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Another Hollywood moment for Asian-Americans: SNL gains first Chinese-American cast member

Scott Tong Sep 27, 2019
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New SNL castmember Bowen Yang, and his co-moderator Matt Rogers, at the Vulture Festival in May 2018 in New York City. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for Vulture Festival

Another Hollywood moment for Asian-Americans: SNL gains first Chinese-American cast member

Scott Tong Sep 27, 2019
New SNL castmember Bowen Yang, and his co-moderator Matt Rogers, at the Vulture Festival in May 2018 in New York City. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for Vulture Festival
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When “Saturday Night Live” begins its 45th season on Saturday, standup comedian and show staff writer Bowen Yang will become its first cast member of East Asian descent. Yang’s signing by “SNL” follows a string of hit films and movies with starring Asian Americans.

Last summer “Crazy Rich Asians” — with an all-Asian cast — became the top-grossing romantic comedy in a decade. The ABC sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat,” about a Chinese-American family, begins its sixth season this fall. And the Netflix film “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” starring an Asian-American female lead, became a hit download that sparked two sequels.

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