Today we’d like to introduce you to Risa Mei.
Risa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a Chinese Indonesian singer/actor/fairy with dwarfism, standing at a height of 3’11”. I got started in the industry at 7 years old. My second-grade teacher noticed that I could sing in class. My mom didn’t take her too seriously but allowed me to sing on stage for the first time during a school assembly. From there on out, I kept performing both inside and outside the school and became known as the singer in the school district, “the little girl with the big voice,” hahaha! That was the nickname I had growing up. I started off in entertainment as a singer and performed at various events, shows, and singing competitions. I was on Ed McMahon’s The Next Big Star and won “kid champion” in the first episode; I performed on Showtime At The Apollo, won first prize on the locally televised Asian American Teen Talent Competition, and was invited to events like A Tribute To The Sherman Bros. where I performed for the Sherman Bros with Piper Laurie and Dick Van Dyke. In and amongst all this, I was also involved in a local singing and dancing group that toured around Southern California for performances as well, keeping up with school and involved with the school theater, so I was a busy kid, hahaha!
During this time, I started picking up commercial work at 9 years old and was repped by my first agent, and landed my first commercial in a Texaco ad! This helped me out with college so much! During college, I joined Beckii Cruel’s Oishii Project, a Japanese pop idol group, and when I left, some of my fellow idol colleagues and I formed 4TE, a Japanese Electronic Pop girl group. We still have our music up here! https://www.youtube.com/@4TEofficial – during this time, I was also in a punk Japanese rock-inspired band called Psycho Bando and was performing with them as well. We were in Anime Expo 2013’s Lounge 21 lineup!
I graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a bachelor’s in music, with an emphasis on vocal performance; right after, I was cast as a suit and character actor in Universal Studios Japan. I did suit work for their Amazing Sesame Street Show and One Piece Premiere Shows and was an atmospheric actor for their Halloween Horror Nights. I was in Japan for several years on and off! In my first year there, I was contracted for 13 months (I met my now husband during this time! He was one of their veteran actors, one of the cast housing resident advisors, and a creative directing assistant for the One-Piece Premiere Show. He was my trainer for suit character work! But I digress). Then, in subsequent years, I was there for half-year contracts. During my downtimes, I would come back to the States and book work here, doing commercial work as a body performer and then eventually landing my first motion capture (mocap) AND voiceover gig with the Jim Henson Company as Word Party’s Tilly the Tortoise.
In 2019, I returned to the States from Japan for the last time, a few months before borders were closed and the world shut down. I was desperate for performing work in 2020 and stumbled on the voiceover community on Twitter. Because recording could be done remotely, people opened up their rosters for remote capable performers, and the voiceover industry opened up to so many people. It was an industry I only ever dreamed of being a part of, a “bucket list item,” a “pipe dream.” I never thought to combine my background as a singer, my audio know-how, and acting. Voiceover work combined all of my skill sets.
In late 2020, I booked my first anime, Kakushigoto, as the Indonesian character Nadila for Funimation, and I went on to keep booking more anime and, eventually, video games and Western animation works. Some of my more notable roles include Sangonomiya Kokomi from Genshin Impact, Lynx from Honkai Star Rail, Beelzebub from Akira Toriyama’s SandLand, Futaba Igarashi from My Senpai is Annoying, Kaoru from the 2023 Rurouni Kenshin, Sajuna Inui from My Dress Up Darling, Satomi from Sing A Bit of Harmony, Yuna from Eternights, Syrene from Fire Emblem Heroes, Brights from the new Hot Wheels: Let’s Race! Netflix series, and more!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been exactly smooth, especially as an Asian female little person. I get overlooked for roles a lot, and I’ve been told countless times that it wasn’t my skill set, but because I don’t have a typecast, productions can bring me in. I remember going into audition rooms for commercials as a kid, and my mom would whisper in my ear, “you’re the only Asian in here”. My mom is my champion, she supported me in my performing work, took me to all of my performances and auditions growing up, and it hurt to see people treat her, and in turn me, differently because of her thick Indonesian accent and different mannerisms. I remember being turned away at a large agency, and when my mom asked if they even let me perform in front of the agents, they said, “We listened to her demo tapes; she sounds great!”… We gave them instrumentals of songs that I could use to perform in front of the agents with. There were no vocals on those tracks.
As an adult, I remember when my auditions changed from reading for kids and teens, things that made sense for me and my experiences at my age – to “exotic” characters, “fetishized” characters, characters stripped of humanity. I was requested at events not to sing anymore but to hang out and mingle with guests as Santa’s elves, attending parties in formal wear because “how cool would it be to have a group of little people at our party?!” I opted for suit-acting roles, roles where I would be hidden behind a mask, digitized or otherwise, to hold on to my dignity as a performer.
During the George Floyd Protests, I read a post on Facebook where a black actor mourned the loss of a director who fought and stood up for their black actors, and I wept. I had never had a director fight for me to play a character who wasn’t a little person; how did that feel? I didn’t comment on the post; it wasn’t the time or place.
I was told that I was… that we as little people, are unmarketable as we are. That we have too much of a shock factor when presented to audiences, that there has to be a reason for putting a little person front and center on the stage. I couldn’t just go up there and perform as “backup singer 2”. Even that would have been a gift.
As a voice actor, I’ve played lead roles. LEAD ROLES. I had written off ANY lead role as an actor. Little people don’t belong in lead roles. I was able to perform without physical restraints, and it was beautiful.
What do you think about happiness?
Ahaha, good food makes me happy! So do cats, true crime, dark internet rabbit holes, the paranormal. I’m a bit of a spoopy loving gal! I also love fashion!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.RisaMei.com
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/LoveRisaMei
- Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LoveRisaMei
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/risamei
- Twitter: www.Twitter.com/LoveRisaMei
- Youtube: www.Youtube.com/LoveRisaMei
- Other: www.IMDB.me/RisaMei
