# Examples of yellowface

Examples of yellowface mainly include the portrayal of East Asians in American film and theater, though this can also encompass other Western media. It used to be the norm in Hollywood that East Asian characters were played by white actors, often using makeup to approximate East Asian facial characteristics, a practice known as yellowface.
American media portrayals of East Asians have reflected a dominant Americentric perception rather than realistic and authentic depictions of true cultures, customs and behaviors. Yellowface relies on stereotypes of East Asians in the United States.

## Fu Manchu, Charlie Chan, and Madame Butterfly

* Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan were the most common East Asian characters in film and television of the mid-20th century, and they were almost always played by white actors in yellowface, although Asian actors did portray the Chan character in three silent film productions. (Swedish actor Warner Oland, the first Charlie Chan in sound films, did not use yellowface. He was considered to look Asian, and was typecast in such roles from early in his career.) An updated film version of Charlie Chan was planned in the 1990s by Miramax; this new Charlie Chan was to be "hip, slim, cerebral, sexy and ... a martial-arts master", but the film did not come to fruition.
* Madame Butterfly, an opera about a Japanese woman who falls in love with an American sailor who leaves her, and when he returns with an American wife, the devastated Cio-Cio San commits suicide. This immensely popular opera is often performed with a non-East Asian singer playing the role of Cio-Cio San.

## Before the Civil Rights Movement

| Year | Title | Actor(s) and Role(s) | Director | Notes |
| 1915 | Madame Butterfly | Mary Pickford as Cio-Cio San | Sidney Olcott | Many of the film's leading roles are white actors donning yellowface to play Asian roles |
| 1918 | The Forbidden City | Norma Talmadge as San San Toy E. Alyn Warren as Wong Li Michael Rayle as The Mandarin L. Rogers Lytton as Chinese Emperor | Sidney Franklin | |
| 1919 | Broken Blossoms | Richard Barthelmess as Cheng Huan | D.W. Griffith | |
| 1919 | Mr. Wu | Matheson Lang as Mr. Wu Meggie Albanesi as Nang Ping | Maurice Elvey | British version |
| 1922 | The Vermilion Pencil | Ann May as Tse Chan's wife Bessie Love as Hyacinth Sidney Franklin as Fu Wong | Norman Dawn | Many of the film's leading roles are white actors donning yellowface to play Asian roles |
| 1923 | The Purple Dawn | Bessie Love as Mui Far Edward Peil Sr. as Wong Chong, the Tong leader | Charles R. Seeling | |
| 1927 | Mr. Wu | Lon Chaney as Mr. Wu Renée Adorée as Wu Nang Ping | William Nigh | American version |
| 1928 | Spione (Spies) | Lupu Pick as Doctor Akira Masimoto | Fritz Lang | A German spy thriller Romanian-German actor Pick plays the Japanese diplomat; his three couriers are played by Asian actors |
| 1928 | The Crimson City | Myrna Loy as Onoto | Archie Mayo | |
| 1929 | The Black Watch | Myrna Loy as Yasmani | John Ford | |
| 1931–1949 | Charlie Chan film series | Warner Oland as Charlie Chan | | Warner Oland: 1931-1937 Sidney Toler: 1937-1946 Roland Winters: 1946-1949 |
| 1932 | The Hatchet Man | Edward G. Robinson and Loretta Young | William A. Wellman | Makeup artists had noticed that audiences were more likely to reject Western actors in Asian disguise if the faces of actual Asians were in near proximity. Rather than cast the film with all Asian actors, which would have then meant no star names to attract American audiences, studios simply eliminated most of the Asian actors from the cast. |
| 1932 | Frisco Jenny | Helen Jerome Eddy | William A. Wellman | Helen Jerome Eddy, portrays Frisco Jenny's loyal servant Amah. Although not a success on the original release, in recent years, Frisco Jenny has been among the pre-Code films rediscovered and re-evaluated thanks to theatrical revivals and cable television screenings. |
| 1932 | The Mask of Fu Manchu | Myrna Loy as Fah Lo See | Charles Brabin Charles Vidor | |
| 1932 | Thirteen Women | Myrna Loy | George Archainbaud | Ursula Georgi (Myrna Loy), a half-Javanese Eurasian woman who was subjected to harsh bigotry from the other women during her school days due to her mixed-race heritage. Georgi exacts revenge by using a suborned swami to manipulate the women into killing themselves or each other. Not a popular success either critically or financially, Thirteen Women has achieved a "cult classic" status in recent years. A pre-Code era film, modern critics have stated that its theme was ahead of its time and out of step with the tastes of 1930s cinema patrons. |
