon maintaining the corporate culture he and his team nurtured. That culture is based on Happiness. He applies it across the organization, top-down to bottom-up.

If you haven't noticed already Tony has a different philosophy as a business leader than many other corporate executives that I've read or heard about. Most of the them numbers driven. How can we lower operating expenses? How can we drive revenue and increase that top line growth? How can we reduce labor costs?

The fact that he cares about his employees' well-being is a powerful statement in today's world of business. I've noticed more and more these days that the happier employees are at their company, the more likely it is to flourish and succeed regardless of the economic times. Zappos is a prime example of employing this ideology. How many times have you been disenfranchised or detracted from working at your current gig simply because you weren't happy with the way they were treating you? I bet everyone who reads this knows what I'm talking about. Even within the first year of employment, the value of a high salary may diminish very rapidly if you don't like being where you're at. 

For instance, your boss is a slave driver. He is always overworking you and demanding more without commensurate reward or recognition. Any suggestion you or your team provides goes in one ear and out the other. He just focuses on the day-to-day and never looks at the whole picture. Strategy is just a word he utters as opposed to an actionable item. Career development? Ha! Forget it. No time for that in this corporate setting we have work to do!

Then there's communication. It is lacking so much that you don't know when you're getting product and service updates until you're sitting down in front of the customer asking yourself, "When the fuck did they change this?" One of my favorites though would have to be when management establishes some sort of business objective for the year and the boss doesn't translate what it actually means to the team on a working level. How does it affect the working modus operandi? Best of all, there's the annual "Ra-Ra" cheerleading speech and presentation the executives give once a year where instead of talking about how they're going to grow the business, they yap about how they need people within the organization to "step it up". Newsflash guys, but you can't pull out the "step it up" card at every all-hands meeting and expect it to be effective. After a hearing it for the fifth time, it just becomes noise and we know the imaginary bonuses you speak of are nothing but lip service. 

This really makes me think about my current gig. My company could learn a lot from Tony...

The Return of Vanishing Son

For those of you who were too young or never even heard about this series, you're in luck.  As I mentioned in my previous blogs, the televised movie series Vanishing Son is one of the few movies where an Asian-American man gets romantically involved with a white woman.  And not just any white woman.  This was the HOT Noxema chick of the early-mid 90s who he repeatedly makes passionate love to.

As my buddy DL mentioned, it was my brotha Russell who represented and held it down for the Asian-American men out there proving, yes, Asian-American men ARE sex symbols in the country they were born in, America.


I even did the dirty work for you so you can watch the part I'm referring to when I speak of "passionate love".

UPDATED: YAAPP - Yet Another Asian PUA Post. One more for the critics.

I just read through several blog editorials on Pick Up Artists including all of the comments bashing or boasting it. One of the reviews is pretty critical of the Asian PUA movement so I wanted to shed some light on this dark topic of discussion.   Despite what critics may argue, the Asian PUA movement is a step in the right direction for Asian American men and I'll explain why.

As most institutions are formed in order to genuinely improve the lives of suffering individuals, the PUA movement is no different. Its analogous to religion. I can't think of a single religious leader whose sole intent was to boost his ego at the expense of corrupting the hearts and minds of helpless persons seeking out a higher Truth. They heard, they came, they saw and they followed. Unfortunately over time, most institutions either undergo some kind of mutation or branch off into modified wretched versions from its original thesis.  

Take Christianity for example. You have roughly 10,000 different sects stemming from the same founder. Is this what Jesus intended? I personally don't think so. I'll take it down a notch since religion is a touchy subject.  

Lets look at hip hop instead. Hip hop originated from the ghettos of NYC as an underground subculture consisting of 4 elements: Emceeing, B-Boying, DJing and Graffiti. It was a street culture that was mainly dominated by Blacks and Puerto Ricans to provide the urban youth an alternative to gang violence with the leadership of some mighty renegades: Afrika Bambaata, Rock Steady Crew, Kool Herc (he actually coined the term "hip hop"), etc.  

Now look what its become. A mainstream watered down, directionless, insipid, formulaic pop music culture associated with ballin', clubbin' and women dancing like video-hoes. This is not the hip hop that I remember and this definitely is not the hip hop that I love and pay homage to. But it has its pluses and minuses like PUAism. Hip hop is helping black people eat while contrastingly dumbing them down. I firmly believe the Asian PUA movement is no different.  

