Thais in Tinseltown

Mixed Asian Media - June 9, 2021

By Jai Franklin Sarki

The largest population of Thais outside of Thailand reside in Southern California. With the recent, horrendous attacks on Asians across our country, it has become more important than ever to ensure that the Southeast Asian population is represented in mainstream media. More important, is that this representation is not based on past stereotypical narratives that have contributed to Asian hate. In the UCLA Hollywood Diversity report, Asians represent the smallest percent of minorities on screen (and off) in almost every category, following Latino and Black actors.

The recent successes of Southeast Asian characters such as Raya in Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon, and The Ghost Bride on Netflix, solidifies the fact that there is an audience and need for more content. I believe this is the beginning of a new era for this minority group to gain influence where it can truly make the most impact. Hollywood.

I was born to a Thai mother and American father in 1980. My mom came here at 20 years old, dressed in a three-piece suit representing the American flag. She had dreamt as a little girl of marrying an American man and living out the American dream. What she could have never predicted about her fantasy-turned-reality is the amount of racism, microaggressions and stereotypes she would have to overcome. As her child, I was quickly aware of her “differentness,” as well as mine. I felt this duty to defend her when a store clerk would yell, as if the volume of their voice would somehow make her understand English better. Or when kids at school would see her, and be shocked that she was my mom. 

At 7 years old, my mom took me to her family farm in Thailand, and that is when everything came together for me. She wasn't different, she was Thai. When I first saw her sitting with her brothers and sisters in a circle on the floor, cooking and laughing and eating, I saw her for all that she is. She is a girl who came from a family deeply rooted in tradition and connection. That trip forever changed my perspective on my mother and myself. I discovered a part of myself that went beyond my tan skin. I had found my culture. I left Thailand with my own dream, to bring Thai people to the big screen.

At the age of 21, I drove to L.A. with 20 bucks and a mission, to become a working actress who would use my platform to celebrate Thai people. I wanted to honor what my mother had sacrificed and overcome. And for 20 years, I chased that dream. I had some successes, primarily as a print and commercial actress. Every ad or commercial my mom ever got to see me in validated my mission. With the naivete and gusto of a 20-something, I didn't expect the absolute lack of diversity when I first moved to La La Land. The parts for people who looked like me, of mixed Asian descent, just didn't exist. I remember being told I was “confusing looking,” that I should “just pick an ethnicity I look most like.” I'll never forget booking a national commercial, only to be released the next day because my last name was not “ethnic enough.” For a long time this was disheartening, but slowly things did begin to change. 

During my 30s, being “Eurasian” became a box to check on casting forms. I never worked as much as I did that decade. I lovingly refer to that stride as “being the laughing, ethnic friend.” Truly, because in every ad I played the laughing, ethnic friend. Making a joke of it has been my way of coping with and suppressing my own frustration with the limited point of view Hollywood has had on Asian and mixed Asian stories in mainstream media.

After I had my second son, I shifted my focus from acting to writing. Instead of being a victim to the lack of content for people like me, I decided to take charge and create content I would want to watch for people who looked like me. It was a natural transition, and truthfully I am much better on the page than in front of the camera. I have complete control of the stories I choose to tell, the characters I get to develop, and the arcs I feel are important to show.

During the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, I was lucky enough to connect with a group of strangers, through Zoom, to come together to contribute to the championing of Southeast Asian voices. It was through our shared commitment to highlighting authentic lives of Thai people that we became the team behind Handsome Man.

Schuyler Mastian had written a pilot based loosely on the experience he had as an English teacher at an international school in Bangkok in the early 2000s. He sent out a casting notice, and I immediately found the premise intriguing. For me, it was the first breakdown of Thai characters and stories I had seen in 20 years in the business that didn’t represent the overused and damaging stereotype of Thai women as bar girls. Schuyler and I decided to unite forces and develop the pilot into a series. Once Schuyler and I felt the project was ready, we researched and discovered Tom Waller, a filmmaker, producer and writer based in Bangkok who has two decades of experience filming and creating work that highlighted Thai stories and actors.

Tom recently wrote, directed and produced the much anticipated film, The Cave, based on the real-life stories of the all-boys soccer team that was rescued from a cave in Thailand after being stuck underground for two weeks. He is currently touring the United States promoting the film, even winning the award for Best Foreign Feature Film at SunScreen Film Festival. His body of work is nothing but honorable and beautiful.

We cold emailed Tom as our first at bat. To our delight, Tom responded to the pitch deck and pilot, and, soon enough, the three of us were on a weekly Zoom call — discussing the possibilities of the story, how to improve it, and how we could make it. Shortly after these calls began, Tom and I discovered that we shared not only being Thai, but the EXACT same ethnic makeup. Thai-Chinese-Irish-Polish.

“Same! Same but different!” Tom exclaimed.