| 1933 | The Bitter Tea of General Yen | Nils Asther | Frank Capra | General Yen was a box office failure upon its release and has since been overshadowed by Capra's later efforts. In recent years, the film has grown in critical acclaim. In 2000, the film was chosen by British film critic Derek Malcolm as one of the hundred best films in The Century of Films. According to a New York Times review, Nils Asther's make-up is impressive, with slanting eyes and dark skin. He talks with a foreign accent. Toshia Mori who in 1932 became the only Asian actress to be selected as a WAMPAS Baby Star, an annual list of young and promising film actresses, was billed third in the film's credits, behind Barbara Stanwyck and Asther. This was her most significant film role; she returned to minor characters in her subsequent films. |
| 1934 | The Mysterious Mr. Wong | Bela Lugosi | William Nigh | Bela Lugosi stars as Mr. Wong, a "harmless" Chinatown shopkeeper by day and relentless blood-thirsty pursuer of the Twelve Coins of Confucius by night. They did not even bother to disguise Lugosi's thick Hungarian accent. It was directed by William Nigh, who three years later directed Boris Karloff in the Mr. Wong detective films. |
| 1936 | Broken Blossoms | Emlyn Williams as Cheng Huan | John Brahm | Remake |
| 1937 | The Good Earth | Paul Muni as Wang Lung Luise Rainer as O-Lan All of the Lead Roles | Sidney Franklin | All of the lead roles were played by actors in yellowface while all the extras and minor roles were played by Asians. Luise Rainer won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as O-Lan. |
| 1937 | Lost Horizon | H.B. Warner | Frank Capra | H.B. Warner as Chang, an ancient Chinese man who rescues the plane crash survivors and takes them to Shangri-La. Warner lost the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor to Joseph Schildkraut for The Life of Emile Zola. |
| 1937–1939 | Mr. Moto film series | Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto film series | | Between 1937 and 1939 eight motion pictures were produced by 20th Century Fox starring Peter Lorre as Mr. Kentaro Moto. Unlike in the novels, Moto is the central character, wears glasses, and no longer has gold teeth. He is still impeccably dressed in primarily Western suits, only wearing a yukata when he is relaxing at home. The stories are action-oriented due to Moto's liberal use of judo (only hinted at in the novels) and due to his tendency to wear disguises. |
| 1938 | Shadows Over Shanghai | Paul Sutton | Charles Lamont | Paul Sutton is in yellowface and portrays a Japanese officer. Victor Sen Yung changed his name to Victor Young. |
| 1939 | Island of Lost Men | Anthony Quinn | Kurt Neumann | Anthony Quinn is in yellowface and portrays Chang Tai, a "Chinese" agent. |
| 1939 | The Mystery of Mr. Wong | Boris Karloff | William Nigh | Boris Karloff was in yellowface as the detective. Amongst the Asians in the background: Chester Gan, Lotus Long as the maid, Lee Tung Foo as Mr. Wong's Butler and door opener. |
| 1940 | The Letter | Gale Sondergaard | William Wyler | Sondergaard plays a Eurasian, a trope of the Dragonlady. Variety said, "Sondergaard is the perfect mask-like threat". |
| 1942 | Little Tokyo, U.S.A. | Harold Huber as Takimura, American-born spy for Tokyo, June Duprez as Teru | Otto Brower | While other works had used Asian make-up to ridicule or vilify Asian features, this B movie used yellowface directly to deny a group of Asian Americans their civil rights. Twentieth Century-Fox seized on one of the most controversial aspects of the homefront, the roundup and internment of people of Japanese descent on the West Coast. Little Tokyo basically developed the theme that anyone of Japanese descent, including American citizens, was loyal to the emperor of Japan and a potential traitor to America. The movie employed a quasi-documentary style of filming. Twentieth Century sent its cameramen to the Japanese quarter of Los Angeles to shoot the actual evacuation. However, after the evacuation, night shots were difficult in the deserted "Little Tokyo". Night scenes were filmed in Chinatown instead. Chinese actor Richard Loo played one of the lead Japanese roles in the film. |
| 1943 | Batman | J. Carrol Naish | Lambert Hillyer | J. Carrol Naish is in yellowface and portrays Dr. Tito Daka, a Japanese mad scientist. The speaking roles of Japanese Navy sailors were also played by actors of non-Japanese descent in yellowface. |
