Yesterday: Sessue Hayakawa

To shed light on those commonly forgotten by American media, especially those of color, I wanted to create a series that honored early Asian American actors and actresses in Hollywood. The focus of the first installment of this three-part series is Sessue Hayakawa, a Japanese-American actor who made his debut in 1914 and continued to act in Hollywood until his last performance before his death in 1966. He became one of the first male sex symbols in Hollywood by being typecast as the sadistic, yet devilishly handsome villain in his movies. He frequently preyed on young, often white women in his roles, drawing on the American view towards Japanese men at the time. Hayakawa is known as the first non-white actor to achieve international stardom, and was later rewarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, though he remains largely forgotten by most of the American public today.

To introduce my series “Yesterday”, I would describe the contents as including anything from the past, from as early as many centuries ago to as late as the 2000s. I often find myself fascinated by culture and history throughout the decades, and whether it’s a historical awareness piece or simply sketches of my favorite 90s films and music, I wanted to create a homage to that.