I was floored. I have met plenty of mixed Thais, but to meet someone with the same exact makeup was a moment of serendipity. When I asked Tom what drew him to the project, he said, “I was intrigued by the premise of a series set in Thailand, which explores the stories of both Thai and Western characters, from both points of views. Usually we get such a one-sided depiction of SE Asia, and here is a show that aims to satisfy the curiosity of both an international audience, as well as local viewers who can relate.”

What has been clear each step of the way through the development process, is that the three of us, no longer strangers, share the same mission: to champion Thai voices and stories, and have Thais represented in Tinseltown. 

Handsome Man is a series about three strangers whose lives intertwine and are forever changed at an international school in Thailand. Leo, an ex-Mormon on a teaching contract arrives with all his American predisposed ideas, only to be truly affected and transformed by Thailand, and the women who run it. Plao, a Thai socialite at a crossroads, is at odds with her family and their demands on how she should run her life. Mae, a bar manager, wants nothing more than to leave her responsibilities and bar life behind to open a restaurant with her girlfriend in the islands. Their children and the students of the international school are what keep Plao, Mae, and Leo invested. It’s through Plao and Mae’s journey that the audience is introduced to the Thai culture, showing the complicated lives and class system of Thailand.

There has never been a more critical moment to amplify Asian voices. I see this project, along with whatever comes next, as a contribution to making that positive change in the narrative of what it means to be Thai, Southeast Asian, and Asian.

I recently sat down with Tom and Schuyler to ask them a few questions.

Jai: What do you hope to contribute to Asian content with the project Handsome Man?

Tom: I think the diversity in the casting and proper representation of usually-clichéd character types is both important and necessary in this day and age, more so now than ever with the availability of more viewing platforms. There's no better time to be pitching a series that bridges East-West cultures.

Schuyler: It's a good question. Honesty. Authenticy. Fairness. I see Handsome Man as an important story for the Western-minded individual, say someone from America who has never travelled outside the U.S., to see and experience Thailand as the incredible place, teeming with experience, opportunity, and love, that it is. I think that what's happening in the American psyche right now is a kind of alienation. Too often, I witness an American mindset and behavioral pattern which is far too insular, close-minded, and nationalistic. What most Americans don't realize is that if America shut its doors, the world would go right on spinning. A belief I had about American supremacy was shattered within months of living abroad. I realized that the world went on whether America existed or not. The notion that "America is the greatest nation in the world" is such BS. Yeah, it's a great place. It is. It's why I moved back after three years abroad. But there are amazing places out there that need to be experienced. Life is out there being lived. Go out. Explore it. Get kicked around by the world. Learn to stand on your own two feet. That's what Thailand taught me.

Jai: Anything specific you want to share about our own journey in elevating Asian voices in the media

Tom: I have been working with local talent in Thailand for over 20 years, from Butterflyman to The Cave, all films that have seen a wider audience outside of the territory, but all produced in Thailand. Handsome Man is a TV series for an international audience, but there's no reason why it can't be produced locally too.

Schuyler: As a white male, I benefit from centuries of a paradigm that has really only been geared towards providing me with opportunity after opportunity. That's not to say that others can't or don't succeed. But because of "the nature of things" (for lack of a better way of putting it) it is now my cultural obligation, my duty, and my joy to do whatever I can to create space for others. If Handsome Man can add to the conversation that's happening right now, if it can shed light onto marginalized and oppressed people, if it can help to eliminate harmful stereotypes that exist in our collective mindset, then I will have considered it a success. Going further, because the long game of Handsome Man is meant to expose the sick and twisted nature of child and sex trafficking, if one girl is kept from having to sell her body in order to survive, it will most definitely be a success. 

Regardless of the outcome, what I know for sure is that by sharing these kinds of stories about a culture that I am so proud to be a part of is what matters. They say it's not about the result, but about enjoying the journey. For me, the journey of collaborating with like-minded, passionate people who care just as much as I do about using stories to change perspectives about my culture, has been a fulfilling endeavor. With that, I hope to see more Thais in Tinseltown.

Jai Franklin Sarki is an American born daughter of a Thai Immigrant and a Vietnam Veteran. She grew up believing in the American dream, and after attending the Academy of Art in San Francisco where she studied painting, she moved to Los Angeles to become an actor and star in movies with Tom Cruise, naturally. Jai quickly realized that her place as a storyteller was best found behind the cameras, with her nose in a book and digging through research in the library while typing ferociously. After the birth of her first son, she completed UCLA's novel writing program in 2008 and has continued to write ever since. She did meet Tom Cruise once, and he was very muscular. Website: luckyjaiink.com

You can find Tom Waller online at tomwaller.net or else dewarrenne.com.

Schuyler Mastain is a playwright, educator, and actor. His play, The Sower, about the life of Vincent van Gogh, won an Encore Award at the 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival and has since been produced in numerous venues. Schuyler's three years experience of teaching high school English and drama on the international school circuit in Southeast Asia is the inspiration for Handsome Man. A solo performance piece of the same name will soon be available as a streamed theatrical production in partnership with the Open Fist Theatre Company of which he is a proud member. For more information: schuylerscottmastain.com