Asian-American actors talk about their breakthrough roles, and the difficulty of landing TV roles

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For instance, Lauren Tom, who now stars on Disney Channel’s Andi Mack, says she landed her most well-known role as Ross Geller’s girlfriend on Friends thanks to her role on The Joy Luck Club. Producers cast her, she says, not because she was of Asian descent, but because she looked like she could portray the “nicest person on the planet." “Thank god they’re still playing it in repeats because it keeps me current with the younger crowd,” says Tom, who people still tell her how much it means to them to see an Asian face on a classic sitcom.