Hudson Williams, Yerin Ha and More on Variety and Gold House 8 APIs Up Next in Entertainment List

May 6, 2026 9:05am PT Hudson Williams, Yerin Ha and More on Variety and Gold House 8 APIs Up Next in Entertainment List

By Jazz Tangcay, Kennedy French, Arushi Jacob, Payton Turkeltaub

Variety has announced its 2026 list of 8 API Up Next in Entertainment.

The annual list curated in collaboration with Gold House celebrates Asian Pacific Islanders across entertainment and highlights rising global talent. The group comprises visionaries making strides in their respective fields — from actors and directors to agents and executives.

“To work on this list with the incredible team at Gold House is something I look forward to every year,” Variety’s senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay said, adding, “This year, we had an overwhelming number of submissions across all fields of the business. I’m thrilled we could partner once again to find the next generation of Asian Pacifics who are trailblazers across the field of entertainment. Variety has long championed the API community and those bold storymakers whose vision and talent are making waves and opening doors.”

Tiffany Chao, vice president of entertainment & media at the nonprofit cultural ecosystem Gold House, said, “This group represents everything we believe in at Gold House — diverse voices who are reshaping how our community is seen. Each person is bringing their whole self to create new stories that are changing old perceptions and transforming the entire entertainment landscape.”

Previous honorees include “The Studio’s” Chase Sui Wonders, “Severance” star Dichen Lachman, “Moana 2” co-director Dana LeDoux Miller, “The Last of Us” and “Beef” season 1 star Young Mazino and “Didi” director Sean Wang.

Here is the Variety and Gold House 8 API Up Next for 2026.

• Yerin Ha

  

  Actor, ‘Bridgerton’

  Yerin Ha rose to fame earlier this year with playing Sophie Baek in the hit Shondaland Netflix drama “Bridgerton.” Serving as the romantic lead for Season 4, Ha played the illegitimate daughter of an earl who eventually found love and a happy ending after years of being forced to work as her stepmother’s maid, in a Cinderella-esque story arc.

  “It wasn’t intentional, but I felt like the two worlds of Yerin and Sophie really blended together, and we learned/gained a lot from each other,” says Ha. One of her favorite things about the show is the emphasis on people falling in love with what’s on the inside, not on the outside, which Ha thinks is a message that translates to current times. “It’s nice to be reminded that there is so much more to us than meets the eye.”

  Beginning May 17, Ha stars in a new production of Jean Genet’s “The Maids” at St. Ann’s Warehouse Brooklyn. While the actress is no stranger to the stage, she’s looking forward to tackling future projects: “Anything that challenges or scares me in a healthy way. That’s how I think you grow as an artist and a human being.”

  Now an international star, Ha makes sure she doesn’t lose sight of what drives her. The one piece of advice she’d give her younger self? “There is no such thing as perfection, so stop striving for it. Especially in this line of work, it’s actually about finding the imperfections, and that’s what makes you, you.”  – Arushi Jacob

  Influences:  Everyone and everything (”I know that seems like a cliche answer”), Beyoncé, Mark Rothko, Ella Fitzgerald, “the list is endless.”