Joan Chen
Joan Chen
Joan Chenis a Chinese-American actress, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. In China she performed in the 1979 film Little Flower and came to international attention for her performance in the 1987 Academy Award-winning film The Last Emperor. She is also known for her roles in Twin Peaks, Red Rose, White Rose, Saving Face and The Home Song Stories, and for directing the feature film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl...
NationalityChinese
ProfessionActress
Date of Birth26 April 1961
CountryChina
The acting in China is very stylized and dramatic, and I was just me.
The army was a desirable place to be. It offered a more disciplined life than the countryside.
Having been an actress was also good because I know how to talk to the actors. I know what comes through and what doesn't and often times I've worked with a director whose directions I knew I'd just better not try to listen to because it messes you up. So, having had an acting background really helped.
We were so up high that we were really close to heaven, and that does render greater meaning to life.
From the age of 14 I was on the set all the time and worked with a lot of people.
I don't believe beauty exists without suffering-that's just a tourist picture in a travel agency, which isn't beautiful to me.
I did somehow manage to get into a college in China that trains diplomats when I was 17, one year before my peers could go, which is very very difficult. I was very proud I did.
Only when you poeticize something does it become universal. I believe when your experience is more crystallized through distance and time, you're more able to poeticize something.
There are only so many roles as empresses... but I've had a lot of offers to play vampires.
I felt extremely comfortable and at home on the set and actually I did homework about breaking down the scenes and often had shot lists in a rough way, but it was actually extremely spontaneous. Working with David Lynch-he is so spontaneous.
There are a few stories that I like, but I don't know how to approach them because there's no part for me-just books I read.
When I was younger, I struggled against, you know, I don't want to be pigeon-holed. And I, you know - Basically, now you want to be pigeon-holed. It's your niche.
Dailies means every day you have 20 rolls, and here I was with 200 rolls of film.
The author wrote the novella based on her friend. So it was a true story, ... When I was reading the novella -- she wrote it in such a visual, well-textured way, that I saw in it a poignantly beautiful film. And that is how my generation in China came of age.