My friend Eliza drives from Eugene to Portland every Oscar night. It’s become an annual ritual for us to get dressed up and watch the Academy Awards while eating pizza and drinking champagne. We mark our ballots, keep tabs on the winners, make fun of the dance numbers, and tear up at the emotional acceptance speeches.

Eliza and I met as actors in theatre and have worked together in several productions. We’ve kept our friendship going for more than 20 years even though we sometimes don’t see each other for months. Oscar night is our one sure date each year. Others have Super Bowl Sunday mania, but for those of us in theatre and film, it’s all about the Oscars. This is our big night.

Even though many actors deny it, most have, at one time or another, daydreamed about what they would say in an Oscar speech. I remember a story a friend once told me about a famous actor who shall go unnamed who taught a workshop right after he won the Oscar and allegedly brought the little statuette with him to class. He let all the students see and hold the real-life Oscar, then gave them an assignment to write an Oscar acceptance speech and perform it for the class.

On the surface it sounds egotistical, but I wonder how many students actually enjoyed doing that exercise. They had a chance to live out the fantasy of accepting the top acting award in America — something usually reserved for the privacy of one’s bathroom mirror. Of course, I don’t speak from personal experience … ahem.

I’ve not been able to see many of this year’s nominated films, but I am still excited about watching the telecast this Sunday, February 26. There’s already buzz that two African-American actresses — Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer from The Help — will take home the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress statuettes. I’m thrilled there are actors of color nominated who are frontrunners this year, as opposed to the all-white Oscar actor pool last year. The 2012 Oscar acting categories actually have more diversity this time, including a Latina (Bérénice Bejo in The Artist) and Latino (Demián Bichir in A Better Life). Yay, color!

There’s still one thing that makes the Oscars less than perfect for me. No Asians have been nominated in the big categories, especially in acting. With the exception of Jennifer Yuh Nelson for Best Animated Feature with Kung Fu Panda 2 and Asghar Farhadi for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Writing - Original Screenplay for A Separation, the field is bleak for Asians in non-technical categories.

In the entire history of the Academy Awards, the only Asian actors to have won the golden statuette are Miyoshi Umeki in 1957 for Sayonara, Haing S. Ngor in 1984 for The Killing Fields (it’s a shame Pat Morita received his only nomination for The Karate Kid that same year), Ben Kingsley (who is South Asian) in 1982 for Gandhi and, yes, Yul Brynner in 1956 for The King and I. Believe it or not, Brynner was Russian and Mongolian-Tartar (a mixture of Russian and Turkic).

Directors and production artists have fared much better at the Oscars, especially Taiwanese director Ang Lee, cinematographer James Wong Howe, and editor Richard Chew. But no Asian actor has won the award since 1984. And no Asian has won the Best Actress award — ever.

I often wonder if an Asian actress will ever win the Best Actress Oscar in my lifetime. With the way film roles are cast these days, I doubt it. Perhaps if someone decides to produce an Asian version of The Help, with stereotypical roles set in a nail salon or sweatshop? Who knows. Maybe it’s in the works. The recent film version of Lisa See’s exquisite book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan that employed Asian actresses in lead roles bombed at the box office. The likelihood of Hollywood taking "risks" on Asian actors in lead roles is slim in this economy. The simple truth is that white actors can have failed roles and still keep working, but actors of color may only get one chance.

I think about the young Asian actors who are unable to find roles in local theatre, let alone in major Hollywood movies. I wonder if they have rehearsed their Oscar speeches in front of the mirror. Do they practice thanking everyone who helped them? Perhaps they say, "Oh, what a historic moment in America. To all the young actresses out there, keep dreaming because this is proof your dreams can come true!"

Meanwhile, those of us who know that dream will likely never come true for us personally can delight in the wins of those who have worked hard and struggled to overcome the challenges to finally bring home a golden statuette. Yes, Eliza and I, attired in our fake jewels while clinking our champagne glasses, will be there to cheer them on.