| 1944 | Dragon Seed | Katharine Hepburn, Walter Huston, Aline MacMahon, Turhan Bey, Agnes Moorehead, J. Carrol Naish, and Hurd Hatfield | Harold S. Bucquet and Jack Conway | Based on a best-selling book by Pearl S. Buck, the film portrays a peaceful village in China that has been invaded by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese war. The men in the village choose to adopt a peaceful attitude toward their conquerors, but Jade (played by Hepburn), a headstrong woman, stands up to the Japanese. Aline MacMahon was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress. In Lion of Hollywood author Scott Eyman wrote that this was one of the worst of all MGM pictures (p. 364). |
| 1946 | Anna and the King of Siam | Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, and Gale Sondergaard | John Cromwell | At the 19th Academy Awards ceremony, the film received two Oscars; for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction (Lyle R. Wheeler, William S. Darling, Thomas Little, Frank E. Hughes) Gale Sondergaard was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. |
| 1946 | Ziegfeld Follies | Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer | Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Vincente Minnelli, Merrill Pye, George Sidney, Charles Walters | Limehouse Blues: Conceived as a "dramatic pantomime" with Astaire as a proud but poverty-stricken Chinese labourer whose infatuation with the unattainable Bremer leads to tragedy. The story serves as bookends for a dream ballet inspired by Chinese dance motifs. |
| 1955 | Blood Alley | Anita Ekberg, Berry Kroeger, Paul Fix, and Mike Mazurki | William A. Wellman | Despite the star power of its lead actors and director, Blood Alley received a lukewarm reception from critics. The New York Times proclaimed, "Blood Alley, despite its exotic, oriental setting, is a standard chase melodrama patterned on a familiar blueprint." Far better were Paul Fix, Berry Kroeger, and Anita Ekberg, who weren't the most convincing "Chinese" in the world but who seem to fit right in with the blood-and-thunder proceedings. |
| 1955 | Love is a Many Splendored Thing | Jennifer Jones | Henry King | Set in 1949–50 Hong Kong, it tells the story of a married, but separated, American reporter (played by William Holden), who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from Mainland China (played by Jennifer Jones), only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Hong Kong society. Apart from Jennifer Jones, the rest of the family were cast with East Asian actors. The film won Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, Color, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Music, Song (for Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster for "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing"). It was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Jennifer Jones), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color (Lyle Wheeler, George Davis, Walter M. Scott, Jack Stubbs), Best Cinematography, Color, Best Picture and Best Sound, Recording. |
| 1956 | The Conqueror | John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, Thomas Gomez, and others | Dick Powell | The picture was a critical and commercial failure (often ranked as one of the worst films of the 1950s). Wayne, who was at the height of his career, had lobbied for the role after seeing the script and was widely believed to have been grossly miscast. (He was so "honored" by The Golden Turkey Awards.) |
| 1956 | The King and I | Yul Brynner and Rita Moreno | Walter Lang | Brynner (who was born in Asia, in Vladivostok, which is now in Russia, and has both European and Asian ancestry including Swiss and Mongolian Buryat) reprised his role as King Mongut of Siam from the original Broadway production. Moreno, who is of Puerto-Rican heritage, played Tuptim. The film was banned in Thailand (formerly Siam in King Mongkut's days). |
| 1956 | The Teahouse of the August Moon | Marlon Brando | Daniel Mann | Brando spent two hours a day for the standard prosthetic eyepieces and makeup. His role was made all the more noticeable because he is the only actor in yellowface in a sea of Asian extras and secondary characters. Brando actually attempted an "authentic" Japanese accent and he even has some Japanese dialogue. |
| 1957 | Sayonara | Ricardo Montalbán as Nakamura | Joshua Logan | A movie dealing with racism, prejudice, and interracial marriage in post war Japan |
| 1958 | The Quiet American (1958 version) | Giorgia Moll as Phuong | Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Adaptation of Graham Green's novel. |
