I've played a lot of younger, more coming-of-age roles as well as roles that aren't such an imposing physical presence.
Because when does anybody really grow up? I mean, I feel more grown up now, more in a place of solidity and peace. But I think a lot of people take on these roles as parents, or husband or wife, and immediately think 'That's it. I'm grown up now. Done.'
When you look at the roles I've done and the roles coming up, they're all strong. I guess I'm more drawn to that than that kind of submissive role females can be categorised as.
I'm seeing more and more interesting horror come my way. More and more interesting thrillers and genre films are coming my way from the studio level, and they're financed and they have movie stars attached and all of that. But a lot of times, the storytelling just doesn't speak to me. It feels like it's still oftentimes coming out of a kind of prescribed notion of normalcy, prescribed notion of gender roles. There's not a lot of "new" seeming to be happening.
I wanted to build up a little nest egg and go back to L.A. and choose roles that I wanted to do instead of roles that I had to do to pay the bills.
The more visibility, the more opportunities for Asian-American actors to play great roles. It goes to the studios opening up roles they might not have considered Asian actors for. The talent is there. I don't think there needs to be one superstar, but having more roles open up, that's the way changes happen.
When I was younger and more tortured, I wanted to suffer in my roles.
I've always wanted to do all kinds of roles, dramatic roles and comedic roles, all kinds of roles.
I've become really good at turning down the boring, pretty girl roles, the trophy wife, supermodel, beautiful girlfriend roles. I mean, playing somebody who's perfect holds no allure for me, whatsoever. It's just boring.
I never wanted to be famous. I want to be more famous than I am so I can get the roles. I hate losing the roles. I was famous more for being around people who were famous, and I hate that kind of fame.
When I was younger in the theater, I didn't really feel like I got much recognition from the powers that be. I got a lot of small roles - I never got the standout roles.
Yes. Otherwise I could have done a lot of Hollywood movies. After Crouching Tiger I got a lot of offers, but I turned them down because they were all victim roles - poor girls sold to America to be a wife or whatever. I know I have the ability to go deeper, to take on more original roles than that.
I've definitely taken more family-friendly roles. Honestly, sometimes the edgier acting roles are not age-appropriate for kids but I have taken more projects that I feel have a great message or my kids can watch because of their age and that were just plain fun.
People often ask me why I don't take up more heroine-oriented roles. My question is, 'Where are these roles?' I really appreciate actresses who sign only films with meaty roles. However, there aren't too many of them. The industry is simply male-dominated.
There's plenty of girlfriend roles out there. They've come my way, and many people have turned them down, and I think, "Oh maybe I could do something with this." It's interesting when you get those roles, which seem like nothing on the page, and you kind of subvert them. It's hard to say no.
After 'Entourage,' it completely opened up my casting within the industry. People saw me for a lot of roles that I hadn't been seen for before. Older roles. I went out this pilot season for a lot of lawyers and doctors. And cops - which I haven't quite mastered yet; I find that quite difficult.