When Asian Playboy started his ABCs of Attraction, there was already a well-established PUA movement residing in Los Angeles. Before he discovered the world of pick up artistry, he had successfully achieved his goal of graduating from college and working as an engineer. However, he felt unfilled because something was missing from his life - women. This still plagues many 1st and 2nd generation Asian American men because Asian parents such as mine, chalk up this rosy fairy tale for us when we're younger. Just as women are told these "Knight in Shining Armor" or "Happily Ever After" fairy tales, here is the version I got,  

Go to a good school, get a good job and you'll find a good girl. [Updated]

Okay, well maybe it didn't go exactly like that, but it was something similar to that effect. The sad thing is, I never even went to a single high school dance. That's right. No Homecoming, no Winter Formal and no Prom. My family was too poor and my parents discouraged it. I had one of the cutest White girls in our class ask me to the Sr. Prom and even offered to pay for the tickets and I still said no. Of course now I regret it, however I had never been to a HS function before so I wasn't sure what the standard procedure was of taking out a girl to a formal dance. Had I been permitted to attend these functions beforehand, I would have said, "Fuck yeah!!".  

I had other limitations. Where was I going to get the money for a limo, tuxedo, flowers, etc? The previous week I just got my license so I was still apprehensive of driving.  Shit, I didn't even know how to slow dance! Very counterintuitive since I was one of the best b-boy/hip hop dancers back then at school. But most importantly, I had incredibly low self-esteem from being poor and socially inexperienced so part of me truly believed this girl just asked me out of pity.

My bad. I completely digressed.  

APB's adolescent experience may vastly differ from mine, but the point I'm trying to make is that he probably invested so much time on getting admitted into a good university and a respectable job that he completely neglected a key aspect of his life; his social life. Now I didn't want to endure the same kind of financial hardship like my parents did, so I only focused on school (and dancing which my parents discouraged too btw). But hey, my fairy tale of having that college education and high paying job would certainly lure the ladies to line up for me right? Uhhh...NOT. And why not? Because there are millions of other intelligent college graduates earning a decent or higher paying salary which makes me what? Average. Correction, average with underdeveloped social skills. [Updated Jan. 13th] Isn't this what the PUA movement was originally set out to address?  

There's no question that one of the primary objectives is to get laid. What man would not want to have sex with a beautiful women? (Besides a gay one). How can Asian PUAs be criticized of sexually objectifying women when you have guys like Rick Lee and Hung Lo who are performing the act on camera which is much more widely accessible via the web? The intent of both movements is to inspire and improve the masculine image of Asian American men by removing the sexual malware that has corrupted our hard drive. From my experience for instance, I've developed and improved much of my social skills by the actual application of PUA theory and its teachings. Yes, I've gotten laid from it as well, but it was not by using "brute force" techniques. Remember, its how to attract a woman.[End Update Jan. 13th]

Albeit, I never met APB but a cohort of mine attended his weekend bootcamp about 4 years ago and was mesmerized by his talent and ability in attracting women. He clearly had dedicated himself to this craft and wanted to share it with the Average (Asian) Frustrated Chump out there who probably concentrated too much on the fairy tale and not enough on the reality of social dynamics. APB believed and proved to himself that YES, things can be different. You can still play catch up and do a complete 180. You can exude confidence and pique a woman's interest by using certain gambits that are much more effective than a banal, "Hi. How are you doing?" or "I just thought I'd let you know I think you're very pretty." Women rarely respond to that kind of a conversation opener unless you're someone like Daniel Henney. And if your body language sucks, then you might as well throw in the towel before you even open your mouth. I don't think anyone is innately born as an Alpha male. We become Alpha. For some of us its through sports, entertainment or business. For others its by being outgoing and social.

[Updated: Jan. 14th]
I read somewhere that Tom Cruise said if people focused on improving other aspects of their life instead of pretending, then they wouldn't need this. No offense but its easy to claim this if you're a world renown celebrity such as Tom Cruise, The Last Samurai, whose role in the movie ironically reinforces the AF/WM image many of us detest so fervently. He is a deviation from the average Asian American male. Besides, if this is the only aspect of your life which needs improvement, then what makes it any different from improving the other aspects of your life?  

