Casinos have played prominent roles in many blockbuster films over the past decades with film producers taking advantage of the illustrious settings and glamour provided by casinos. In some of the biggest hits involving casinos, Asian actors have also played their parts in iconic scenes and storylines. These movies also serve as a nice reminder that casinos still very much exist despite the ongoing shift to the online world.

These portrayals of film characters in a physical casino are refreshing to see in a world where live casino games at Cloudbet for example are starting to take over. For the traditional casino players, here are a few movies to get those juices flowing and the actors of Asian descent that have starred in these Hollywood blockbusters.

Qin Shaobo – Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen

Danny Ocean’s “grease man” in the Oceans trilogy was born in Guangxi, China and played Yen. The gymnast and contortionist was a key member of the elaborate casino heist in Ocean’s Eleven. Only speaking Chinese in the movie, besides some rude words, Yen was most remembered for his acrobatics inside the vault of The Bellagio while the Eleven were attempting to rob Terry Benedict’s (Andy Garcia) casino for everything it was worth. The heist was of course a resounding success with Yen executing his landing from one set of shelves to another to plant the detonation charges, just.

Tom So – Casino Royale

So only played a bit part in the James Bond film, Casino Royale, but the British born Chinese actor got good airtime during the iconic poker scene set in Montenegro, playing Mr. Fukutu at the high-stake game. While the camera work was naturally focused on the plays of Bond and villain, Le Chiffre, Mr. Fukutu does go all in for six million on the final hand that Bond eventually wins with a straight flush of spades, four to the eight. Since Casino Royale, So has appeared in Burlesque Fairytales and The Commuter.

Aaron Yoo & Liza Lapira – 21

21, a film for blackjack fans out there, sees a blackjack team from MIT take on big casinos in Las Vegas in an attempt to win bucket loads of money. Their trick, they are counting cards, and Kianna (Lapira) and Choi (Yoo) are part of the team that communicate with each other via secret hand signals and words. Neither are “big players” in the team but play solid supporting roles for them in identifying which tables are hot or not and giving the card count of the table once a big player arrives. US-born to Korean parents, Yoo, and Filipino-American actor, Lapira, both feature heavily in the movie as the bright MIT minds attempt to take on Vegas’ biggest casinos.