Erasure of Asian-Americans in Hollywood

dominates a woman in debt
to him²⁵. Hayakawa used the
money from his success to start
his own production company
Haworth Pictures, where he
starred in The Dragon Painter
(his love interest was played
by Tsuru Aoki, who is his wife,
making both leads Asian)²⁶.
Even with Hayakawa’s success,
America’s negative perception
of Japanese during World War
II made him leave Hollywood
to return later for The Bridge
on the High River²⁷. During
Hayakawa’s career as an actor,
he found himself barred from
certain Asian roles like many
other Asian actors
and actresses.
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