| 1958 | The Inn of the Sixth Happiness | Curd Jürgens and Robert Donat | Mark Robson | The two leads, British actor Robert Donat and German actor Curt Juergens, portrayed Chinese characters. The filmmakers have also been criticised for casting Ingrid Bergman, a tall woman with a Swedish accent, as Gladys Aylward who was in fact short and had a cockney accent. |
| 1961 | Breakfast at Tiffany's | Mickey Rooney | Blake Edwards | Rooney's performance of Japanese character Mr. Yunioshi was later criticized in subsequent years as an offensive stereotype. The 2009 DVD re-release of the film included "a brief and necessary featurette on the character of Mr. Yunioshi, offering an Asian perspective on yellowface". |
| 1961 | The Devil's Daffodil | Christopher Lee as Ling Chu | Ákos Ráthonyi | |
| 1961 | The Terror of the Tongs | Christopher Lee as Chung King and others | Anthony Bushell | |
| 1961 | Flower Drum Song | Juanita Hall as Madame Liang | Henry Koster | This movie was unusual for its time in featuring nearly all Asian-American cast members, including dancers, though two of the singing voices were not Asian ones. Starring in this movie were Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Benson Fong, James Hong, Reiko Sato, and original Broadway cast members Jack Soo and Miyoshi Umeki. The only non-Asian cast member playing an Asian role was African-American actress Juanita Hall, who had played the same role in the Broadway cast. Her role in the film had originally been cast with Anna May Wong, but Wong became ill in December 1960 and had to be replaced. The film and stage play were based on the 1957 novel of the same name by the Chinese-American author C.Y. Lee. In 2008, Flower Drum Song was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". |
| 1962 | The Manchurian Candidate | Henry Silva | John Frankenheimer | |
| 1962 | A Majority of One | Alec Guinness | Mervyn LeRoy | |
| 1962 | Dr. No | Joseph Wiseman, Zena Marshall, Marguerite LeWars | Terence Young | In the first James Bond film Canadian actor Joseph Wiseman played the titular villain, self-described as half-Chinese and half-German. Kenyan-born English actress Zena Marshall played the villainess Miss Taro. White Jamaican model Marguerite LeWars played the minor role of photographer Annabel Chung. |
| 1962 | God's Chessboard | Dorothy Dandridge and others | Christian-Jacque | Early unfinished version of Marco the Magnificent (see below). African American actress Dorothy Dandridge played Empress Zaire in yellowface makeup. |
| 1963 | 55 Days at Peking | Flora Robson | Nicholas Ray | |
| 1963 | Have Gun - Will Travel | Bethel Leslie, William Schallert | Richard Boone | Bethel Leslie in two roles in the episode, "The Lady of the Fifth Moon", as well as William Schallert appeared in yellowface makeup in this episode which is full of stereotypical dialog with Schallert narrating the episode presenting his voice in an East Asian stereotypical pitch and accent. |
| 1964 | 7 Faces of Dr. Lao | Tony Randall | George Pal | |
| 1965 | Pierrot le fou | Anna Karina | Jean-Luc Godard | Lead actress Anna Karina donned yellowface makeup during a mid-film skit satirizing the American involvement in the Vietnam War. |
| 1965 | Genghis Khan | Robert Morley, James Mason and others | Henry Levin | |
| 1965 | Marco the Magnificent | Anthony Quinn, Robert Hossein and others | Denys de La Patellière, Noël Howard | Adventure film based on the travels of Marco Polo. Anthony Quinn plays Kublai Khan. |
| 1965 | The Face of Fu Manchu | Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu | Don Sharp | |
| 1965 | Gilligan's Island | Vito Scotti | Alan Crosland, Jr., Christian Nyby | Scotti portrayed a Japanese sailor who was not aware that World War II had ended in two episodes: "So Sorry, My Island Now" (Season 1, Ep 15) and "Diogenes, Won't You Please Go Home" (S1 E31). |
| 1965 | The Return of Mr. Moto | Henry Silva | Ernest Morris | In 1965, Mr. Moto's character was revived in a low-budget Robert Lippert production filmed in England starring Henry Silva. In Mr. Moto Returns, a.k.a. The Return of Mr. Moto, Mr. I.A. Moto is now a member of Interpol. The extremely tall Silva conveyed an almost James Bond-like playboy character; in the fight scenes he is clearly not proficient in martial arts. He speaks in a lazy 'Beatnik' manner. Nowhere in the film is it even mentioned that Moto is Japanese. He is referred to as an "oriental" and, oddly, in the trailer, Moto is referred to as a "swinging Chinese cat". It is only when he is disguised as a Japanese oil representative, Mr. Takura, that a more stereotypical portrayal of a Japanese businessman is given. |
