The Top AAPI Women You Need to Know in 2024
Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month: Trailblazing Women in Entertainment
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, honoring the contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders throughout U.S. history. We're spotlighting influential AAPI women like Miyoshi Umeki and Ming-Na Wen who've shattered barriers in Hollywood.
✨ From Lucy Liu to Ming Na Wen, these AAPI heritage trailblazers have made significant contributions to the entertainment industry and the AAPI community. Join us in celebrating their accomplishments!
AAPI Heritage Month is held every May to reflect on and celebrate the work and impact of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders throughout history.
Celebrate AAPI Month with us as we highlight the achievements of influential women in entertainment! From Miyoshi Umeki's historic Oscar win to Lucy Liu's impact on pop culture, we're recognizing the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by spotlighting these amazing women and Ming Na Wen.
1. Miyoshi Umeki
Miyoshi Umeki was the first Asian actor to win an Oscar.
In 1958, Miyoshi Umeki, a Japanese-American singer and actor, became the first Asian actor to win an Academy Award. She won best supporting actress for her role as Katsumi in "Sayonara," and starred alongside Red Buttons and Marlon Brando.
After her win, she starred in "Flower Drum Song" on Broadway and in film adaptations, earning a Tony and a Golden Globe nomination, respectively. She was also known for her supporting role as Mrs. Livingston in the sitcom "The Courtship of Eddie's Father."
A cover story in Time stated "the warmth of her art works a kind of tranquil magic". Umeki appeared in the film adaptation of the musical. Although a guest on many television variety shows, she appeared in only four more movies through 1962, including the film version of Flower Drum Song (1961). The others were Cry for Happy (1961), The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962) and A Girl Named Tamiko (1963).
From 1969 to 1972, she appeared in The Courtship of Eddie's Father as Mrs. Livingston, the housekeeper, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. She retired from acting following the end of the series.
READ - Auli'i Cravalho | Asian American Women Who Conquered Hollywood
Like many other actors of color at the time, Umeki was forced to either play roles that reinforced stereotypes or not act at all. Her son, Michael Hood, told Entertainment Weekly in 2018 that he'd asked her why she agreed to speak in "pidgin English."
"Her answer was very simple: 'I didn't like doing it, but when someone pays you to do a job, you do the job, and you do your best,'" he said.
Umeki famously destroyed her history-making Oscar after the death of her husband, Randall Hood, in 1976, Entertainment Weekly reported. She died in 2007 at the age of 78 from Cancer.2. Ali Wong
Ali Wong is the first Asian woman to win a Primetime Emmy for a leading role.
Alexandra Dawn Wong ( April 19, 1982)was born in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California. She is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director.
She is best known for her Netflix stand-up specials Baby Cobra (2016), Hard Knock Wife (2018), and Don Wong (2022). She has also starred in the romantic comedy film Always Be My Maybe (2019), on which she also served as a writer and producer. In 2023, she starred in the Netflix dark comedy series Beef, for which she won two Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards, becoming the first Asian woman to win a lead acting Emmy. She was included in Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020 and 2023.
Wong was a cast member on the ABC show American Housewife and appeared on Inside Amy Schumer, Black Box, and Are You There, Chelsea? She was a writer for the first three seasons of the sitcom Fresh Off the Boat. She also voiced the title character Roberta "Bertie" Songthrush on the animated series Tuca & Bertie and Ali on the animated series Big Mouth.
3. Auli'i Cravalho
At just 14 years old, Auli'i Cravalho brought the voice of Moana, Disney's first Polynesian princess, to life
Chloe Auliʻi Cravalho(born November 22, 2000) is an American actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 16 as the voice of the title character in the Disney animated musical film Moana (2016).
Auli'i Cravalho was only 14 when she was cast as Moana, Disney's first Polynesian princess. The 2016 film was a box-office smash, earning over $640 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo.
She went on to star in the NBC drama series Rise (2018), the Netflix drama film All Together Now (2020), the supernatural comedy Darby and the Dead (2022), the Amazon Prime Video sci-fi series The Power (2023), the Disney Channel animated series Hailey's On It!, and the 2024 film adaptation of the Mean Girls musical.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that Cravalho spoke about how the role impacted her life at the second annual Pasifika Entertainment Advancement Komiti Conversations panel in May 2024.
"For me to be a representative of all the Pacific is simply incorrect, so I look forward to seeing more faces in the crowd, and, importantly, more faces behind the camera, in the writers' room, as showrunners, as producers, as industry leaders, because having to answer everyone's questions is too much," Cravalho added.
In addition to "Moana," she has starred in the 2024 adaptation of "Mean Girls" and "Darby and the Dead," and she'll reprise her role in "Moana 2" later this year.
4. Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong was the first Asian actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese American actress to gain international recognition. Her varied career spanned silent film, sound film, television, stage, and radio.
Born in Los Angeles to second-generation Taishanese Chinese American parents, Wong became engrossed with films and decided at the age of 11 that she would become an actress. Her first role was as an extra in the movie The Red Lantern (1919). During the silent film era, she acted in The Toll of the Sea (1922), one of the first films made in color, and in Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad (1924). Wong became a fashion icon and had achieved international stardom in 1924. Wong had been one of the first to embrace the flapper look. In 1934, the Mayfair Mannequin Society of New York voted her the "world's best dressed woman." In the 1920s and 1930s, Wong was acclaimed as one of the top fashion icons.
Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe in March 1928, where she starred in several notable plays and films, among them Piccadilly (1929). She spent the first half of the 1930s traveling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. Wong was featured in films of the early sound era, and went on to appear in Daughter of the Dragon (1931), with Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg's Shanghai Express (1932), Java Head (1934), and Daughter of Shanghai (1937).
In 1935, Wong was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth. MGM instead cast Luise Rainer to play the leading role in yellowface. One biographer believes that the choice was due to the Hays Code anti-miscegenation rules requiring the wife of a white actor, Paul Muni (ironically playing a Chinese character in yellowface) to be played by a white actress.
But the 1930–1934 Hays Code of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America insisted only that "miscegenation (sex relationship between the white and black races) was forbidden" and said nothing about other interracial marriages. Other biographers have not corroborated this theory, including historian Shirley Jennifer Lim's Anna May Wong: Performing the Modern. MGM screen-tested Wong for the supporting role of Lotus, the seductress, but it is ambiguous whether she refused the role on principle or was rejected.
Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her family's ancestral village, studying Chinese culture, and documenting the experience on film at a time when prominent female directors in Hollywood were few.
In the late 1930s, she starred in several B movies for Paramount Pictures, portraying Chinese and Chinese Americans in a positive light.
In 1951, Wong made history with her television show The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, the first-ever U.S. television show starring an Asian-American series lead. She had been planning to return to film in Flower Drum Song when she died in 1961, at the age of 56, from a heart attack. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical "Dragon Lady" and demure "Butterfly" roles that she was often given. Her life and career were re-evaluated in the years around the centennial of her birth, in three major literary works and film retrospectives.
In 1960, for her contributions to Hollywood, Wong became the first Asian actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was also one of five women featured in the inaugural year of the American Women Quarters Program in 2022.
5. Padma Lakshmi
Padma Lakshmi's new show highlights the cuisine of indigenous and immigrant groups around the US. SH is an Indian-American television host, model, author, and activist best known for her work on Bravo's "Top Chef."
Padma Parvati Lakshmi (born September 1, 1970) is an Indian-American author, model, activist, and television host. Born in India, Lakshmi immigrated to the United States as a child and was raised in California.
She became a model before embarking on a career in television. Lakshmi hosted the cooking competition program Top Chef on Bravo continuously from 2006 to 2023. For her work, she received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Reality Host in 2009 and 2020 through 2022.
She is also the creator, host, and executive producer of the docuseries Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, which premiered in June 2020 on Hulu. The series covers the food and culture of immigrant and indigenous communities across America. Received the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Series and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Culinary Show
She has written five books: two cookbooks, Easy Exotic and Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet; an encyclopedia, The Encyclopedia of Spices & Herbs: An Essential Guide to the Flavors of the World; a memoir, Love, Loss, and What We Ate; and a children's book, Tomatoes for Neela illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal.
In 2023, she was listed among Time's 100 most influential people in the world.
6. Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu was honored with the Gold Legend Award at 2024's Gold Gala, which Gold House organizes to celebrate AAPI leaders across industries.
