Quote Originally Posted by Papewaio
Is there not enough Japanese actresses of sufficient talent who can also speak English who would want to be in a Hollywood movie?
This was the lead story in a UK Sunday newspaper magazine (Sunday Times?). It said that Japan did not have any actresses with the international reputation of the three Chinese stars. But also that people in Japan are not that interested in the film (being written by a Western man etc).

To be fair - as you suggest - the three leads are all extremely talented. I have zero interest in the theme of the film, but am rather taken with the idea of watching that trio perform.

The Chinese film industry seems to be producing a lot of talent of late - acting, directing etc - and I suspect it may be second only to that of the US. Japan does not seem to have produced much of general acclaim recently.

More generally, isn't the point of being an actor to act something other than what one is? If I were casting a movie, I'd hire the best actor and only use their passport as a tie-breaker.