Francis Jue attends opening night for ‘Yellow Face’ by Roundabout Theatre Company in New York on October 1, 2024. 

By Sejla Rizvic

Fordham Law’s Center on Asian Americans and the Law put a spotlight on the historic representation of Asian Americans in the entertainment industry at an event featuring actor Francis Jue, who won a 2025 Tony award for his performance in the Broadway revival of Yellow Face.

The event featured a film screening of Yellow Face, followed by a discussion with Jue led by Professor Thomas Lee, co-director of the Center. Jue performed in the original run of Yellow Face in 2007, as well as the play’s latest restaging in 2024.

The play explores various historical topics that surrounded Asian Americans in the United States—from the once common casting practice called “yellowface,” where non-Asian actors played Asian roles, to espionage accusations against Chinese-American scientists. The play also touches on the case of Dr. Wen Ho Lee, a Taiwanese-American scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, accused of providing nuclear secrets to the government of China. The case was later dropped in part, with Dr. Lee pleading guilty to one count in return for a sentence of time served. The judge delivered a highly unusual apology in open court to Dr. Lee on behalf of the U.S. government.

“Back in 2008, when I first did the show, I didn’t have as much perspective on things like the scandal over Wen Ho Lee being targeted and incarcerated in solitary confinement for months,” said Jue. “I didn’t understand, [almost]20 years ago, how representation of Asian Americans affects policy, and affects how we treat each other in real life.”

To read the entire article: https://news.law.fordham.edu/blog/2025/10/27/screening-of-broadway-hit-yellow-face-sparks-discussion-on-asian-american-representation/

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