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You've Seen Me Before
Over 700 roles and 70 Years in Hollywood (And Counting)
By James Hong
With Jeff Yang
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Table of Contents
About the Book
A sweeping memoir of an Asian American Hollywood pioneer, star of Everything Everywhere All at Once and Mulan, from coming of age under the Chinese Exclusion Act to becoming one of the hardest-working actors in the business.
You might not know actor James Hong’s name, but we can guarantee you’ve seen him before. With over seven hundred acting credits and counting, James is one of Hollywood’s most prolific actors and a pioneer in Asian American entertainment.
Born to Chinese immigrants in Minneapolis, Hong endured the aggressive anti-Asian racism of the 1930s, served in the army during Korean War, and—somewhere in the mix—was bitten by the performance bug that would eventually lead to a seventy-year long career in showbiz (and counting).
From his iconic role as Chi-Fu in Disney’s Mulan to the hilariously terrifying Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China and Kung Fu Panda’s beloved Mr. Ping, James has been capturing viewers hearts for years. And who could forget his powerful, viral speech as he accepted the Best Ensemble Cast honors on behalf of Everything Everywhere All at Once at the Actor Awards?
Drawing on never-before-seen archival materials and hours of interviews, this is a powerful first-person journey through James’s incredible life and unique family history: a quintessential Asian American post-immigrant story, filled with new anecdotes and wisdom drawn from an unprecedented career, threaded through with an incisive look at nearly a century of Hollywood history.
You might not know actor James Hong’s name, but we can guarantee you’ve seen him before. With over seven hundred acting credits and counting, James is one of Hollywood’s most prolific actors and a pioneer in Asian American entertainment.
Born to Chinese immigrants in Minneapolis, Hong endured the aggressive anti-Asian racism of the 1930s, served in the army during Korean War, and—somewhere in the mix—was bitten by the performance bug that would eventually lead to a seventy-year long career in showbiz (and counting).
From his iconic role as Chi-Fu in Disney’s Mulan to the hilariously terrifying Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China and Kung Fu Panda’s beloved Mr. Ping, James has been capturing viewers hearts for years. And who could forget his powerful, viral speech as he accepted the Best Ensemble Cast honors on behalf of Everything Everywhere All at Once at the Actor Awards?
Drawing on never-before-seen archival materials and hours of interviews, this is a powerful first-person journey through James’s incredible life and unique family history: a quintessential Asian American post-immigrant story, filled with new anecdotes and wisdom drawn from an unprecedented career, threaded through with an incisive look at nearly a century of Hollywood history.
About the Author
Photograph © James Hong
James Hong’s career spans seven decades, and he has acquired nearly seven hundred credited roles in feature films and television, perhaps most notably in Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once. He is one of the founders of the East-West Players, the oldest and largest Asian American theater in Los Angeles. He served as president and charter member of the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists and was a former member of the SAG Board of Directors under Charleton Heston as president.
Product Details
- Publisher: Atria Books (September 22, 2026)
- Length: 272 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668099322
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Raves and Reviews
“I had the pleasure of hearing many of James Hong’s fascinating tales firsthand on the set of Everything Everywhere All at Once, and in this memoir, I’m delighted to see him finally share these stories and so much more with the world. It is a living history lesson in what it truly meant to be an Asian actor navigating old Hollywood, told by a man who survived it all with his dignity, his craft, and his spirit entirely intact.”
—Ke Huy Quan
“One of James’s great talents [is] his unique point of view, coupled with his immense talent and signature twinkle in his eye…. I am very happy that the world will now get to experience his own personal and professional stories from his brilliant perspective with this wonderful book.”
—Jamie Lee Curtis
"James Hong is that guy. As in, hey, it's that guy! In everything and everywhere, but not all at once. How did he become Hollywood's most prolific journeyman, with more movie and TV credits than any actor alive? It all started with a Chinese kid from Minnesota with big dreams. You've Seen Me Before is a unique chronicle of Asian American Hollywood over seven decades, through one artist's story of resilience, ingenuity, and just showing up again and again."
—Phil Yu, New York Times bestselling co-author of Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now
“This book engagingly attests to the triumph of dignified resilience in one’s craft.”
—Library Journal
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