6. Sessue Hayakawa
Sessue Hayakawa was one of the very early heartthrobs of the early 20th Century. He first starred in a silent movie called “The Cheat,” where a woman was offered $10,000 for a night of passion. Hayakawa played a villain and was supposed to serve as a cautionary tale, but his appearance had quite the opposite result. “The Cheat” became less of a morality tale and more of a forbidden love story. He was one of the first non-white actors to woo white female audiences with his role. Unfortunately, the 1930s film industry rules banned any depictions of interracial desire, leading to Hayakawa no longer having a job.
