Hollywood is filled with so many accomplished and talented Asian and Pacific Islander (API) performers who all deserve their flowers.
Here are 21 interesting facts about API celebs:
1.Simone Ashley is a self-taught amateur tattoo artist. On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, she said, "I've tattooed myself. I've tattooed castmates I've worked with before."
She followed an inmate's YouTube tutorials for prison tattoos and gave herself this ankle tattoo of a sphynx cat:
Here's the full clip, with this part starting at the 5:18 mark:
2.Jameela Jamil's first "big splurge" was a three-day trip to Paris with her roommate — but she made a surprising fashion choice. She told Elle, "But sadly, at the time, I had agreed for charity to wear a chicken costume for 30 days...For every £1,000 I raised, I was gonna wear a chicken suit for that £1,000. And so, unfortunately, on my first, like, trip to Paris, I had to go dressed fully as a chicken."
Here's the full video where she talks about the chicken suit, with this part starting at the 1:40 mark:
3.In 2022, KJ Apa was designated the matai title Savae of Moata'a, the Samoan village where his family is from. He followed the legacy of his father and grandfather, who also held the chief title.
4.Dev Patel's film Monkey Man was largely filmed on an island in Indonesia with the crew in a "bubble" during the pandemic. Such a location challenged him to do a lot of creative problem solving, such as occasionally using GoPros and his cellphone to film. He also attached a camera to a rope to swing it over a crowd.
5.On The Ellen Show, Simu Liu shared that, long before he was cast as the lead in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, his first job involved dressing up as another Marvel hero.
Here's the full clip, with this part starting at the nine-minute mark:
6.Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was born in the US, but he lived in New Zealand for a while as a kid. He also reportedly got dual Canadian citizenship in 2009.
7.Auli'i Cravalho has a rescue cat named Rocco, whom she walks on a leash. She's also allergic to cats.
8.On The Jennifer Hudson Show, Nicole Scherzinger revealed that the worst thing that's ever happed to her while performing was when she split her pants seconds before performing on The X Factor with Justin Bieber.
Thankfully, her talented seamstress was able to do a super quick repair.
Here's the full clip, with this part starting at the 1:25 mark:
9.It's been reported that Jason Momoa won Hawaii's Model of the Year contest in 1999, but he actually "made that sh*t up." He told Square Mile, "When I was in Hawaii, I went to a casting call for Baywatch Hawaii – it was basically like a cattle call for 1,300 people. I got there, and seven hours later, when I finally got to the front of the line, they said, 'Oh, you've got to have a resume.' I was like, 'Oh yeah, well, I don't have one.' They were like, 'Dude, have you ever acted?' I was like, 'No,' and they were like, 'Have you modeled?' I was like, 'Yeah, yeah, I'm a big model. I do Gucci and Louis Vuitton."
10.When Mean Girls (2024) hit theaters, Avantika, who played Karen Shetty, watched it in theaters on her own so she could see what other people thought of it.
11.Ambika Mod sleeps with her eyes open. On The Graham Norton Show, she said, "Mostly, it's not fully. It's usually just like..." then she demonstrated.
Here's the full clip:
12.When Ali Wong first moved to New York City to pursue a stand-up comedy career, she regularly performed up to nine times in a single night.
13.In a YouTube video, Bretman Rock and Bella Poarch revealed that they're cousins.
Here's the full video, with this part starting at the 2:50 mark:
14.Hayley Kiyoko's parents have really interesting jobs. Her mom is a figure skater-turned-ice skating choreographer, and her dad is an actor/comedian who was one-half of the comedy duo Mack & Jamie.
15.Accepting the role of Eliza Schuyler in Hamilton led Phillipa Soo to meeting her husband, Steven Pasquale.
16.On Call Her Daddy, Zayn Malik said he has "a lot of animals" — three turtles, six chickens, three cats, and three dogs.
17.When Barbie made Fifth Harmony dolls, Dinah Jane's doll was the first modern Polynesian Barbie.
Larry Marano / Getty Images, Mattel / Via ebay.com
On the Real Gems With Erin Ashley Simon podcast, she said, "All my first cousins, all my girl cousins, were like, 'Oh my gosh, I have a Dinah Jane Barbie. I wanna be Dinah!' And just hearing that made me so proud to be Tongan, just to be an Islander. I knew it wasn't just me, but other younger Islander girls who were proud to be like, 'That's me.' Just to see that for myself and hear it for myself, it made me realize, 'Damn. I definitely have responsibility here, and I'm sticking to it.'"
18.Olivia Munn was born in the US, but she spent the majority of her childhood and teen years in Tokyo because she was in a military family.
19.Bella Hadid is actually a natural blonde, but she dyed her hair brunette, partially to separate herself from her famous sister, Gigi.
However, Bella has temporarily gone back to blonde on occassion.
20.Vanessa Hudgens belives she has the ability to see and hear the paranormal. On The Kelly Clarkson Show, she said, "I've accepted the fact that, like, I see things and I hear things."
Here's the full clip, with this part starting at the 6:55 mark:
21.And finally, Michelle Yeoh's Oscar-winning role in Everything Everywhere All at Once was originally written for Jackie Chan.
Check out more API-centered content by exploring how BuzzFeed celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! Of course, the content doesn't end after May. Follow BuzzFeed’s A*Pop on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to keep up with our latest API content year-round.
