If you haven’t seen the trailer for the movie 21 yet, the film is a big-screen adaptation of the book Bringing Down The House, the story of a group of M.I.T. students who concocted an elaborate card-counting scheme to gouge the Vegas Blackjack tables (with some assistance from Steve Martin and Queen Latifah).

When I first heard they were making this into a movie, I got a little frightened, because the two main characters in the book — Kevin Lewis (aka Jeff Ma) and Steve Fisher (Mike Aponte) — look like this:

What?? An Asian dude and a guy whose name sounds Italian but who also appears to be Asian?? Who wants to see that crap?? I cannot relate to them at all!!!

Fortunately, Hollywood intervened and turned those two non-heartthrob geniuses into these really attractive, really believable geniuses who we can all enjoy:

WHEW! Crisis averted. I have no trouble watching Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth instead of some zany Asian people Asianing up the screen with their unwatchable, completely unrelatable Asianness. Could you imagine what a travesty that would have been?? It’ll also make the scene where the two have sex in their comped hotel suite while telling each other how hot and Caucasian they are make a little more sense.

Although, as custom dictates, movies are permitted to have an Asian supporting character, and 21 has added this guy (after the jump):