In 2019, she became the second Asian woman to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Lucy Alexis Liu (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress. Born in New York City to Chinese immigrant parents. Although she did well in her studies, she started acting when she auditioned for a minor role in a college production of Alice in Wonderland, and instead won the lead. After some small roles in films and television, her breakthrough came when she got a part in Ally McBeal, playing the foul-mouthed Ling Woo, a new character specifically written for her.
She has starred in the television series Ally McBeal (1998–2002), in two Charlie's Angels films (2000 and 2003), and in the crime-drama series Elementary (2012–2019), as well as in films Payback (1999), Shanghai Noon (2000), Chicago (2002), Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), Lucky Number Slevin (2006), Watching the Detectives (2007), The Man with the Iron Fists (2012), and Set It Up (2018).
She voice acted as Master Viper in the first three installments of the Kung Fu Panda franchise (2008–2016) and Silvermist in the Tinker Bell series (2008–2014). Her other voice credits include Maya & Miguel (2004–2007), Mulan II (2004), as well as the English and Mandarin-dubbed versions of Magic Wonderland (2014) and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013). She also voiced Callisto Mal in the Disney-animated film Strange World (2022). Most recently, she starred as Kalypso in Shazam! Fury of the Gods and directed the Disney show American Born Chinese.
She has received several accolades including a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Seoul International Drama Award, in addition to a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award.
7. Mindy Kaling
With shows like "Never Have I Ever" and "The Sex Lives of College Girls," Mindy Kaling is changing representation for young women of color.
Kaling started her career on "The Office" when she was 24 as the only woman and person of color on the writing team. When the show was nominated for an Emmy early in her career, Kaling had to go through extra hoops to be included.
Vera Mindy Chokalingam (born June 24, 1979), known professionally as Mindy Kaling , is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer.
Known for her extensive work on television, she has received numerous accolades including two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Tony Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards nominations. She was recognized by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013 and was awarded the National Medal of the Arts from US President Joe Biden in 2022.
She first gained recognition starring as Kelly Kapoor in the NBC sitcom The Office (2005–2013), for which she also served as a writer, executive producer, and director. For her work on the series, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. She gained wider attention for creating, producing and starring as Dr. Mindy Lahiri in the Fox/Hulu semi-biographical sitcom The Mindy Project (2012–2017), that was inspired by some events in her early life.
She then expanded her career creating numerous shows such as the NBC sitcom Champions (2018), the Hulu miniseries Four Weddings and a Funeral (2019), the Netflix comedy series Never Have I Ever (2020–2023) and the HBO Max comedy series The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021–present).
Her film career includes voice roles in Despicable Me (2010), Wreck-It Ralph (2012), and Inside Out (2015) as well as live action roles in No Strings Attached (2011), The Five-Year Engagement (2012), A Wrinkle in Time and Ocean's 8 (both 2018), and Late Night (2019), the last of which she also wrote and produced.
She wrote two memoirs both reaching The New York Times Best Seller list. She also received a Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for the musical A Strange Loop. In 2012, Kaling founded the production company Kaling International.
8. Taimane Gardner
Taimane Gardner won favorite entertainer of the year at the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards in 2019.
Taimane Tauiliili Bobby Gardner (born February 13, 1989) who often performs under the mononym Taimane, is an American ukulele virtuoso and composer.
Taimane became a popular local musician on the Waikiki performance circuit as a teenager. In 2005, she released her first album Loco Princess.
Her album Life – The Art & Beauty of Being Human was released in 2008. Other released solo projects include Ukulele Dance in 2012, We Are Made of Stars in 2015, Elemental in 2018 and Hawaiki (2022).
Taimane has performed internationally in Japan and Hong Kong. Her album We Are Made of Stars was nominated for Ukulele Album of the Year at the 2016 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. Taimane has also been recognized for her cover medley performances, including a spot on the Guitar World Magazine Top 10 Ukulele Moments list.
In 2019, she won favorite entertainer of the year at the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, Hawaii's equivalent of the Grammys. On March 13, 2020, she became the first Hawaii artist featured on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series with over 1 million views.
9. Awkwafina
Awkwafina was the first Asian woman to win a Golden Globe for best actress.
Nora Lum (born June 2, 1988), known professionally as Awkwafina, is an American actress and rapper.
She rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song "My Vag" became popular on YouTube. She then released her debut album, Yellow Ranger (2014), and appeared on the MTV comedy series Girl Code (2014–2015).
