An actor who appeared on two episodes of Friends has recalled how racist language being used on the ‘toxic’ television set spurred him to campaign for better treatment of Asian-Americans in Hollywood.
Steve Park is best known for appearing on sketch show In Living Color during its 1991/92 run, Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, and 1996’s Fargo.
He also once appeared in two episodes of the beloved NBC sitcom Friends, first in 1996 and again in 1997.
Initially, Park played Scott Alexander, a data processor and co-worker of Chandler Bing (played by the late Matthew Perry) in the season two episode, The One With The Chicken Pox.
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He returned to the programme in season three as Phil, making his second and final appearance in The One With The Ultimate Fighting Champion.
It was during his sophomore Friends stint that Park claims to have experienced how ‘toxic’ the TV programme was behind the scenes.
He also claims he heard a staff member using racist language to refer to fellow guest actor, James Hong, who also appeared in the episode alongside Jon Favreau as Pete.
“It was at the time, I felt it was kind of a toxic environment,” Park told Pod Meets World hosts Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, and Rider Strong.
“James Hong was the actor who was also on the episode with me, and [the AD] was calling him to the set and you know, essentially saying, you know... 'Where the f**k is the Oriental guy? Get the Oriental guy'.”
Park went on to explain that his response to the incident was to go to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) to file a complaint.
Once in the vicinity, he was advised to write an article for The L.A. Times.
"When I called Screen Actors Guild after that happened, the person I spoke with recommended I write an article to the L.A. Times," he explained.
"This is bigger than this show. This isn't the first time this has happened. But this is the environment where this is business as usual in Hollywood in 1997, I guess it was.
“And nobody felt the need to correct this or say anything about it. So this was normal behaviour.”
Park later emailed his ‘mission statement’ for better representation of Asian-Americans and other people of colour to everyone on his mailing list, writing: “If this moves you, please send it along.”
An excerpt from the ahead-of-its-time line read: "If this was an isolated incident, I would not have felt compelled to write this mission statement. Unfortunately, I find this attitude and behaviour commonplace in Hollywood.”
He went on to say that working on Friends was an ‘extremely painful experience’ and that he witnessed a ‘disturbing lack in generosity of spirit and basic human courtesy’.
“These people, by virtue of their status, money and power, are among the most privileged people walking the face of the earth, yet they behaved as if they were bankrupt in spirit and incapable of expressing simple human kindness…
“And on top of this, the 1st AD [assistant director], in a short tirade, called an Asian-American actor to the set over a walkie-talkie with the words, ‘I don't have time for this! Where's Hoshi, Toshi or whatever the f**k his name is. Get the Oriental guy!’
“He did not even have the respect to learn the name of the actor, a veteran of 40 years.”
Park also remarked how ‘hate crimes against Asian-Americans [were] on the rise’, remarking how ‘negative portrayals of Asians in the media only encourage this trend’.
Despite admitting he wanted to step back from acting following the experience, Park has continued to act.
His upcoming projects include Mickey 17, which is set for a UK cinematic debut this Friday (March 7), and A24’s Death of a Unicorn.
LADbible has reached out to NBC, the publicists of Marta Kauffman and David Crane, and representatives of James Hong for further comments.
Ella Scott