You've Seen Me Before: Over 700 Roles and 70 Years in Hollywood (and Counting)

A sweeping memoir of an Asian American Hollywood pioneer, star of Everything Everywhere All at Once and Mulan, from coming of age under the Chinese Exclusion Act to becoming one of the hardest-working actors in the business.

You might not know actor James Hong's name, but we can guarantee you've seen him before. With over seven hundred acting credits and counting, James is one of Hollywood's most prolific actors and a pioneer in Asian American entertainment.

Born to Chinese immigrants in Minneapolis, Hong endured the aggressive anti-Asian racism of the 1930s, served in the army during Korean War, and--somewhere in the mix--was bitten by the performance bug that would eventually lead to a seventy-year long career in showbiz (and counting).

From his iconic role as Chi-Fu in Disney's Mulan to the hilariously terrifying Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China and Kung Fu Panda's beloved Mr. Ping, James has been capturing viewers hearts for years. And who could forget his powerful, viral speech as he accepted the Best Ensemble Cast honors on behalf of Everything Everywhere All at Once at the Actor Awards?

Drawing on never-before-seen archival materials and hours of interviews, this is a powerful first-person journey through James's incredible life and unique family history: a quintessential Asian American post-immigrant story, filled with new anecdotes and wisdom drawn from an unprecedented career, threaded through with an incisive look at nearly a century of Hollywood history.

Author: James Hong
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 09/22/2026
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.20w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781668099308


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 07/17/2026 pg. 1
Booklist 09/01/2026
Kirkus Reviews 09/15/2026

About the Author
James Hong's career spans seven decades, and he has acquired nearly seven hundred credited roles in feature films and television, perhaps most notably in Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once. He is one of the founders of the East-West Players, the oldest and largest Asian American theater in Los Angeles. He served as president and charter member of the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists and was a former member of the SAG Board of Directors under Charleton Heston as president.

Jeff Yang has spent much of his life covering Asian America as a journalist, critic, and author. He founded one of the earliest Asian American magazines, A. Magazine back in the 1990s, and was a culture critic for The Village Voice, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Wall Street Journal, and now am a featured columnist for CNN. He's written five books including Jackie Chan's New York Times bestselling autobiography I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, and then most recently, the New York Times bestselling Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the 90s to Now.