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
I wasn't good enough to be a waitress. I was a receptionist and I only took down takeouts. Every day there was some mistake I made.
My brother is a brilliant artist. His oil paintings are really beautiful. And he was the one that taught me what to see - how to see. Colors, lights. And how lights can be so musical.
To be an Asian, to be a minority, not to see ourselves as always me the minority, the victim, you the dominant culture. It's a shift of paradigm. Once you see things differently, you gain power. All of a sudden there is enlightenment.
The factory that I work with, all the products are on the shelf, they are existing products. I can go and enhance it. The perfume is 60% mine.
I very much avoid crowds even today. Crowds scare me. I function much better on a more personal level. I don't function very well on a dinner of more than ten. I can't be myself.
I've received e-mails telling me about the protests ... friends who have gone back to work for American firms ... they are very, very worried and a little scared, ... I am a little scared. Every time tension like that builds up, I feel like I am not trusted by the Americans. I'm not trusted by the Chinese. I'm not trusted by anybody.
I'm sure I had a certain presence. It just happened. I didn't have too big of a problem with it because my family grounded me very well and I didn't understand what fame is and the corruption that fame could bring. I was too naive. I was very much a kid. I believed that people just loved me.
In China we use the word baptism a lot, it's a very revolutionary word.
I'm being more selective. I don't think I've made any sacrifices or anything.
I'm angry about stereotypes about Asians, but I'm not bitter about not getting enough roles. I do see myself as being very fortunate, and see the change in the industry.
I'm going back to work in China. Chinese movies are getting very very strong now. I'm going back in December to work on a movie based on a classical novel. I play a woman who loves decadence.
If you don't talk about any commitment or a shared future in three months, I don't think you're sincere.
If my publicist says you have to be a certain way, I say, Yeah, okay. That's the way the public likes to perceive me. It's all fine, that's part of the business.
I think a good sign is when you don't go to bed with people right away. I think you treasure it more. A lot of people, one date or third date or fourth date, you gotta go to bed. It's silly.