If you saw photos from last year’s Met Gala, you may have noticed Gemma Chan’s dress, which was a nod to Anna May Wong. Chan is part of a welcome increase of diverse representation in film. While the rise in Hollywood films centered around Asian American stories is a relatively new development, the history of Asian Americans in Hollywood is older. Anna May Wong, widely regarded as the first Chinese American movie star, is a formative figure in that history.

Born in 1905 in LA, Anna May Wong was a third-generation Chinese American. Fascinated with film from a young age, she rose to fame after being cast in The Thief of Baghdad, an early Technicolor film released in 1940. Wong’s career spanned film, TV, and theatre, and she performed alongside stars like Marlene Dietrich and Laurence Olivier. Her TV show, The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, was the first American TV series with an Asian American lead. Wong’s career was not without strife. She faced the challenge of continuously being cast in stereotyped roles such as the ‘Dragon Lady’ or the ‘Butterfly,’ which left her playing characters that were villainous, oversexualized, or submissive.

Wong fought these tropes; she moved to Europe in the hope of finding more diverse roles, spoke out against the villainization of Chinese characters, and eventually refused to accept racist acting parts. Wong’s contributions went beyond her personal acting career. When visiting China, she directed and produced a documentary about the country and later raised money for Chinese refugees during WWII. Anna May Wong’s activism, her immense achievement, and her refusal to fit the mold Hollywood tried to assign to her make her a relevant model for today.

📸: Theo Wargo, The Everett Collection