To summarize it all, APB and other Asian PUAs intentions are to improve the social lives of Asian American men who lack even the most rudimentary skills to converse with both women and men in a diverse social setting. Everyone eventually has sex whether or not you're PUA. There will always be bad apples who abuse what the framers of the institution intended, but don't denounce an entire movement that is helping Asian American brothers overcome their approach anxieties with women. Especially when its countering the stereotype that we have zero Game and are considered the bottom of the barrel in the dating pool.  That ain't so Alpha.
[End Update Jan. 14th]

Investing in the Asian American Nation Part II: Far East Movement

During the earlier part of December, I posted a blog on the necessities of investing in an Asian American identity which has been discussed and debated about on several other AA blog sites.  I'm sure as many of you would expect this course of galvanizing of AAs is an inevitable and natural progression of the community prior to the next transitional phase of assimilation.

There are already multiple instances of this "lumping" of Asians and AAs showing up in Hollywood with movies such as Memoirs of a Geisha, Ninja Assassin and G.I. Joe.  You may be thinking this is the power of Hollywood at work, but AAs are coming together voluntarily to produce something much more grandiose.  Here's what I mean.

The LA Times recently ran an article about a unique up and coming multi-ethnic AA hip hop group called Far East Movement.  The group consists of a Filipino American DJ, a half Chinese and Japanese guy and two Koreans.  It's funny because I heard there music on TV and other random places but never knew they are in fact AA. Luckily, the web keeps me abreast of the latest trends in American  entertainment and it appears as Far East Movement is amassing a huge fan base among AA and other ethnic groups. The progressive nature of music and its multi-ethnic artists today must be reckoned with, and it appears that the head of A&R at Interscope Records actually realized this to sign them.  Is this a sign of things to come for AA striving to break into the US music industry?  It's quite possible.  I hope they produce a groundbreaking album next year with their debut on a major record label.

Congratulations to FM for your diligence, dedication and hustle.

Kristie Yamaguchi, Michelle Kwan and now Yuna Kim

She glides across the frozen stage spinning triple axel and toe-loop combinations immaculately yet easily. Powerfully yet gracefully.  On par with other Asian skating legends Kristie Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan, Yuna Kim, representing South Korea, has become the new poster child of the classic winter sport and achieved celebrity status back home. No joke. I see her in advertisements practically everywhere I go in Seoul.  By the way, her name is pronounced YUH-na, NOT YOO-na. 

At only 19 years young, she has gone from an upcoming woman's figure skater to a reigning world champion dazzling audiences, judge panels and viewers like myself. I'll be the first to admit, I'm not a die hard fan of the sport unless I'm watching skating prodigy Jimmy McElroy and sex addict Chazz Michael Michaels competing on ice.  When I found out about Yuna Kim however, I took notice of the new Blades of Glory immediately, not only because she's Asian, but primarily because South Korea has never been reputable for ice skating.  

So how cute...I mean good is she really?  The most recent event was at Skate America which consists of two performances - one short program, the other a lengthier free skate.  If you can fall flat on your ass in the free skate portion of the competition which is almost doubly weighted and still manage to win the gold by a hefty 13 point margin, that's plenty good.  In fact, that's Jimmy McElroy good.  She's so damn good Yuna Kim's main rival isn't even another skater either - its herself.  Albeit, she isn't infallible so her coronation as Olympic Champion has been deferred until February.  


However, next month's Grand Prix finals in Tokyo will give Yuna the chance of redeeming herself from her recent missteps and reinforcing her title as the new reigning supreme of woman's figure skating.  Hey...even Michael Jordan had an off day.

5 Asian Men Changing The Face Of American Entertainment

Recently I've become much more aware of the involvement of Asian men in American entertainment. They're not your stereotypical Asian males portraying repulsive William Hung like traits causing nearly every Asian American male to cringe with embarrassment and sheer contempt. In fact, these guys really do possess talent and confidence. Confidence is of significance here since it is one of the major things Asian American women complain about their fellow Asian brethren lacking.

I remember I went on a verbal rampage complaining about how the White majority controlled media and entertainment industry continues to use these token ugly, dorky, fobby Asian males to incessantly reinforce and perpetuate negative stereotypes. This kind of shit had plagued me since the days of Long Duck Dong from Sixteen Candles. But even with the barrage of racist depictions of Asian men, I believe something positive transpired from it. William Hung may indeed be the Asian Male Anti-Christ but he also re-ignited a sense of social awareness absent in the Asian American community since the tragic death of Vincent Chin. And with awareness, change usually follows.

