LOS ANGELES, Sept 19: Alan Yang, who shared the award for best writing for “Master of None” with Indian-origin star Aziz Ansari at the Emmys, said he believes Asian artistes have the talent to make it big in the west.
In his acceptance speech, Yang, whose parents are originally from Taiwan, said, “There’s 17 million Asian-Americans in this country, and there’s 17 million Italian-Americans.
“They have ‘The Godfather’, ‘Goodfellas’, ‘Rocky’, ‘The Sopranos’. We got Long Duk Dong (character from ‘Sixteen Candles’). So, we got a long way to go, but I know we can get there. I believe in us.
“It’s just going to take a lot of hard work. Asian parents out there, if you could just do me a favour and just a couple of you get your kids cameras instead of violins, we would be all good,” he said.
Ansari was born in Columbia, South Carolina, to a Tamil Muslim family from Tamil Nadu, India. Besides creating and starring on “Master of None”, he is also known for his role on “Parks and Recreation”.
Another Asian star, who is creating waves on American television, is Indian actress Priyanka Chopra. She made her debut last year with ABC’s series “Quantico” and is now awaiting the premiere of its second season. (PTI)