Andrea Mandell, Brian Truitt, and Bryan Alexander

USA TODAY

The Oscars may not be so white this year, but there's still a long way to go before the industry that supports the glamorous awards show champions diversity across the board. With many noting the lack of Asian standouts among this year's nominees (Dev Patel was the sole Asian honored in an acting category), USA TODAY takes a look at a host of talents who deserve to be embraced by Hollywood's star-making machine.

Why aren't there more Asian stars in Hollywood?

JUSTIN CHON, 35

You've seen him in: Chon played Bella's school friend Eric in the Twilight saga, celebrated his 21st birthday in a big way in 21 & Over and now stars as a pre-med school dropout on ABC's Dr. Ken.

Star potential: He's on the rise with his own work. Chon wrote, produced and stars in Gook, about Korean-American shoe-store owners in the Los Angeles riots, which won the NEXT Audience Award last month at Sundance Film Festival.

KAREN FUKUHARA, 25

You've seen her in: Last summer's supervillain hit Suicide Squad

Star potential: Effervescent offscreen and coolly intimidating on it as Squad's sword-wielding Katana, Fukuhara is a Japanese-American youngster who could have a versatile career in Hollywood.

JESSICA HENWICK, 24

You've seen her in: Game of Thrones, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star potential: After supporting roles in A-list franchises, Henwick, who is of Chinese-Singaporean descent, is ready to take a major next step — and kick some butt — as female lead Colleen Wong in Netflix's Marvel series Iron Fist (premieres March 17).

POM KLEMENTIEFF, 30

You've seen her in: Spike Lee's 2013 Oldboy remake

Star potential: The half-Korean French actress is about to blast off as Marvel's newest ingenue, playing the insect-like telepath Mantis in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (in theaters May 5) and the massive Avengers: Infinity War (May 4, 2018).

BYUNG-HUN LEE, 46

You've seen him in:The Magnificent Seven, the G.I. Joe franchise

Star potential: The South Korean star draws thousands abroad, but in America, "it's like I’m starting again," he told USA TODAY last fall. "I’ve been acting for 25 years but it’s really hard, language-wise and the culture differences. I think I’m still getting adjusted. I’m ready to learn."

LUDI LIN, 29

You've seen him in: Netflix's Marco Polo

Star potential: The Chinese-born Lin has a peach role for his Hollywood debut, playing Zack, the oh-so-cool Black Ranger in the big-screen reboot of Power Rangers (in theaters March 24).

LEONARDO NAM, 37

You've seen him in: The Perfect Score, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Star potential: Nam, who is of Korean descent, has flown under the radar in small roles since the early 2000s, but is having a moment as lab tech Felix Lutz on HBO's wildly popular Westworld.

DEEPIKA PADUKONE, 31

You've seen her in:xXx: Return of Xander Cage

Star potential: The Indian actress is a huge international star, so why isn't she one here? Padukone, identified as one of the world's highest-paid actresses on Forbes' annual list, will likely get a Stateside lift from xXx, in which she stars as Serena Unger, a knife-throwing huntress and former love interest of bad-boy athlete-turned-spy Xander Cage (Vin Diesel). She broke big with her first Bollywood release, 2007's Om Shanti Om, and has designed her own clothing line.

HAYDEN SZETO, 31

You've seen him in:The Edge of Seventeen

Star potential: Critics agreed that the Chinese-Canadian actor stole scenes in Seventeen as Hailee Steinfeld's nerdy love interest, Erwin. So where's his big next role? We're asking for a friend.

JING TIAN, 28

You've seen her in: As Commander Lin Mae, she guards the wall in The Great Wall (in theaters Friday). The action/monster movie came under fire for whitewashing after producers cast Matt Damon in the lead role of the Chinese tale.

Star potential: Tian plays a scientist in the upcoming Kong: Skull Island (March 10) and will have a significant (but still under wraps) role in 2018's Pacific Rim: Uprising.

ALAN YANG, 34

You've seen him in: Master of None, Parks and Recreation

Star potential: Yang is likely Hollywood's next great scribe. The Taiwanese-American actor is a double threat: He wrote for (and starred in several episodes of) Parks and Rec and more recently co-created Netflix's comedy Master of None with Aziz Ansari. He and Ansari addressed the scarcity of Asians on TV in an infamous episode that finds Dev (Ansari), a struggling actor, refusing to do an Indian accent in an audition to play a cab driver.