She expanded to films with supporting roles in the comedies Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), Ocean's 8 (2018), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). For her starring role as a grieving young woman in The Farewell (2019), she won a Golden Globe Award. "Crazy Rich Asians" grossed $239 million worldwide, while "Shang-Chi" grossed $432 million, Box Office Mojo reported.
Since 2020, Awkwafina has been a co-creator, writer, and executive producer of the Comedy Central series Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens, where she also plays a fictionalized version of herself.
In 2021, she portrayed Katy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. She has also performed voice roles in the animated films Storks (2016), The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019), Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), The Bad Guys (2022), The Little Mermaid, Migration (both 2023), Kung Fu Panda 4, and IF (both 2024).
Awkwafina was honored as Kore Asian Media's Female Breakout of the Year in 2017.For her performance in the comedy-drama film The Farewell, she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, the Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival Virtuoso Award, among numerous other nominations.
Alongside the film's ensemble, she was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Awkwafina also received a nomination for the BAFTA Rising Star Award.
In 2023, Awkwafina was honored with two wax figures at Madame Tussauds New York.
10. Karrueche Tran
In 2021, Karrueche Tran became the first AAPI actress to win an Emmy for a leading role. Tran is the first actress of AAPI descent to win an Emmy — Daytime or Primetime — for a leading role, Essence reported.
Karrueche Tran ( born May 17, 1988) is an American socialite and actress. Tran first gained public recognition for dating R&B singer Chris Brown.
She is best known for starring as Virginia Loc on the TNT series Claws and for starring as Vivian Johnson in the web series The Bay (2013–2016), for which she won Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Daytime Fiction Program at the 2021 Daytime Emmy Awards.
Her win made her the first person of Asian Pacific American descent to win an Emmy for Lead Actress or Actor.She received two additional Daytime Emmy Awards from production credits shared by the entire cast and crew when The Bay won Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series in 2016 and 2017.
Tran is a native of Los Angeles, California. She was raised by her Vietnamese mother and Jamaican godmother. Her father is African-American. Tran identifies as Blasian.
Tran began dating R&B singer Chris Brown in November 2010. The couple briefly broke up when Brown reconciled with his ex-girlfriend, singer Rihanna. After the latter's relationship ended, Tran and Brown continued their relationship, but split after it was revealed in March 2015 that Brown had welcomed a daughter with another woman. In February 2017, Tran was granted a temporary 100-yard restraining order against Brown after she accused him of harassing her on social media. After testifying under oath, she was granted a 5-year restraining order against Brown in June 2017.
Tran dated former football player Victor Cruz from late 2017 to early 2021
11. Ming-Na Wen
Ming-Na Wen is a certified Disney Legend. Ming-Na Wen has had a prolific, decades-long career in Hollywood.
Ming-Na Wen ( born November 23, 1959) is an American actress and model. She is best known for playing Melinda May / The Cavalry in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020). Wen made her breakthrough in The Joy Luck Club (1993) as June Woo, this film was the first in Hollywood to star a predominantly Asian cast. She also voiced the eponymous character in the animated film Mulan, its sequel, and reprised the role as Mulan in the video game. Additionally, Wen made a cameo appearance in the live-action remake of Mulan (2020).
She is also known for playing Fennec Shand in The Mandalorian (2019–2020), Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021), and The Book of Boba Fett (2021–2022) and for playing Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen in the medical drama series ER (1995–2004).
Her other works include Kingdom Hearts II (2005), Sofia the First (2014), and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018); the roles of Chun-Li in Street Fighter (1994), Detective Ellen Yin in The Batman (2004–2005); and Camile Wray in Stargate Universe (2009–2011).
In 2019, she was honored as a Disney Legend, and in 2023, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
12. Bessie Loo
Bessie Loo was an icon for Asian American representation in Hollywood.
Bessie Loo (December 30, 1902 – October 28, 1998) was an American actress, casting director, and talent agent. She owned the Bessie Loo Talent Agency for over 40 years, and represented many of the Asian-American actors in 20th-century Hollywood.