| 1965-1966 | Get Smart | Leonard Strong and Joey Forman | Paul Bogart, Gary Nelson | Leonard Strong guest stars as "The Claw" in two episodes of season 1; "Diplomat's Daughter" and "The Amazing Harry Hoo", where he would pronounce his name as "The Craw" due to his stereotypical inability to pronounce the letter L, and would angrily respond "Not Craw, Craw!" whenever addressed by his mispronounced name. He is joined by Joey Forman in "The Amazing Harry Hoo", who plays the role of "Detective Harry Hoo", a parody of Charlie Chan. Forman reprises his role as Harry Hoo in the season 2 episode: "Hoo Done It". |
| 1966 | 7 Women | Woody Strode and Mike Mazurki | John Ford | |
| 1966 | The Brides of Fu Manchu | Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu | Don Sharp | |
| 1967 | The Time Tunnel | Arthur Batanides, Vitina Marcus, and others | Sobey Martin | The episode "Attack of the Barbarians" takes place in 13th century East Asia and all Mongol characters, including Batu Khan are played by white actors in makeup. |
| 1967 | The Vengeance of Fu Manchu | Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu | Jeremy Summers | |
| 1968 | Bewitched | Richard Haydn | R. Robert Rosenbaum | Haydn portrays Japanese businessman, Kenzu Mishimoto in "A Majority of Two" (Season 4, Episode 29). |
| 1968 | The Blood of Fu Manchu | Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu | Jesús Franco | |
| 1968-1969 | Hawaii Five-O | Ricardo Montalban, Mark Lenard | Alvin Ganzer, Nicholas Colasanto | Mexican actor Ricardo Montalban plays Japanese crime lord Tokura in the first season episode "Samurai". White American actor Mark Lenard plays a Japanese ninja in the second season episode "To Hell with Babe Ruth". |
| 1969 | The Castle of Fu Manchu | Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu | Jesús Franco | |

## After the Civil Rights Movement

Note: This is also after the anti-miscegenation laws were repealed in the United States of America that prevented East Asian actors from playing opposite white actors as love interests.
| Year | Title | Actor(s) and Role(s) | Director | Notes |
| 1970 | The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go | James Mason as Y.Y. Go | Burgess Meredith | |
| 1972 | The Paul Lynde Show | Ray Walston as Mr. Temura | George Tyne | Season 1, Episode 11: "Meet Aunt Charlotte" |
| 1972–1975 | Kung Fu | David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine | | David Carradine wore yellowface makeup to look Eurasian |
| 1973 | Lost Horizon | John Gielgud as Chang Charles Boyer as The High Lama | Charles Jarrott | |
| 1974 | Arabian Nights | Salvatore Sapienza as Prince Yunan | Pier Paolo Pasolini | Film commentator Tony Rayns said this casting decision was likely done because the native Nepalese actors would probably have taken issue with being nude on film |
| 1975 | One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing | Peter Ustinov and others | Robert Stevenson | |
| 1975 | The White, the Yellow, and the Black | Tomas Milian as Sakura ("The Yellow") | Sergio Corbucci | |
| 1975 | Vivát, Benyovszky! | Ferenc Zenthe and others | Igor Ciel | Czechoslovakian-Hungarian TV series about the life of traveler and writer Maurice Benyovszky. The Asian characters are played by Hungarian, Czech and Slovak actors in makeup. |
| 1976 | Murder by Death | Peter Sellers | Robert Moore | Peter Sellers plays Inspector Sidney Wang, based on Charlie Chan and appropriately accompanied by his adopted, Japanese son Willie (Richard Narita). Wang wears elaborate Chinese costumes, and his grammar is frequently criticized by the annoyed host much the same way that Inspector Clouseau. It could be argued that Sellers' role is in itself a parody of yellowface casting in earlier films. |
| 1977 | Doctor Who | John Bennett as Li H'sen Chang | David Maloney | Serial: The Talons of Weng-Chiang |
| 1980 | The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu | Peter Sellers | Piers Haggard Peter Sellers Richard Quine | This is the last Fu Manchu created. |
| 1980 | Flash Gordon | Max von Sydow as Emperor Ming | Mike Hodges | Ming the Merciless is the sci fi version of Fu Manchu. |
