When Remy Hii and Chris Pang walked the AACTA Awards red carpet on Wednesday, there was the uncomfortable thought in their minds they could be misidentified in newspapers the next day.
âYes, itâs happened to every Asian performer,â said Remy, whose father is Malaysian Chinese and mother is from England.
âIn fact, you would be hard pressed to find a person of colour who has not been named or mislabelled through â I mean I want to say at best lazy journalism â but at worst it is kind of a microaggression that [tells people] we donât deserve to be recognised for our true accomplishments,â he told HuffPost Australia.
The Spider-Man: Far From Home star said itâs an issue he gets âreally passionate aboutâ, because âthe message youâre youâre being told is that you donât matterâ.
âIn Australian papers I constantly had my name in the headlines and a picture with the face of Jordan Rodrigues,â he said, referring to the fellow Malaysian-Australian actor.
âWhy is it so hard to do your basic due diligence and your research to get it right the first time? Because the effect is again, youâre telling a whole race of people that you arenât worth being recognised.â
During his time on the Crazy Rich Asians press tour, Remy observed many of his co-stars being misidentified by the press âagain and againâ, something he said doesnât happen so much with caucasian actors.
âAs a person of colour, what is the message in that? The message youâre being told is that you donât matter. That is something that is really, really damaging.â
Remyâs comments come after his Crazy Rich Asians co-star Chris Pang was mistaken for Simu Liu by a media publication last month.
The Australian Charlieâs Angels star, whose parents are of Chinese and Taiwanese descent, said Asian representation in Hollywood has improved, however itâs scenarios like this that take away from that.
âThe exposure we are finally receiving is progress towards normalising the image of groups that we represent â and repeated mistakes like this, while unintentional, are still emblematic of the systemic disrespect we face,â Chris told HuffPost Australia at the time. âIt trivialises hard-won progress.â
Both Chris and Remy were part of a panel at the AACTA Asia/Australia Film Forum this week, speaking about representation, racism and their experiences in Hollywood and Australiaâs film industry.
Fellow panellist Pallavi Sharda said she alsoâs had a similar experience of being mistaken for another South Asian actress.
âFor sure, I think it was during a film that had a premiere internationally,â the Indian-Australian film star told HuffPost at the Sydney event.
âThere were a couple of photos but there were two Indian-looking actresses and we got mixed up, and our names both started with P.â
She said it doesnât happen as often in Australia because âIâm one of the few South Asian actressesâ, but that again raises the issue of the need for more diversity in the local industry.