Fala Chen‘s leisure profession has soared and flourished by a number of totally different acts.
She first rose by the ranks as an actress at Hong Kong‘s broadcaster for eight years, earlier than getting off the waitlist at Juilliard, and is now going from energy to energy in her profession in Hollywood and past, starring in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, amongst others.
She can be set to make her directorial debut this December, with a mission titled Inheritance.
Chen sits down with Deadline to share about her journey, on the sidelines of the BFI London Movie Pageant, the place she has graced the crimson carpet twice this week on the pageant premieres of Edward Berger’s Ballad of a Small Participant and Lloyd Lee Choi’s Fortunate Lu.
The primary act
Born in Chengdu, China, and introduced up in Atlanta, Georgia, Chen’s profession in leisure kicked off after she received a couple of magnificence pageants.
She quickly signed a contract with Hong Kong broadcaster TVB, changing into a well-recognized fixture within the station’s hit dramas like Coronary heart of Greed, Moonlight Resonance and No Regrets.
After practically a decade within the Hong Kong movie and TV business and on the top of her profession there, Chen determined to depart, and shortly received a spot to check at Juilliard for 4 years.
After graduating, she appeared in The Undoing alongside Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, after which starred in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
She additionally featured within the HBO comedy sequence Irma Vep and starred as Iwi Queen in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Becoming a member of Berger’s Ballad of a Small Participant
Ballad of a Small Participant marks a fond homecoming of types for Chen.
Directed by Edward Berger (Conclave, All Quiet on the Western Entrance), the British psychological thriller was filmed in Hong Kong and Macau.
Primarily based on the 2014 novel of the identical identify by Lawrence Osborne, the movie stars Chen alongside Colin Farrell, Deanie Ip, Alex Jennings and Tilda Swinton.
The movie had its world premiere on the Telluride Movie Pageant, earlier than additionally screening in Toronto and London. Ballad of a Small Participant will stream on Netflix from October 29.
Chen tells Deadline that she first met Berger over Zoom a couple of instances, when he was scouting for places in Macau.
Berger then flew to New York to fulfill Chen and audition her for the function of Dao Ming. Within the movie, her mysterious character meets self-styled swashbuckling gambler “Lord Doyle” within the labyrinthian casinos of Macau.
Reflecting on the audition with Berger, Chen says: “I used to be nervous, however then I walked into the room that Edward was in, and I simply felt this immense belief that he has in me. I performed the primary scene, and he’s like, ‘That was excellent. That was fantastic. I’ve no notes. You wish to do it once more? Or we will transfer on.’
“After which we did the second scene, and the third scene, and it was similar to, ‘I’ve no notes. It’s nice.’ I assumed that I both nailed this audition, or I fully f—ed it up, as a result of he doesn’t even know the place to start out.”
It was the previous for Chen, and she or he quickly snagged the function of the enigmatic, inscrutable Dao Ming within the movie.
On returning to movie in Hong Kong and Macau, Chen says: “It felt like a homecoming, as a result of I used to be away for a few years. I had a detour: I went to drama faculty and began a household, so I haven’t filmed in Hong Kong in 10 years. It felt acquainted, but very totally different. The world modifications so quick.
“Macau has developed this mega on line casino metropolis, so it was very totally different from what I had imagined and remembered. Stepping onto that stage, which is what I might name Macau — as it’s in a approach, a stage — it felt like I used to be prepared to enter this world.
Chen provides: “There’s this actually pretty, quiet help that I felt from the crew, as a result of most of our crew are literally native hires. The native crew are all from Hong Kong. They spoke Cantonese on set, shouting in Cantonese. There have been many individuals who I had labored and crossed paths with in my previous profession. I felt protected and I felt seen. Working in Hollywood, I’m nonetheless navigating it and I’m so grateful for all of the alternatives that I’ve had to this point, however there’s one thing actually totally different in being with folks and crew who appear to be you and communicate your language.”
Going to Juilliard
Chen admits that she has by no means stated this within the press earlier than: after two day-long rounds of auditions in 2014, she discovered by e-mail that she had been waitlisted by Juilliard.
Heartbroken at first — two days later, Chen acquired an replace that she was off the waitlist, and a part of Juilliard’s latest class.
“It was form of hitting the lottery,” says Chen.
Why did Chen, on the top of her profession in Hong Kong, determine to start anew as an actress at Juilliard, on the age of 32?
“I did a lot work in Hong Kong, and that was on the top of paparazzi tradition and all of it, and I used to be younger and the quantity of strain that got here from work form of consumed me in a approach that I used to be just a little misplaced,” admits Chen. “I by no means educated in appearing, and I used to be studying from different actors and piecing issues collectively, however there wasn’t a system the place I may be taught. I needed to determine it out by myself, however I’ve by no means felt that that was sufficient for me. I used to be at all-time low, in an id disaster as an actor. I felt like I wanted to go some place else, and that calling was drama faculty.”
Describing the audition and software course of at Juilliard, she says: “Within the preliminary audition, you get this quantity pinned on. You undergo rooms, they name your quantity, you go into one other room, and also you do a bunch train, and so they watch you. Then you definately go in one after the other, to do a Shakespeare monologue, and then you definitely do a up to date monologue. If they need you to do one other one instantly, you must have it. And then you definitely sing a track.”
She acquired a callback within the afternoon after the preliminary spherical, discovering out from a bit of paper pasted on a wall with a listing of names on it. After extra monologues, and extra lecturers scrutinizing her performances, she went house, and waited.
A closing callback, with simply 40 folks left vying for spots.
Chen says that whereas the expertise of choice was demanding, it was nonetheless “the very best expertise” of her life then.
“It was like a two-day workshop and I felt like I had discovered a lot, and I used to be so fulfilled,” says Chen. “I used to be like, that is what I would like out of my life. Two days of simply being with artists. We nonetheless had numbers, I feel I had quantity 10 on my again, however you watch and take part in courses, you go watch a play and have discussions concerning the play.
“It was like taking two days of courses at Juilliard, full time. I auditioned for Yale. I auditioned for faculties in England and Australia, and I acquired into a few of them, however Juilliard simply felt like the proper match… there’s no specific methodology — they meet you at the place you might be at in your profession,” provides Chen.
Chen says that she was interviewed by the late James Houghton, who was then the pinnacle of Juilliard’s Drama Division.
“He straight up requested me, ‘Do you suppose you’re too outdated for this program?’ As a result of I used to be the oldest of all of the candidates. They’re divided between the BFA and MFA applications, even the MFAs have been of their 20s. I might begin faculty at 32 and finish at 36, so he was like, ‘Are you certain you wish to make investments this a lot time in your life into this program? Are you dedicated for 4 years, given the profession that you’ve?’ I simply expressed why I used to be there, and so they have been satisfied that I used to be able to do it,” provides Chen.
After which, an e-mail arrived in her inbox from Juilliard bearing disappointing information. Chen had been waitlisted.
Chen shares that the waitlist messed along with her head at the moment, realizing she had come so devastatingly near a spot on the faculty. She later acquired a name that she was off the waitlist.
“I simply remembered that I used to be in Hong Kong and had my cat with me in my mattress,” says Chen. “I took Teddy, my cat, and stated, ‘Teddy, we’re shifting again to the US. We’re shifting to New York. Sure, speaking to my cat.
“They made me wait, and I used to be like, that is meant to be. It was so clear to me, that another person deliberate this for me. I did my greatest, however another person picked me and gave me this path,” provides Chen.
At Juilliard, solely round 4 ladies get admitted in every cohort — one thing that she says offers her a glimpse of what getting nominated for the Oscars would really feel like. “If I ever get nominated for an Oscar, I might think about it to be an identical stage pleasure, the place out of over 2000 folks, they decide 4 ladies.”
Hollywood comes calling
Chen graduated in the summertime of 2018, simply as Jon M. Chu’s Loopy Wealthy Asians premiered and set off a watershed yr for Asian and Asian American expertise within the US.
Chen managed to get an agent proper out of the gates from commencement.
“The timing was so humorous, as a result of earlier than drama faculty, I assumed that I’ll simply do theater, or go to Hong Kong and proceed my profession,” says Chen “I didn’t know in any respect the place my profession was going and I had no plan in anyway. After which Loopy Wealthy Asians got here out and increase, there’s this big vitality and want for Asian actors in Hollywood.
“I used to be one of many first out of my class to get an agent. I acquired approached by many brokers and I simply met one agent that I actually linked with, and I nonetheless work with him right this moment — Stephen Travierso. He not solely noticed me as this Asian actress, however noticed me — as he he works with lots of Juilliard actors — as a singular human being, and we simply actually linked. I used to be like, ‘Wait, am I going to have a profession within the US now? I suppose I’ll keep, and I’ll begin auditioning.”
Chen starred in HBO psychological thriller sequence The Undoing in 2020, earlier than reserving the function of Ying Li within the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings the yr after.
She additionally featured in Irma Vep and within the Warner Bros-distributed pic Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Reflecting on the totally different turns and twists in her life on-screen and off-screen, Chen says that she has embraced every transfer and new place she has known as house.
“I feel I’m extra comfy all my life dwelling in numerous locations, as a result of my mother and father labored and lived throughout,” says Chen. “My mother was in Beijing for grad faculty for a couple of years, and I used to be with my dad, and he went to the US, and I used to be with my mother, and we traveled around the globe. I’m extra comfy being on the transfer, and I thrive on adapting to new locations. Once I’m in a single place for too lengthy, I’ve this urge to strive one thing else and stay some place else.”
Chen’s subsequent act
Chen says that she is able to add directing to her record of credit.
“My inventive vitality has to go some place else, since you’re not working each day as an actor, so in between that, I additionally simply wrote a script, and I’m directing it in December,” says Chen.
She has introduced a number of expertise that she has labored with earlier than, for this mission. “One from Godzilla x Kong, two from Shang-Chi and two from Fortunate Lu,” Chen reels off.
“I wish to inform tales that I really feel like we haven’t seen,” says Chen. “I invited the totally different heads of departments from movies that I’ve labored on earlier than… I’m actually enthusiastic about studying a lot from all people: my colleagues, however they’re additionally my lecturers now. I’ve labored with them in a unique capability, as an actor, however now I’m behind the scenes and might be taught what they do.
In her appearing profession, Chen additionally craves for extra roles the place her characters usually are not primarily outlined by their racial or ethnic id.
“I simply wish to accomplish that many extra characters, whether or not it’s enjoying a Chinese language girl like Dao Ming, who could be very three-dimensional, and a deep and complicated character, or somebody whose primary attribute isn’t just a Chinese language girl, as her id. For her pores and skin coloration to not be on the forefront of her id, however only for her to be a human being,” says Chen.
Chen can be looking out for a job in a comedy.
“I’ve by no means carried out lots of comedy,” provides Chen. “In drama faculty, I used to be advised that I used to be such a comic. Nobody believes me, however folks simply cracked up. I don’t suppose I’m a clown, however there are elements of myself that I’ve but to discover as an actor.”