| 1981 | Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen | Peter Ustinov as Charlie Chan | Clive Donner | In 1980, Jerry Shylock proposed a multimillion-dollar comedy film, to be called Charlie Chan and the Dragon Lady. A group calling itself C.A.N. (Coalition of Asians to Nix) was formed, protesting the fact that two white actors, Peter Ustinov and Angie Dickinson, had been cast in the primary roles. Others protested that the film itself contained a number of stereotypes; Shylock responded that the film was not a documentary. The film was released the following year as Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen and was an "abysmal failure". More successful was Wayne Wang's Chan Is Missing (1982), which was a spoof of the older Chan films. |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Malcolm Weaver as "The Ratty Nepalese" | Steven Spielberg | Malcolm Weaver plays a Nepalese man at 36:56 in. |
| 1982 | Conan the Barbarian | Gerry Lopez as Subotai | John Milius | The character Subotai is a 'Hyrkanian' who in the mythos of Conan the Barbarian are the ancestors of Asians and further the character is named after Subotai, one of the generals of Genghis Khan, but the character however is played by the Hawaiian actor Gerry Lopez. |
| 1982 | The Year of Living Dangerously | Linda Hunt as Billy Kwan | Peter Weir | Actress Linda Hunt won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of an Asian man. |
| 1983 | Reilly, Ace of Spies | David Suchet as Inspector Tsientsin | Martin Campbell | British ITV television mini-series Episode 2: "Prelude to War"; Suchet dons eyelid makeup/prosthetics to play the Chinese character, who remarks on the disadvantages of "not being white". |
| 1983 | Go for It | Jeff Moldovan as "Charlie Chan" | Enzo Barboni | Italian spy comedy film. Venezuelan-American stuntman Jeff Moldovan plays an East Asian martial artist henchman nicknamed "Charlie Chan". |
| 1983 | Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre | Mick Jagger as the Chinese Emperor, Barbara Hershey as the Maid, Edward James Olmos as the Prime Minister, and others | Ivan Passer | Season 2 episode 2 "The Nightingale" features a cast of mostly white actors in yellowface makeup playing Chinese characters. |
| 1984 | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai | Peter Weller as Buckaroo Banzai | W.D. Richter | Buckaroo Banzai is supposed to be half-Japanese, with a Japanese father played by James Saito and American mother played by Jamie Lee Curtis. |
| 1985 | Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins | Joel Grey as Chiun | Guy Hamilton | Film based on the Destroyer book series. Joel Grey garnered a Saturn Award and a second Golden Globe nomination for "Best Supporting Actor" for his yellowface portrayal. |
| 1986 | Short Circuit | Fisher Stevens as Ben Jabituya | John Badham | Fisher Stevens plays a character from India. |
| 1987 | Kung Fu: The Next Generation | David Darlow as Kwai Chang Caine | Tony Wharmby | The role of Asian character Kwai Chang Caine was originally played by David Carradine. Carradine was replaced by Israeli-American actor David Darlow. |
| 1988 | Short Circuit 2 | Fisher Stevens as Ben Jahveri | Kenneth Johnson | Fisher Stevens plays a character from India, whose last name has been changed from Jabituya to Jahveri in this sequel. |
| 1988 | Remo Williams: The Prophecy | Roddy McDowell as Chiun | Christian I. Nyby II | TV pilot for a spin-off of Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins where Roddy McDowell plays Chiun, an asian martial arts instructor |
| 1991 | Twin Peaks | Piper Laurie as Mr Tojamura (a disguise worn by Catherine Martell) | Mark Frost, David Lynch | Episodes 11 through 14. Catherine Martell who is presumed dead in a fire inexplicably returns as Mr. Tojamura, a Japanese banker who offers to buy the Great Northern Hotel. Laurie wears both prosthetics and makeup to portray Mr Tojamura. |
| 1994 | Sabotage | Adam Yauch | Spike Jonze | Beastie Boys music video. |
| 1996–1998 | Tracey Takes On... | Tracey Ullman as Mrs. Noh Nang Ning | | Ullman wore prosthetics to make her look East Asian. |
| 1997 | The Pest | John Leguizamo | Paul Miller | Leguizamo sings and dances dressed in East Asian disguise for film's opening. |
| 1997–2002 | MADtv | Alex Borstein and guest star role Susan Sarandon as Ms. Swan | | |
| 1998 | Something Stupid | Magda Szubanski as Chu Yang Phat | | Magda Szubanski plays Chu Yang Phat, the host of a Chinese variety show called Rei-Jing. Szubanski wore a black wig, and donned a stereotypical Chinese accent. |
| 1999-2002 | Ushi & Van Dijk | Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki | | Dutch TV show in which Dutch actress Wendy van Dijk plays Ushi Hirosaki, a Japanese journalist. The show had local versions in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Hungary. |

## 21st century

| Year | Title | Actor(s) | Director | Notes |
