It kind of goes without saying that Jeremy Lin was just made to play basketball. From his height to his ability he’s been able to help out whatever team he’s been on whenever possible and he’s become something of a sensation throughout his career. Given that there aren’t too many Asian Americans in the NBA he also stands out quite easily from the crowd. Thankfully he’s more than just a gimmick since the guy really can play and he happens to love the game (too bad no one is picking him up at the moment). It’s very easy to see that he’s been held back a bit and that racial profiling has been, unfortunately, something that has been used to try and keep him down. Fittingly though he’s excelled and pushed back as much as possible in order to become the best player that he can be, and despite not being drafted into the NBA he still made it in and has made his mark.
Just in case there’s ever a movie about him, here are a few individuals that might be able to fit the bill.
5. John Cho
He’s known primarily for his roles in the Harold and Kumar movies, the new Star Trek movies, and even for his time in the American Pie movies, but to be honest John is still something of an underutilized talent that really needs a challenge to push his career into another gear, or so it would seem. He’s become well known for his various roles over the years and he’s been seen in movies such as the new version of Total Recall and Identity Thief, but while he is getting bigger and better it would still be great to see what he could do as a lead character in a movie. Honestly it seems like he might do quit well.
4. Sung Kang
His stint with the Fast and Furious franchise has been over for a while but when he was brought on the scene it was interesting to see how Han connected to the whole franchise. Apart from that he’s had other roles in movies like Bullet to the Head, Ninja Assassin, War, and several others. But in truth it doesn’t seem as though he’s been the lead in any big movies that people might remember. His easy, laid back manner would no doubt afford him a great chance to shine on screen in the main role if he was given a chance and to be quite honest it would seem that he’s more than ready.
3. Leonardo Nam
Leonardo is another guy that showed up in the Fast and Furious franchise if only for a single movie, but he’s also been in the highly acclaimed Westworld as well so you can’t really say he hasn’t done much. Whether or not he’s ready for a chance to be a lead character or not is hard to say but he does have close to the look that would be needed to play Lin. Trying to nail down the right person for a role based on looks alone is kind of tough so getting close as close can be and still picking someone that has the acting ability is even harder. Nam does seem like he could be a good match though.
2. Iko Uwais
His career has been coming up in a big way as of late and he’s been starring with some fairly big to very big names in his most recent movies. But it would seem that if he really wants the mainstream he might need to go bigger. You might find that amusing, I do to, since he’s been in a couple of movies that have really showcased his talents and made him into something that is about as big as a person can get without being a constant headliner. But this movie might actually put someone like Iko into a different level that he might not have accomplished making smaller scale movies left and right.
1. Alex Landi
Again, it’s mostly about the look and how well-established an actor is and Alex has the look and is pretty well established in his career. On top of that he’s still fairly young so he might be a better fit than someone who is older than Lin and might take a bit more work when it comes to aging them down. All in all though Alex does seem like someone that could easily use this boost to his career to do some good and really let more and more people know who he is. There’s nothing wrong with taking on a role that might expose you to more people that don’t really know who you are the moment.
It’s kind of obvious that every man on this list might have to take a crash course in how to play ball, but it’s been done before and with enough dedication and determination it’s entirely possible to make it work.
