Bee Vang (
RPA: ''Npis Vaj'',
Pahawh: ', Chinese-Mandarin: 王陛; born November 4, 1991) is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
actor and activist of Hmong descent. He is best known for starring in
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
's 2008 film ''
Gran Torino
''Gran Torino'' is a 2008 American drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, and Ahney Her. This was Eastwood's first starring role since 2004's ''Million D ...
'' as
Thao Vang Lor.
Early life and education
Vang was born in
Fresno, California
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...
, four years after his
Hmong
Hmong may refer to:
* Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand
* Hmong cuisine
* Hmong customs and culture
** Hmong music
** Hmong textile art
* Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...
parents emigrated from Thailand.
He has five brothers and one sister.
Vang resided in the
Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...
area. He grew up in a neighborhood in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
that he described as "poor."
He later lived in
Robbinsdale, Minnesota
Robbinsdale is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota,. The population was 13,953 at the time of the 2010 census.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Minnesota ...
. In his earlier years, he attended Webster Open, a middle school in Minneapolis where he took theater class. For his freshman year he attended
Patrick Henry High School, and he was in the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
's advanced program. He also attended
Robbinsdale Armstrong High School
Robbinsdale Armstrong High School (full name Robbinsdale Neil A. Armstrong Senior High School) (abbr. AHS) is located in Plymouth, Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis. The school serves students from the cities of Robbinsdale, Crystal, New Hope ...
in
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
.
As a youth, Vang mainly watched Asian films. He also watched
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
westerns
The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...
and was a fan of Eastwood.
[Schein, Louisa.]
Hmong Actors Making History Part 2: Meet the Gran Torino Family
." ''Hmong Today
''Hmong Today'' (Xov-Xwm Hmoob) is a U.S. nationwide newspaper documenting the news and culture of the Hmong American community. It is published biweekly and based in St. Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital o ...
'' at ''New America Media
New America Media (NAM) was a multimedia ethnic news agency and a coalition of ethnic media. Founded in 1996 by the nonprofit Pacific News Service, NAM was headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, ...
. October 4, 2008. Retrieved on March 17, 2012.
Vang attended
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
.
[ He graduated from Brown "with a degree in international politics, political economy and media and cultural studies".
]
Career
Vang auditioned for the Clint Eastwood film ''Gran Torino'' "on a lark". He had no prior acting experience. More than 2,000 actors auditioned for the role that Vang eventually received. He learned later that he had been selected because of his "innocent looks and slight build". The film is notable for being "the first major Hollywood portrayal of Hmong families". Vang portrayed Thao Vang Lor, "a mild-mannered Hmong teenager who as part of a gang initiation tries to steal the prized 1972 Gran Torino of his next-door neighbor, a surly Korean War veteran" played by Eastwood. ''Gran Torino'' grossed nearly $270 million worldwide.
In 2009, Vang stated that ''Gran Torino'' was "generally accurate in its portrayal of Hmong, a highlands people who fought for the U.S. during the Vietnam War and later emigrated from Southeast Asia and settled in Minnesota, Wisconsin and California". In later years, Vang spoke extensively against the film's use of anti-Asian slurs and its portrayal of Hmong people. By 2010,[After Gran Torino: Forum on Race, Violence, Sexuality, and Asian American Masculinities (2012)]
"
Archive
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. Vang had become an activist. He collaborated on social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
film, Internet, and print products with Louisa Schein, a Hmong media expert, Va-Megn Thoj, a Hmong filmmaker, and Ly Chong Thong Jalao, a University of California Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the Un ...
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
student. He traveled around the United States doing public speaking regarding ''Gran Torino'' and post-''Gran Torino'' issues related to the Hmong community. Vang also wrote a 2011 editorial criticizing a ''KDWB
KDWB-FM (101.3 MHz) is an American commercial radio station broadcasting in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, licensed to suburban Richfield. KDWB's radio format is Top 40/CHR. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, while its studios ...
'' radio comedy segment, saying that it portrayed Hmong people in an offensive manner.[ In 2021, Vang stated that he did not regret his role in ''Gran Torino'', but noted that he did not see "a place for 'Gran Torino' in this day and age". Vang added: "'I couldn't possibly imagine the film being made in this moment...where you know there's a lot of violent language used against Asian bodied people. It's not OK'".
Since ''Gran Torino'', Vang has appeared on ''Modern Family''] and acted in independent films and stage performances. Vang acted in a YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
parody of one scene in ''Gran Torino'', titled "Thao Does Walt: Lost Scenes from Gran Torino." In addition, he acted in "Anatomically Incorrect," "Fallen City," and "Sunset on Dawn."
Vang returned to cinema in 2020 with a role in "Comisery", an apocalyptic Asian-American science fiction comedy. In 2021, he was cast in a lead role in a horror comedy entitled ''Dark Christmas''.
Filmography and television
See also
* History of the Hmong in Fresno, California The Hmong are a major ethnic group in Fresno, California. The Fresno Hmong community, along with that of Minneapolis/St. Paul, is one of the largest two urban U.S. Hmong communities. As of 1993 the Hmong were the largest Southeast Asian ethnic gro ...
* History of the Hmong in Minneapolis–Saint Paul
The Hmong people are a major ethnic group in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area. As of 2000 there were 40,707 ethnic Hmong in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The 2010 U.S. Census stated there were 66,000 ethnic Hmong in Minneapolis-St. Paul, giving ...
References
Further reading
* Schein, Louisa and Va-Megn Thoj, with Bee Vang and Ly Chong Thong Jalao. "Beyond Gran Torino's Guns: Hmong Cultural Warriors Performing Genders." ''Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique''. Duke University Press
Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 Du ...
, 2012. Volume 20, Issue 3. P. 763–792. ISSN 1067-9847. Available at Project MUSE
Project MUSE, a non-profit collaboration between libraries and publishers, is an online database of peer-reviewed academic journals and electronic books. Project MUSE contains digital humanities and social science content from over 250 university ...
.
External links
*
Conversation with Bee Vang and other actors in ''Gran Torino''
at University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vang, Bee
1991 births
21st-century American male actors
American male film actors
American people of Chinese descent
American people of Hmong descent
Living people
Male actors from Minnesota
Male actors from Fresno, California
Brown University alumni