Cover From left: Lisa Lu, Lea Salonga and Deepika Padukone, the honourees of the Hollywood Walk of Fame this year (Photos: Getty Images)
From left: Lisa Lu, Lea Salonga and Deepika Padukone, the honourees of the Hollywood Walk of Fame this year (Photos: Getty Images)
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After Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, a new batch of Asian actors and singers is recognised with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this year, making 2025 a year of celebration for the Asian community.
Asian representation in Hollywood has come a long way—and it looks like it will be “longer” in a good way this year. More stars that celebrate actors and singers of Asian descent will be added to the 1.3-mile Hollywood Walk of Fame in California this year.
They include Filipino singer and actor Lea Salonga, most remembered for originating the role of Kim in 1989 in the musical Miss Saigon in the West End and on Broadway and lending her voice to Disney’s Aladdin (1992); Indian actor Deepika Padukone, who works predominantly in Hindi films; and Chinese American actor Lisa Lu, celebrated for her acting in the rom-com Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and series Death and Other Details (2024).
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Above From left: Steven Nissen, president and CEO of Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Janet Yang, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina and Sarah Zurell attended Lu’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Ceremony on May 1, 2025 in Hollywood, California (Photo: Getty Images)
From left: Steven Nissen, president and CEO of Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Janet Yang, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina and Sarah Zurell attended Lu’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Ceremony on May 1, 2025 in Hollywood, California (Photo: Getty Images)
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Padukone and Salonga are also the first Indian and Filipino actors respectively to receive this accolade. Lu was inducted in 2023, but her ceremony was postponed to this year, marking her official celebration in 2025.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame was set up by EM Stuart, the then-president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, in 1953 to honour luminaries in motion pictures, television, radio, live theatre and recording with an avenue installed with terrazzo and brass stars that represent the honourees. Honourees are nominated by the public and chosen by a committee of industry experts. The first eight stars were unveiled on August 15, 1958.
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Above Left: Anna May Wong in ‘The Thief of Bagdad’, a 1924 silent film directed by Raoul Walsh who was inspired by the Arabian Nights tales (Photo: Getty Images)
Left: Anna May Wong in ‘The Thief of Bagdad’, a 1924 silent film directed by Raoul Walsh who was inspired by the Arabian Nights tales (Photo: Getty Images)
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In 1960, Anna May Wong, widely regarded as the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood, became the first Asian to receive a star. Despite this moment of apparent triumph for Asians, Wong was often typecast in token roles such as the exotic slave girl or the villainous dragon lady.
In the decades that followed, just 16 more actors of Asian descent have received stars among the more than 2,000 laid into the sidewalk to date. They include Philip Ahn (1984), George Takei (1986), Keye Luke (1990), Bruce Lee (1993), Mako (1994), Pat Morita (1994), Jackie Chan (2002), Keanu Reeves (2005), Ben Kingsley (2010), Toshiro Mifune (2016), Lucy Liu (2019), James Hong (2022), Ming-Na Wen and Mindy Kaling (2023), and Michelle Yeoh and Ken Jeong (2024). (The Japanese fictional character Godzilla was a 2004 inductee.)
With Salonga, Padukone and Lu among the 35 honourees for 2025, the road to diversity on Hollywood’s most iconic stretch continues to evolve. It may be slow, but one can indubitably see that there’s a place for us, a time and place for us.
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
