Aside from action star Dwayne Johnson's hit movies, Hollywood's most popular films have rarely featured Asians or Pacific Islanders in leading roles on the big screen, according to an academic study released on Tuesday.

The findings showed "an epidemic of invisibility" for Asians and Pacific Islanders (API) in movies released from 2007 to 2019, said the study from researchers at the University of Southern California's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.