One of Tatsumi Romano’s most recent projects, Year One, is an apt showcase for two topics she has been a passionate advocate for during her career: mental health awareness and Asian American representation. In the independent film, Romano plays Brianna, a friend of the  film’s protagonist, Ruby, whose struggles with mental health form the beating heart of the story’s conflict. Ruby is portrayed by another Asian American rising star in Hollywood, Elizabeth Yu, who recently appeared in the film May December, alongside Hollywood stalwarts Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, and can be seen in Netflix's upcoming live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. In early November, Year One was named a film to get excited about by IndieWire in their Sundance Wish List: 45 Films We Hope Will Premiere at the 2024 Festival article. 

Prior to Year One, Romano garnered recognition for starring in projects such as Class of Lies, a series notable for being part of Snap Originals, Snapchat’s experiment with producing episodic programming, which ended in 2022. Despite the short-lived nature of the Snap Originals programming block, Class of Lies was popular among Snapchat users and quickly garnered over 20 million viewers. The series, written by CW’s Riverdale writer Tessa Leigh Williams, won a Writer’s Guild of America Award for Best Short Form New Media. In the series, Romano played Missy, a college-age amateur sleuth and one of the two series leads. She also appeared alongside future stars such as Lukas Gage, who viewers have seen in The White Lotus and Netflix’s You. In one of her first roles, Romano also starred alongside Stranger Things star Maya Hawke in the independent film Ladyworld, which was shown at the Festival de Cannes Frontières Platform.

In addition to her work as an actress, Romano holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology and has worked in the areas of domestic violence awareness and mental health care. Romano credits both her studies and work in mental health and her experiences as an actress as the basis of her desire to understand and help others.

Mental health awareness has become a more frequent topic of conversation in recent years. Measures to increase mental health awareness have included October 10 being designated as World Mental Health Awareness Day and the month of May being designated as Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States. Romano has expressed her wish to keep conversations about mental health ongoing throughout the year.

 “When we are candid about our past experiences and challenges, we are communicating to others that healing is possible and does not have to be done in isolation. I think that listening attentively to others with understanding and compassion is one of the most impactful ways we can reduce the stigma surrounding mental health in our everyday lives,” Romano says.

In a similar vein, Romano has advocated for more conversations surrounding Asian American representation in the media. Hollywood has historically been seen as a fairly unwelcoming place for actors of Asian descent, with a 2021 study from USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative finding that Asians and Pacific Islanders accounted for less than 6 percent of speaking roles and less than 4 percent of leads and co-leads in films. However, this year’s Academy Awards ceremony displayed an encouraging trend, with Ke Huy Quan becoming the first actor of Asian descent to win a Best Supporting Actor award in 38 years and Michelle Yeoh becoming the first actress of Asian descent to win the Best Actress award.

“By increasing the representation of Asian-Americans on screen, we can work to reduce prejudice and develop a more empathetic and equitable society,” Romano commented.

Like many other young Asian American performers in Hollywood, Tatsumi Romano is ready to be at the forefront of a more inclusive, equitable film industry. Through her performances and advocacy, she continually works to help people feel seen both on screen and in the real world.