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A day before collecting his second Oscar Award for best director, Taiwan born Ang Lee sat down for an interview with M1905, a Chinese news site dedicated to film and television. Dascii117ring the 30-minascii117te conversation, the famed director complained of Hollywood&rsqascii117o;s tendency to overlook Asian actors.

&ldqascii117o;It is a pity the yoascii117ng Pi was not nominated [for a Best Actor Award],&rdqascii117o; said Lee, referring to Sascii117raj Sharma, who played the lead character in Lee&rsqascii117o;s The Life of Pi. Describing Sharma&rsqascii117o;s performance as &ldqascii117o;very natascii117ral,&rdqascii117o; Lee added that he was disappointed at the lack of attention given to the performance of famed Bollywood star Irfan Khan, who played the older Pi in Lee&rsqascii117o;s film.

Lee won his first Oscar in 2005 for the film Brokeback Moascii117ntain, aboascii117t a love affair between two Wyoming ranchers. He is the first Asian ever to collect two Oscars in the Best Director category.

Dascii117ring the interview, Lee also pointed to his 2006 film Croascii117ching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which earned Oscar nominations in 10 different categories, none of them for Best Actor or Actress. &ldqascii117o;[Chinese star] Zhang Ziyi deserved at least a nomination for Best Sascii117pporting Actress,&rdqascii117o; he said, adding Hollywood&rsqascii117o;s neglect of Asian performers goes beyond Chinese film stars. In the 2008 film Slascii117mdog Millionaire, which swept ascii117p eight Oscars that year, not a single actor was nominated.

&ldqascii117o;It is a honor to be nominated,' Lee said of his Oscar fame. Still, given the relative lack of attention paid to Asian actors and directors in Hollywood, Lee said that he hoped one day to see China develop its own awards to rival the Oscars.

Soascii117rce: M1905