Best Practices for Interviews: Actors’ Edition
For actors:
Congratulations! You have made in the industry at least enough to be interviewed by a media outlet for your work in a production. Given the current state of the industries in Hollywood and on Broadway, many people are going to wonder why you have found success when so many people of your ethnicity have not been able to. Because of this, you might get the occasional (or frequent) question about being Asian American, some of which might be difficult to answer. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you go through these interviews.
- As an Asian American actor or actress, one of the first things that audiences will notice about you is your race. While this will affect their perception of you and while your experiences in the industry have likely been shaped in some regard by you experiences as an Asian American, remember that your ethnicity is not your sole defining characteristic or even necessarily one of your more important defining characteristics. Remember that that one label does not define you or your acting!
- You might get questions about what you think about diversity in Hollywood (or on Broadway or in the music industry, or whatever it is). Tell people what’s on your mind. If you have faced discrimination in the industry that may have shaped the experiences of actors of color say so. These experiences might be the final straw that ultimately cause some actors to leave the industry, so sharing your experiences could give others a chance to realize that other people are facing these same issues and put things in perspective for them.
- Optional, but maybe give some words of encouragement for people who are trying to make it in the industry – you have social clout now, and there are some people out there who would really appreciate advice or words of wisdom from someone who has already gone through the entire process.
- This could be that you might not always agree with what a certain role or character stands for, but it is the only option you have at the moment, so out of necessity you have to accept it. Clarify to others that you might not always agree with a character’s personality, decisions, or actions, and that these characters are not representative of an entire demographic.
- If you don’t want to constantly pestered about what it’s like to be Asian in such a homogenous community or how your family’s traditional values have affected the roles that you have taken on, take a moment. Breathe. Think about what you want to say and how it will be perceived. If you still don’t want to talk about it, maybe pull a Lucy Liu and just say it outright, so that you don’t have to deal with pointed comments or questions from that interviewer.
Some sample interviews with Asian American actors and actresses: