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Gedde Watanabe Says He Didn't Find His 'Sixteen Candles' Role Long Duk Dong Offensive at the Time

Gedde Watanabe, the actor who played Long Duk Dong in 'Sixteen Candles,' reflects on the role 40 years later, noting he didn't find his character offensive at the time.

Nowadays, Watanabe says people are still obsessed with quoting Long Duk Dong's memorable lines back to him, something he was originally bothered by. "As I got older that tipped away, which I'm thankful for, but the '80s were a hard time for Asian American actors, AAPI people, there wasn't a lot out there," Watanabe adds. These days, Watanabe says he spends a lot of his time reading, learning and speaking about the Japanese internment camps, which his mother had been a part of.

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