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The Star Online > eCentral > Movies

Wednesday September 19, 2007

Crossover pioneer

By BOON CHAN

Since she broke into Hollywood in 1986, Joan has been on both sides of the camera, but has done her most compelling work in Asia.

Shanghai-born was a crossover star way before the likes of and Ziyi. A teenage sensation in her native country, the now 46- year-old actress was dubbed by Time magazine as the “Elizabeth Taylor of ”.

She left for the United States at the age of 20 in 1981 and subsequently studied film-making at California State University, in Northridge. “I longed for the faraway and the unknown,” she says.

Her big break came when producer Dino De Laurentiis spotted her in a parking lot and cast her as the concubine May-May in Tai-Pan (1986).

While the film was widely panned and Chen was even nominated for a dreaded Razzie for worst actress, it led to a turn as empress Wan Jung in ’s Oscar-winning (1987).

Throughout the 1990s, she juggled projects in both the United States and Asia.

A plum role in ’s cult TV series (1990-1991) was followed by roles in forgettable films such as ’s On Deadly Ground (1994) and Judge Dredd (1995), starring Sylvester Stallone,

Meanwhile, she did some of her most compelling work in Asia. She even won the Golden Horse awards for both best actress and best director.

The former was for ’s romantic drama, (1994) and the latter for Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998), set during the Chinese . Actress Joan Chen has has She currently lives in San Francisco with her second husband, gone on to explore more of cardiologist Peter Hui, and their two daughters, aged eight and five. the film-making spectrum Family comes first for her now but she has continued to work, with but raising her children several films coming out this year. remains a priority. One of them is ’ drama, . Chen plays a nightclub who depends on the men around her as she struggles to survive in 1970s Australia with her two young children.

Her other upcoming films include ’s espionage thriller Lust, Caution and ’s The Sun Also Rises, which comprises four related stories set in rural China in the 1950s and 1970s. Both

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premiered recently at the .

What attracted you to the role in The Home Song Stories?

It’s just a fantastic role. You can exercise your chops, and that is enjoyable to do.

The better written the part, the easier to do. Of course, it is challenging because it’s a part with full range. But it wasn’t that difficult.

Given that you went to the United States in 1981 at the age of 20, did you draw upon your own experiences as an immigrant for the role?

Very much so. I was far better off and much better equipped and educated, but I could still identify with the character’s confusion, cultural shock and alienation.

Almost everything was shocking. Leaving a basically communist country for New York – the whole value system or everyday details – nothing was the same.

Was it difficult for a Chinese actress to break into Hollywood?

It was very difficult. There wasn’t enough understanding of Chinese culture and not enough parts for Chinese faces. There was no exchange of any kind between the two countries.

Did being beautiful make it harder or easier to get movie roles?

I wish I knew I was beautiful. I wasn’t very confident because I was operating in a foreign tongue and I didn’t feel comfortable in America.

I’m pretty stubborn and reluctant to give up old values. I’m not very prone to moving from one mindset to another, like today’s young people.

Do you think that you are more traditionally Chinese or more Western in your outlook?

I think I’m very traditional in either culture. I went through rebellion and confusion just like any person, but in general, I consider myself conservative.

I hope to give my daughters solid values – love of mankind and love of family. I think that’s the two most important things.

You teach them what is right – family values, the value of education, to be considerate, to be less selfish. You also teach them what is not tolerable, such as bigotry and hatred for another human being.

It’s been said that when women hit their 40s the roles dry up, but that doesn’t seem to be true for you?

I actually don’t work very much because I don’t want to leave my children. It so happened that last year, I had a busier year. Usually, I don’t do more than one film a year.

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When my children are grown up and don’t want to see me any more, I’ll come out and work. But you can’t completely leave acting. Otherwise, you don’t learn and become very stagnant.

I do acting just so that I’m in contact with the professionals in my field.

How do you see directing and acting since you’ve been on both sides of the camera?

Acting is much easier; it’s only one slice of the entire film-making responsibility. The director is responsible for everything so it’s a more stressful job.

At the same time, I can do it and I’m good at it. If I have a story I want to tell, I enjoy telling it on the screen.

I’m always writing, reading, trying to exercise my ability to write a script or organise a film, even when I’m home taking care of the kids.

Complete this sentence. If I could live my life all over again ...

I’d live it the same way. Not that I see my life as perfect, but I see the past I’ve gone through as necessary. – The Straits Times, Singapore/ Asia News Network

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