---
title: How to find a Chinese actor to cast in Hollywood
date: "2022-02-20T07:08:21Z"
lastmod: "2022-02-20T07:31:59Z"
categories:
- data
wp_id: 3304
description: "Analyzing actor co-star networks suggests that the easiest Chinese actors for Hollywood producers to discover are the ones already sitting closest to Hollywood through repeated cross-industry collaborations."
keywords: ["Hollywood", "Chinese actors", "actor networks", "casting", "co-stars", "data analysis"]
---
Film actors mostly act within their own industry.
For example, Hollywood actors act outside Hollywood just [10% of the time](/blog/can-foreigners-enter-hollywood/). Chinese actors act with non-Chinese actors just [1% of the time](/blog/how-isolated-is-bollywood-from-world-cinema/).
So, if you're a Hollywood producer trying to cast a Chinese actor, how would you find them?
One way is to list Chinese actors with the largest number of Hollywood co-stars. Let's see who tops that list.
## #5. Pei-Pei Cheng
You may know her as Jade Fox, the sly governess in Ang Lee's [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190332?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk1) (2000), or Golden Swallow, the skilled swordsman sister in [Come Drink With Me](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059079/) (1966), or even as the voice of the matchmaker who disgraces Mulan in [Mulan](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4566758/) (2020).
She mainly acts in Chinese films, co-starring nearly 180 times with actors like [Hua Yueh](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0398944/), [Lieh Lo](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0516316/), and [Chung-Hsin Huang](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0398974/). But she's also co-starred over 20 times with Hollywood actors like [Jamie King](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0454809/) (of [Sin City](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401792)), [Peter Bowles](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0101248/) (of [The Bank Job](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200465/)), and [Sandra Oh](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0644897/) (of [Grey's Anatomy](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413573/)).
## #4. Jet Li
You may know him as Han Sing, the martial artist and ex-cop in [Romeo Must Die](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165929/) (2000), or Gabe Law, the former MultiVerse Authority agent in [The One](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0267804/?ref_=nm_knf_t2) (2001), or Yin Yang, the unarmed member of [The Expendables](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1320253/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_9) (2010).
He has co-starred over 100 times with Chinese actors like [Jackie Chan](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000329), [Simon Yam](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0945189/), and [Sammo Kam-Bo Hung](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005033/). But he's also co-starred 30 times with Hollywood actors like [Antonio Banderas](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000104/), [Morgan Freeman](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000151/), and [Sylvester Stallone](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000230/).
## #3. Joan Chen
She's famous as Wanrong, the Chinese empress in [The Last Emperor](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093389/?ref_=nm_knf_t1) (1987), Josie Packard, the owner of the Twin Peaks mill in [Twin Peaks](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098936/) (1989), or Dr Ilsa Hayden, assistant to the villain Rico Dredd in [Judge Dredd](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113492/) (1995).
She's co-starred over 80 times with Chinese actors like [Tony Chiu-Wai Leung](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504897/), [Leon Lai](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0481709/), and [Tony Ka Fai Leung](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504899/). But she's co-starred over 40 times with Hollywood actors like [Michael Caine](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000323/), [Peter O'Toole](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000564/), and [Christopher Walken](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000686/).
## #2. Jackie Chan
The most famous Chinese martial arts actor in the world, and one of the highest-paid actors in the world, is famous as Detective Inspector Lee in [Rush Hour](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120812/) (1998), Mr Han in [The Karate Kid](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1155076/) (2010), and the voice of Monkey in [Kung Fu Panda](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0441773/) (2008).
He has co-starred nearly 200 times with Chinese actors like [Sammo Kam-Bo Hung](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005033/), [Maggie Cheung](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001041/), and [Kent Cheng](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0155587/). But he's co-starred over 50 times with Hollywood actors like [Arnold Schwarzenegger](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000216/), [Owen Wilson](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005562/), and [Chris Tucker](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000676/).
## #1. Michelle Yeoh
You may know her as Wai Lin, the Chinese spy and James Bond's ally in [Tomorrow Never Dies](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120347/) (1997), Yu Shu Lien, the warrior swordswoman in [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190332/) (2000), or as Eleanor Young, the domineering mother-in-law in [Crazy Rich Asians](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3104988/) (2018).
She's an actress at the borderline of the Chinese - Hollywood clusters. She's acted ~60 times with Chinese actors like [Maggie Cheung](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001041/), [Chow Yun-Fat](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000334/) and [Jet Li](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001472/). But she's acted almost as many times with Hollywood actors like [Sigourney Weaver](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000244/), [Zoe Saldana](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0757855/) and [Sam Worthington](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0941777/).
## More actors
Here are half a dozen more Chinese actors that have acted with Hollywood actors often.
It's interesting to see that 3 of the top 6 ([Chow Yun-Fat](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000334/), [Pei-Pei Cheng](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0155607), and [Michelle Yeoh](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000706/)) had all acted in the blockbuster [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190332/) (2000).
So, perhaps the simple message to our Hollywood producer is to "look no further than the cast of the [first foreign-language film to break the $100mn mark in the USA](https://web.archive.org/web/20210507010851/https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-foreign-language-film-to-earn-over-$100-million-in-the-usa)."