As an actress of Chinese descent, Loo's acting career started in 1930s. Loo mostly played small parts. Loo appeared in The Good Earth (1937), and was a maid in Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939); her husband Richard Loo was also in the cast of both films
Bessie Loo served as president of the China Society of Southern California, and of the Los Angeles Chinese Women's Club. She was also an appointed member of the California State Economic Development Commission, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In 1978 her achievements were honored at a dinner of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, and in 1982 her friend and client James Hong organized an event with the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists (AAPAA) called "An Affair with Bessie," to celebrate her career. Just weeks before she died, she was honored for "Excellence in Entertainment" by the Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles, at their annual Historymakers Awards Banquet.
In 1998, Loo died. She was 95 years old. Archival footage of Loo, and a brief discussion of her work, was featured in the Arthur Dong documentary Hollywood Chinese (2007).
13. Jocelyne LaGarde
Jocelyne LaGarde's role in her first and only film, "Hawaii," earned her an Academy Award nomination. Native Tahitian actress Jocelyne LaGarde is the first Indigenous and Polynesian person to be nominated for an Academy Award.
Jocelyne Bredin LaGarde (24 April 1924 – 12 September 1979) She was a Native Tahitian actress. She earned the nomination for best supporting actress for her first and only acting role in 1966's motion picture, "Hawaii," starring Julie Andrews. For her portrayal of Queen Malama Kanakoa, LaGarde also won the Golden Globe for best performance by an actress in a supporting role in any motion picture.
The film Hawaii was a big-budget drama based on the best-selling novel of the same name by James A. Michener that tells the story of 19th-century white missionaries bringing Christianity to the island natives. LaGarde was a Polynesian woman who fit perfectly the physical attributes of an important character in the film. Although she had never acted before, and could not speak English (speaking only fluent Tahitian and French), she was hired by Mirisch Productions and given a coach who taught her enough English to handle her character's dialogue.
As "Queen Malama Kanakoa, Aliʻi Nui of Hawaii", LaGarde's personality and facial beauty, combined with a reported 300-pound (140 kg) frame, brought a commanding presence to the screen. Surrounded by a cast of Hollywood all-stars, she stole the show not only with the audience but with the professional members of the film industry.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated her for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the only performer in the film so nominated. She was the first Polynesian and first Indigenous person ever nominated for an Academy Award.
In 1972, she travelled back to Honolulu to receive medical treatment for complications of diabetes which resulted in the amputation of one foot. She died at her home in Papeete, Tahiti, in 1979, without a reported cause of death.
14. Keisha Castle-Hughes
Keisha Castle-Hughes is the second-youngest best actress nominee in Oscars history.
Keisha Castle-Hughes (born 24 March 1990) is a New Zealand actress. She made her acting debut in the drama film Whale Rider (2002), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the second-youngest nominee in such category. Her subsequent films include the biblical drama film The Nativity Story (2006) and the teen film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger (2008).
Some of her other roles have included Hana Gibson on CBS's "FBI: Most Wanted," Obara Sand on "Game of Thrones," and the voice of Dr. Emerie Karr in "Star Wars: The Bad Batch."
In 2002, Castle-Hughes made her debut in the film "Whale Rider", in which she played the main role of Paikea Apirana (Pai). She had no previous acting experience and went directly from her Auckland school classroom to the film set when the shoot began in New Zealand in late 2001. Castle-Hughes received widespread critical acclaim for her performance, and in 2004 she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress at the 76th Academy Awards.
Although she did not win the Best Actress award (it went to Charlize Theron for Monster), at age 13 she became the youngest person nominated in this category at the time and the second Indigenous actress, after Merle Oberon and Jocelyne LaGarde, to be nominated for an Oscar.
At 13 years old, Castle-Hughes became the youngest person nominated for best leading actress at the Academy Awards. (This record was later broken by Quvenzhané Wallis who was nominated at age 9.)
15. Jeannie Mai
Jeannie Mai is best known for her role as a host on shows like "The Real" and "Raid the Cage."
Jeannie Camtu Mai (born January 4, 1979) is an American television personality, best known for her work on the makeover show How Do I Look? and the syndicated daytime talk show The Real.
As a fashion expert, she is frequently featured on television programs such as Today, Extra TV, Entertainment Tonight, and Insider. She has also appeared as a host for E! and as a red carpet host for the American Music Awards. Mai was a correspondent for the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Miss Universe pageants; she co-hosted the 2022 and 2023 editions as well.
