No 'Bones' about it

The idea that being of Irish-American/Chinese descent could be an impediment to success never occurred to actress Michaela Conlin - until she went to Hollywood.

"It really didn't," says the 32-year-old, who plays artistic boffin Angela Montenegro on the hit forensic series Bones.

"My parents are so cool.

My mother is Chinese, from New York, and my father is Irish-American.

There was always a reverence towards my heritage and history.

I honestly didn't think about it 'til I moved to Los Angeles."

Conlin was fortunate to land the part of Montenegro in the Bones pilot in 2005, a role written for someone of non-Anglo ethnicity.

"They really didn't know whether she would be Latino, African, Asian or Indian," she says.

Her striking appearance fitted the bill and Conlin has been with the show, now in its fifth season, ever since.

Others are not so lucky.

Conlin doesn't mince her words when describing Hollywood as "limiting" for ethnically diverse actors, with many producers reluctant to cast them in situations such as mixed-race families.

"It's a difficult thing in this town to get around the race card," she says.

"It becomes a problem for producers to think outside the box.

"It's upsetting, because out in the world it's totally normal.

"Hollywood is very slow to the party."

Conlin believes television is more open-minded about race than films are, and the upside is that for a specific role it "minimises the playing field".

Not that she wants to be typecast, or pigeon-holed as an "Asian" actor.

The attitude she has encountered in Hollywood is clearly something which irks this intelligent and well-spoken woman, unafraid to criticise the Establishment, despite what she describes as a sense of insecurity pervading the entertainment business.

"It's really scary the way the industry is going.