Granted there will always be those who only pitch-a-bitch about racial inequalities in society without actually trying to better themselves. I find this pointless since it does nothing for the advancement of the community after a while. I have no qualms over complaining if it is legitimate but it can lose its effectiveness over time if there is no follow up with action. Thankfully there are also those who use negativity as a driving force to break through racial barriers imposed upon us. They are the trailblazers who pave the way for others and serve as inspiration to succeed.

I consider the following Asian men as trailblazers. I look to them for inspiration in bettering myself.

• Rain (Bi) - What can I say? The man is complete. Yes he's a tall singer, dancer, actor, fashion artist and owner of an entertainment company. Rain is a world renown artist despite what some of you may think. *AHEM* Newsweek. To call Rain "little-known on the global stage" is grossly inaccurate. He was voted as Time's Most Influential Person in 2006 which hit a nerve with Stephen Colbert envying Rain's top spot on the Time 100 list over his 2nd. LoL. They settled their beef on The Colbert Report in a danceoff. Steve, I love you man but just like a lame hip hop dance movie, "You Got Served!" Even if you're not a fan of his music, you have to respect his diligence and dedication in whatever project he takes on. Its no wonder why the Wachowski Bros. were blown away by his performance in Speed Racer and strongly recommended him as the LEAD ROLE for the upcoming blockbuster Ninja Assassin.
  
• Eliot Chang - One of the funniest standup comedians I've seen in a long time and it's refreshing. He is clearly a professional. If he keeps it up, I will definitely put him in the same league of standup legends like Carlin, Pryor, Murphy, Hedburg and Chappelle. Some of you may disagree with me but this guy is seriously a pro. Just watch one of my favorite bits he does on "Dumb Girls". I cried out of laughter.
  I truly believe he doesn't get much exposure as other comedians because 1) he's an Asian American male and 2) doesn't cater to pleasing the mainstream by reinforcing negative stereotypes. Eliot even addresses this issue in a standup comparing Asian American comedians to UFOs. "You know there out there but you just haven't seen one." If that doesn't convince you then think of it this way. When an Asian guy comes on stage most of you aren't saying to yourself, "Finally! An Asian. Now its gonna get good!". Guilty as charged.
  
• John Cho - He popularized the acronym MILF from American Pie. Now how awesome is that? So awesome that I'm sure it gave him an unrelenting drive to make it in Hollywood. He was able to score in several comedy flicks such the American Pie and Harold & Kumar series, to a sitcom Off Centre, the role as Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek and now a TV science fiction series FlashForward. That's quite a journey from the humble MILF beginnings.
  
  
• Byung-Hun Lee - Many of you may not know of him but he was already famous in Asia prior to his US debut as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe. Byung-Hun or Brian Lee has been acting for almost 20 years. I was really impressed with him for a couple of reasons after watching him in G.I. Joe. First, his acting was pretty good given the cultural differences between Hollywood and Hallyu. 2nd, his English was quite good with a hint of an accent which I barely even noticed. Last year when I saw him in The Good, The Bad, The Weird I thought he played a really good bad guy (contradictory I know). About a month ago I then saw A Bittersweet Life and was blown away by his performance where he plays a ruthless gangster and catches feelings for his Boss's girlfriend. Byung-Hun is scheduled to be in the next G.I. Joe. We'll see if he makes his way into other American flicks. Not bad for someone who's approaching 40!

• Daniel Henney - Yes fuckers. I KNOW he's half British-American but he's also HALF Korean and embraces that side tremendously. He looks more Asian to me than he does White. Regardless, his rise to stardom began in Korea by debuting in a Korean TV drama called My Lovely Sam Soon. Apparently Hollywood kept trying to typecast him for stereotypical Asian roles so he went to Korea to jump start his acting career. From there he starred in movies such as Seducing Mr. Perfect and My Father made his Hollywood debut playing AgentZero in Wolverine. Daniel is now part of a CBS TV hospital drama, Three Rivers where he plays a womanizing doctor. See?? Asian men are the comeuppance sex symbols in America not just Asian women. Now I haven't been able to watch the show actually since I'm currently out of the states. When I return you can be sure I'll be watching some of the episodes online. Daniel definitely has the potential to become an even bigger star and better actor but I feel he needs more energy when he's in character. Maybe its because of his suave appeal or the "ladies man" swagger he carries or because he needs to polish his acting skills a bit more. Whatever it may be, I hope he keeps at it and becomes mainstream enough for him to hold a leading role by himself in a Hollywood blockbuster.