In March 2020, Mai wrote a powerful op-ed for People condemning anti-Asian hate fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At age 18, Mai launched her career as a makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics while still living in San Jose. As a trainer, she worked her way from face to face until she was eventually traveling the world to work for celebrities such as Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys. This led her to also serve as a celebrity-makeup stylist for MTV's Total Request Live, KCAL Los Angeles, and Good Day Sacramento
In 2003, Mai began auditioning for local television networks with self-written scripts to demonstrate her hosting talents. She was hired to co-host the Asian-American magazine-style show Stir on the International Channel. Later, the San Francisco-based California Music Channel hired her to host her own music countdown. Mai went on to become an entertainment reporter and producer of the WB's The Daily Mixx
In 2005, Mai landed her first primetime hosting role on Character Fantasy on the USA Network, where she inspired guests each week to live their fantasies
In 2008, Mai hosted TLC's Miss America Reality Check. She also starred in the makeover special Dude, Where's Your Style, and became spokesperson of the cosmetics Never Accept Ordinary.
Mai, Miss Universe 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel and Alden Richards were announced as hosts for the Miss Universe Philippines 2024 to be held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines, on May 22, 2024.
16. Norah Jones
Nine-time Grammy winner Norah Jones has sold more than 50 million records.
Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and, as of 2023, had sold more than 50 million records worldwide. Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000s decade. She has won nine Grammy Awards and was ranked 60th on Billboard magazine's artists of the 2000s decade chart.
In 2002, Jones launched her solo music career with the release of Come Away with Me, which was a fusion of jazz with country, blues, folk and pop. It was certified diamond, selling over 27 million copies.
The record earned Jones five Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist, making her the first person of South Asian descent to win that many Grammy awards. Her subsequent studio albums Feels Like Home (2004), Not Too Late (2007), and The Fall (2009), all gained platinum status, selling over a million copies each.
They were also generally well received by critics. Jones made her feature film debut as an actress in My Blueberry Nights, which was released in 2007 and was directed by Wong Kar-Wai.
Jones is the daughter of Indian sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar, and is the half-sister of fellow Indian musicians Anoushka Shankar and Shubhendra Shankar.
17. Dinah Jane
Dinah Jane was a member of the award-winning girl group Fifth Harmony. Singing alongside Lauren Jauregui, Camila Cabello, Normani, and Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane was one-fifth of the groundbreaking girl group Fifth Harmony.
Dinah Jane Milika Ilaisaane Hansen (born June 22, 1997) is an American singer. She auditioned as a solo artist for the second season of The X Factor and a later became a member of Fifth Harmony, which went on to become one of the best-selling girl groups of all time.
After forming on "The X Factor" in 2012, the group released three albums, becoming one of the best-selling girl groups of the 21st century. Although they disbanded officially in 2018, Fifth Harmony won 10 Teen Choice Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, an American Music Award, and the first-ever Billboard Women in Music group of the year award. Like her former bandmates, Jane has since pursued a solo career in music.
In October 2017, she featured in RedOne's single "Boom Boom" with Daddy Yankee and French Montana. After the group's hiatus announcement in 2018, Jane signed as a solo artist with L.A. Reid's HitCo Entertainment. Her debut solo single, "Bottled Up" featuring Ty Dolla Sign and Marc E. Bassy, was released in September 2018. This was followed by the release of her extended play, Dinah Jane 1, in April 2019.
Raised in a musical family, Jane was introduced to music at the age of 4. She performed in public for the first time at age seven singing the national anthem, and sang at local events in Orange County. In 2011, she recorded her first song "Dancing Like a White Girl". She graduated from Orange County School of the Arts in 2015.
On May 17, 2024, Jane released her new single "Ocean Song" and is reportedly expecting to release her second extended play Forever Summer on August 21, 2024, according to journalist, Tomás Mier, on Twitter (now called X).
18. Connie Chung
In 1993, Connie Chung became the first Asian woman to co-anchor a national nightly news broadcast and just the second woman ever — to co-anchor a major news network's nightly news broadcast, per the Chinese American Museum. She led "CBS Evening News" with Dan Rather for two years before moving on to other news networks.
Constance Yu-Hwa Chung (born August 20, 1946) is an American journalist who has been a news anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC.
Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von Bülow and U.S. representative Gary Condit, whom Chung interviewed first after the Chandra Levy disappearance, and basketball legend Magic Johnson after he went public about being HIV-positive.
Chung's interviews were largely gentle, but often they were punctuated by a rapid-fire barrage of sharp questions. Despite this, her interviews were still widely recognized as being softer than those of many contemporary interviewers, such as Barbara Walters or Mike Wallace. Consequently, her interviews were often used as a public relations move by those looking to overcome scandal or controversy. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von Bülow and U.S. representative Gary Condit, whom Chung interviewed first after the Chandra Levy disappearance
In her early career, Chung was only the second woman and the first Asian to anchor a major nightly news program in the U.S. As such, for the growing number of new Chinese immigrants to the U.S. from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, she was a rare, nationally visible representative. Many of these immigrant families, wanting their daughters to achieve and succeed, named their girls Connie after the one woman on mainstream media who could be seen as a role model for them
Throughout her career, she has won three Emmy Awards, including two for outstanding interview in 1989 and 1990. Chung has also received the Amnesty International Human Rights Award and a George Foster Peabody Award.
19. Lana Condor
Lana Condor was the star of Netflix's hit rom-com franchise "To All the Boys I've Loved Before."
Lana Therese Condor (May 11, 1997) is an American actress and YouTuber.
She made her acting debut starring as Jubilee in the superhero film X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), and gained international recognition for portraying Lara Jean Covey in the romantic comedy To All the Boys film series (2018–2021). She has also portrayed Saya Kuroki in the television series Deadly Class (2019) and Koyomi in the film Alita: Battle Angel (2019). More recently, Condor voiced the titular character in the animated teen comedy film Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023).
Born in Vietnam, Condor lived her first months in an orphanage in Cần Thơ under the name Trần Đồng Lan. On October 6, 1997, she was adopted and renamed by American parents Mary Carol Condor and Bob Condor in Chicago, Illinois
She continued dancing with the Los Angeles Ballet, and also trained at the Groundlings in improvisational theatre. She studied acting the New York Film Academy and Yale Summer Conservatory for Actors, and in 2014 was a theatre scholar at the California State Summer School for the Arts
Condor made her acting debut as the mutant Jubilation Lee / Jubilee in Bryan Singer's 2016 superhero film X-Men: Apocalypse. That year, she also appeared in Peter Berg's drama film Patriots Day, which depicted the events and aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing.
In 2017, Condor co-starred in the Lifetime romantic thriller film High School Lover. The following year, she gained recognition for her lead role as Lara Jean Covey in Netflix's romantic drama film To All the Boys I've Loved Before, directed by Susan Johnson and based on Jenny Han's young adult novel of the same name. For the role, she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award.
20. Michelle Zauner
Musician and author Michelle Zauner was named one of Time100's "Most Influential People of 2022."
Michelle Chongmi Zauner (born March 29, 1989) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author, known as the lead vocalist of the indie pop band Japanese Breakfast. Her 2021 memoir, Crying in H Mart, spent 60 weeks on The New York Times hardcover non-fiction bestseller list. In 2022, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world under the category Innovators on their annual list.
Zauner was raised in Eugene, Oregon, and began playing music and hosting public performances when she was 15. In 2011, after graduating from Bryn Mawr College, Zauner and three other musicians formed Little Big League, a Philadelphia-based emo band that released two albums, These Are Good People (2013) and Tropical Jinx (2014).
Zauner, who in 2013 began to release music under the name Japanese Breakfast, left Little Big League in 2014 when she returned to Eugene to care for her ailing mother. In 2016, she released Japanese Breakfast's debut album, Psychopomp, which cantered on grief and her mother's death. A follow-up album, Soft Sounds from Another Planet, was released in 2017.
A third, Jubilee, was released in 2021 and became the band's first album to chart on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 56; it was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. She also wrote the soundtrack for the 2021 video game Sable.
Zauner's essays have been published in Glamour, The New Yorker, and Harper's Bazaar. She released her first book, Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, via Alfred A. Knopf in 2021 to critical acclaim. It is to be adapted into a feature film by Orion Pictures, with Zauner providing the soundtrack. She has directed most of Japanese Breakfast's music videos; she has also directed videos for American singer Jay Som and power pop band Charly Bliss.
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