Mel Gibson’s costar in The Year of Living Dangerously portrayed a male Asian dwarf, though she is none of these things in real life.
Mel Gibson’s costar in The Year of Living Dangerously portrayed a male Asian dwarf, though she is none of these things in real life.
Not only that, but Linda Hunt’s performance as Billy Kwan is actually a CONVINCING portrayal! This is a rare phenomenon among ‘yellowface’ depictions in Hollywood - a couple examples that immediately come to mind are Joseph Wiseman’s Dr. No and Ricardo Montalban as Khan in Star Trek II. Hunt did so well at the unlikely task of making the role her own that she even managed to outshine her big-name costars, Gibson and Sigourney Weaver! Her acting in the film was considered such a tour de force that it earned her recognition by the Academy, as she took home the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She is the first actor or actress to have earned an Academy Award for playing a member of the opposite sex.
Check out part of her performance here - would you have thought she wasn’t a man?
