Chow, Broderick D.V. and Laine, Eero (2025) A screen archive of Asian bros: casting masculinity and performing stereotypes. Studies in Theatre and Performance, 45 (2). pp. 170-189. ISSN 1468-2761

Abstract

This article examines theatrical and screen casting practices through the figure of the Asian bro. Whether or not the Asian bro is a resistant figure – one which challenges stereotypical depictions of Asian (primarily American) masculinity – or a reactionary one, has been the subject of popular debate in recent years, connected to ideas of Asian masculinity that have been rehearsed since the beginnings of the Asian American movement in the 1960s. This article contributes to these discussions by building on (and departing from) discourses of Asian male emasculation. We explore what the Asian bro tells us about the study of men and masculinities, specifically how masculinity studies might move beyond the compulsion to identify men and masculinities according to types (e.g. toxic, tender, marginal, etc.). We do this by extending the theatrical practice of casting to social relations and the ways they manifest across media and through Asian male actors who have troubled simple types often demanded by casting notices. The article concludes with an example of social casting that involves self-casting, even as it plays on and with stereotypes.