| 2003 | Micukó: A világ ferde szemmel | Judit Stahl as Micukó | | Hungarian version of Ushi & Van Dijk. Canceled after Hungarian TV channel TV2 received protest letters from the Embassy of Japan in Budapest, claiming the program was discriminatory towards the Japanese people. |
| 2003 | Oumi | Mi Ridell as Oumi | | Swedish version of Ushi & Van Dijk |
| 2004 | Noriko Show | Outi Mäenpää as Noriko Saru | | Finnish version of Ushi & Van Dijk |
| 2005 | Little Britain | Matt Lucas as Ting Tong Macadangdang | Declan Lowney | Matt Lucas plays Ting Tong, a kathoey mail-order bride. The character repeats such catchphrases as "Please Mr. Dudley!" (in a stereotypical accent) "My name Ting Tong, Ting Tong Macadangdang." "Did you have good time?" The character also appeared in Little Britain Abroad (2006) |
| 2005 | We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year | Chris Lilley as Ricky Wong | | We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year is an Australian Television series, Ricky Wong is a 23-year-old Chinese physics student who lives in the suburb of Wheelers Hill, Melbourne, Victoria. He is often exuberant and tells his colleagues that "Physics is Phun" and that they are in the "Wong" laboratory. This character is largely a vehicle for parodying the stereotypical "Chinese overachiever", or model migrant. |
| 2006 | Cloud 9 | Paul Rodriguez as Mr. Wong | | Cloud 9 |
| 2007 | Balls of Fury | Christopher Walken as Feng | Ben Garant | Feng is a parody of the yellow peril and Fu Manchu stereotype. |
| 2007 | Norbit | Eddie Murphy as Mr. Wong | Brian Robbins | For his portrayal Eddie Murphy received a Golden Raspberry Award. Worst Supporting Actor (Eddie Murphy; as Mr. Wong) |
| 2007 | Grindhouse | Nicolas Cage as Dr. Fu Manchu | Rob Zombie | Fake Trailer: Werewolf Women of the SS |
| 2007 | I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry | Rob Schneider as Morris Takechi | Dennis Dugan | Schneider's use of prosthetics for his role were criticized as an offensive stereotype. Nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor but lost to Eddie Murphy. |
| 2008 | My Name Is Bruce | Ted Raimi as Wing | Bruce Campbell | |
| 2009 | Crank: High Voltage | David Carradine as Poon Dong | Neveldine/Taylor | Poon Dong, played by David Carradine, is the head of the Chinese Triad. The name of the character is a pun, being both a stereotypical Chinese-sounding name and slang for genitalia. |
| 2009 | Chanel – Paris – Shanghai A Fantasy – The Short Movie | Freja Beha, Baptiste Giabiconi | Karl Lagerfeld | Karl Lagerfeld Opened His Pre-Fall Show in Shanghai With a Film That Included Yellow Face. Lagerfeld defended this as a reference to old films. "It is an homage to Europeans trying to look Chinese", he explained. "Like in The Good Earth, the people in the movie liked the idea that they had to look like Chinese. Or like actors in Madame Butterfly. People around the world like to dress up as different nationalities." "It is about the idea of China, not the reality." Chinese persons played the maid, a courtesan and background characters. |
| 2009 | Hanger | Wade Gibb as Russell | Ryan Nicholson | A black comedy in which a Chinese man with Down syndrome is portrayed by a White actor under heavy prosthetics and make-up. |
| 2009 | Ushi & Dushi | Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki | | Spin-off from Ushi & Van Dijk |
| 2010–2011 | Come Fly with Me | David Walliams and Matt Lucas as Asuka and Nanako | Paul King | Walliams and Lucas play two Japanese girls who have flown to the airport to see their idol, Martin Clunes. |
| 2010 | Ushi & Loesie | Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki | | Spin-off from Ushi & Van Dijk |
| 2011-2012 | Ushi & The Family | Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki | | Spin-off from Ushi & Van Dijk |
| 2011 | Angry Boys | Chris Lilley as Jen Okazaki | | Jen Okazaki is the mother of fictional teen skateboarding superstar, Tim Okazaki, who live in the city of Santa Barbara, California after migrating from Japan. Jen is portrayed as a stereotypical tiger mum, often pushing her son with extremely strict homeschooling and training regimes. She also has excessive control on Tim's skateboarding career, marketing him as not only a cute Japanese boy, but as a homosexual, of which she monetises by selling phallic merchandise under the name "GayStyle Enterprises." |
