Get to know Kira Omans, a Chinese American transracial adoptee in Conversation Piece with Patrick Armstrong. She is a voice actor, actress, and adoptee advocate who has collaborated with organizations such as Hate is a Virus, Adoptees for Justice, and Adoptee Bridge to increase awareness of the adoptee experience.
Learn about her journey in becoming an actress and what intentional storytelling looks like for her as part of the Asian adoptee community.
Being an actor as an Asian Adoptee
Omans’ journey to being an actor started in high school, where she participated in acting and theater. Since then, she has narrated over 200 audiobooks and appeared on TV shows and commercials. When she started acting professionally—before on-screen representation meant anything—Omans was only sent minor roles like the babysitter, nail technician, or nurse with two or three lines. But with the release of Crazy, Rich, Asians, she says there has definitely been a positive shift in the industry.
Although mainstream media has become more inclusive to different communities and diasporas, specifically the Asian diaspora, for Omans, as an Asian adoptee, her experiences differ slightly from the “typical” Asian diaspora experience.
“I have just started trying to think about my identity in that way about what it means to be a transracial adoptee actor, as well as an Asian American actor,” says Omans. “I wanted to best represent my community because of what I was doing… I might one day be able to pique people’s interest in learning more about other people’s experiences with adoption.”
In recent years, Asian adoptee stories in Hollywood have evolved from the orphan trope to telling complex stories about identity, reunifications, and birth searches in films like Joy Ride, Blue Bayou, and Return to Soul. Despite these major films, to Omans, she didn’t feel like these blockbuster narratives didn’t feel sincere.
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