Author Hye Seung Chung grew up, like most South Korean schoolchildren, revering Dosan Ahn Chang Ho, the Korean patriot. As a graduate student in the United States and a self-proclaimed classic Hollywood film buff, she pounced on the opportunity to delve into researching his son, the late actor Philip Ahn. Chung’s book revisits Ahn’s groundbreaking career by exploring the relevance of his career against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation of Korea, studio-controlled Hollywood and the Korean War.

What did you hope to accomplish by writing this book?

My major objective was to inject a Korean American perspective and claim Philip Ahn as a Korean Diaspora actor. He was the only Korean actor active in American film and television industry during that period. He was the only contact to Hollywood. It was really important to me that I could [serve as a] bridge.

How did Ahn Chang Ho influence his son’s career?

The Philip Ahn that older generations remember is the No. 1 Japanese bad guy in World War II films. By this time, Ahn Chang Ho was already dead. It was really personal to sort of avenge his father’s death and also contribute to the cause of Korean independence by [playing these roles]. Ahn believed he was contributing to the independence movement by giving bad publicity to the Japanese empire. Another famous role for Philip was Master Kan in “Kung Fu,” a very popular series in the ‘70s. Ahn really identified with his father in that role because Kan says all these kind of wise things.

What kind of impact did Philip Ahn have on Hollywood?

Ahn debuted during the studio system of the 1930s. There were some Asian roles, like in “The Good Earth,” but most were played by white actors in yellowface. Leading roles were not available. He did get romantic leads opposite Anna May Wong because they could not cast white actors as her romantic partner because of the anti-miscegenation production code. At that time, people recognized [Ahn and Wong] as major Asian American stars.

How far has Hollywood come since then?

People argue that Bruce Lee in the ‘70s revitalized Asian masculinity where an Asian male could be seen as strong and sexy. But that created another stereotype. It’s very rare to see Asian romantic leads even today. You do have John Cho kissing the Latino neighbor in “Harold and Kumar” and Sandra Oh is doing very well. Her roles are not necessarily race-specific. Also Yunjin Kim’s character in “Lost” is very complex and three-dimensional. I think we have made some improvements, but we still have a long way to go.