| 2012 | Cloud Atlas | Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, James D'Arcy, and Keith David | Lana and Lilly Wachowski | A significant number of cast members applied makeup, focusing mostly on the eyes, to make their features appear more Korean/East Asian in one of the film's stories. The film is based on the idea of having the same actors reappear in different roles in six different story lines, one of which is set in 'Neo Seoul' in the year 2144. The film thus also has Asian actresses Bae Doona and Zhou Xun appear in non-Asian roles, and African-American actress Halle Berry portrayed a white character. Blackface is not used in the film, however. |
| 2012 | Wrong | William Fichtner as Master Chang |
| 2013 | Ushi Must Marry | Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki | Paul Ruven | Spin-off from Dutch TV show Ushi & Van Dijk. Last work in which Wendy van Dijk plays Ushi Hirosaki. |
| 2013 | The Walking Dead: A Hardcore Parody | Danny Wylde as Glenn Rhee | Danny Wylde | A pornographic parody of The Walking Dead, controversy erupted over the character Glenn being portrayed by a White actor under heavy make-up and prosthetics. |
| 2014 | Baby Geniuses and the Treasures of Egypt | Jon Voight as Moriarty | Sean McNamara | |
| 2014 | How I Met Your Mother | Cobie Smulders, Alyson Hannigan, Josh Radnor | | Season 9, Episode 14 "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra"; main cast dressed as East Asian martial arts masters using stereotypical garb, makeup, and Fu Manchu moustache |
| 2015 | Aloha | Emma Stone as Alison Ng | Cameron Crowe | |
| 2016 | Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie | Janette Tough as Huki Muki | Mandie Fletcher | |
| 2017 | Ghost in the Shell | Scarlett Johansson as Motoko Kusanagi | Rupert Sanders | The film was criticized in the United States for casting Johansson (who is not of Japanese descent) as Motoko Kusanagi. However, some fans in Japan pointed out that Motoko Kusanagi has an artificial (cyborg) body, and thus, does not have to be ethnically Japanese. Michael Pitt also plays the villain Hideo Kuze, a role that is ethnically Japanese in the source material. |

## Yellowface worn by a character in a film

In some films, white characters, played by white actors, have played East Asians, often as a disguise.
| Year | Title | Actor(s) | Director | Notes |
| 1945 | First Yank into Tokyo | Gordon Douglas | Tom Neal | A US soldier undergoes plastic surgery to look Japanese in order to rescue an American scientist held in Japan. |
| 1961 | The Twilight Zone | Dean Stockwell | Buzz Kulik | Stockwell plays an American officer in World War II who mysteriously finds himself in the body of a Japanese officer three years earlier. |
| 1962 | My Geisha | Shirley MacLaine | Jack Cardiff | |
| 1965 | Gendarme in New York | Louis de Funès and Geneviève Grad | Jean Girault | Officer Cruchot and his daughter Nicole disguise themselves as Chinese in one scene. |
| 1967 | You Only Live Twice | Sean Connery | Lewis Gilbert | James Bond disguises himself as a Japanese bridegroom in order to elude SPECTRE assassins. |
| 1978 | Revenge of the Pink Panther | Peter Sellers | Blake Edwards | Inspector Clouseau had many disguises and this included the quintessential Chinaman stereotype. |
| 1981 | Hardly Working | Jerry Lewis | Jerry Lewis | |
| 1987 | Snow White | Diana Rigg | Michael Berz | The Evil Queen disguises herself as an evil geisha merchant, even going as far as to do a mock Japanese accent, to kill Snow White with poisoned combs. |
| 1999 | Galaxy Quest | Tony Shalhoub | Dean Parisot | Tony Shalhoub's character, Fred Kwan played Tech Sergeant Chen wearing yellowface makeup in the fictional 1970s TV series Galaxy Quest. Shalhoub's role is a parody of yellowface casting in the past. |
| 2001 | Vidocq | Inés Sastre | Pitof | Sastre's character, Préah, who is a dancer in a brothel, disguises as an East Asian in order to attract audience. |
| 2008 | Be Kind Rewind | Jack Black | Michel Gondry | Black's character Jerry tapes his eyes back to pretend to be Jackie Chan when recreating a scene from the film Rush Hour 2. |
| 2008 | Tropic Thunder | Robert Downey Jr. | Ben Stiller | The character of Kirk Lazarus donned yellowface to disguise himself as a Southeast Asian farmer in order to infiltrate a drug facility. |
| 2011 | Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows | Robert Downey Jr. | Guy Ritchie | The character of Sherlock Holmes donned yellowface to disguise himself as a Chinese man for a short while in the film. |
| 2014 | Magic in the Moonlight | Colin Firth as Wei Ling Soo | Woody Allen | Colin Firth portrays an Englishman who dons yellowface in order to pass as a Chinese illusionist. |

## Books about yellowface

* Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era (2022) by Esther Kim - provides history and examples of yellowface