We recently had the chance to connect with Ashley Hsu and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ashley, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
There has been! I recently hosted a donation based dance class to raise funds for CHIRLA. As a creative, i’ve always wanted to use my influence for good. I realised I don’t have to wait until I’ve “made it”. I can start now. With the support and love from my community, we raised $1300 to support immigrant rights. Not only am I proud of myself for making this happen, I am proud of my community for showing up and showing out! I am excited to continue this project and to raise more money for other organisation and causes.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi! I’m Ashley Hsu and I’m a 24 year old actor/dancer/model born and raised in the vibrant city of Hong Kong (but now based in Los Angeles). Growing up, I was always super into performance, whether it was participating in speech festivals, tap dancing, and singing, etc…, I wanted to do it all. But everything led me to develop a love for acting. Through taking theatre classes and participating in film acting summer camps, it deepened my love for the craft and solidified my choice to pursue acting more seriously.
I had the incredible opportunity to pursue my passions at Loyola Marymount University and I ended up graduating with a BA in theatre arts and a minor in dance. During my time there, I participated in various LMU main stage productions, with some of my favorite roles being The Woman in Red Demon and Narrator and Evil Gabbi in She Kills Monsters. I also had the honor of being the first student to co-write and co-direct Haunting of Hannon , the yearly haunted library, with Kevin Wetmore for my senior thesis, where I also reprised my role as the Ask Rice Woman for the third time.
Since graduating, I’ve been a dancer in two music videos and I’ve done some extra work for some short films. I’ve also been submitting myself for roles and I continue to take acting and dance classes to strengthen my skills. I’m excited for what’s to come. Acting has opened my world to opportunities and perspectives. As a multidisciplinary artist, I would love to be a voice in my community to destigmatize Asians in the arts, as well as use my platform to bring awareness to mental health efforts, as well as other social issues.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who taught you the most about work?
This sounds cliché, but my parents taught me the most about work and work ethic. Growing up, I was taught that things aren’t just handed to me. I had to work hard and earn what I wanted. My favorite example of this is: when I was in the 3rd/4th grade, I was really getting in to baking and I wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer. When I went to ask my parents, my mom said I had to get a score of 80 or higher in my Chinese exam in order to get it. Keep in mind… I had not gotten a score over 65 prior to that. But I was so determined and I wanted that mixer so badly, I did what I could in order to get there! I studied, I reviewed and did everything in my power in order to secure that grade. And I did. I got an 83 on that exam and I did end up getting that mixer. I still use that mixer till this day many years later (she works like a charm). In the end, the mixer was nice, but what stuck with me was that I am capable of doing things that I didn’t think I was able to do. And I felt like I had did the work in order to get the thing I wanted. I carry that energy with me in everything I do now. With my art, even though things are little slow for me right now, i’m still submitting, I’m still going to events to network, I’m still putting myself out there. Because I know I want this and I am putting in the effort to achieve my goals. WHEN (not if, but when) I get to where I want to be, I know I can be proud of myself for doing the work and for not waiting for the opportunity to come to me.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Probably the fear of failing or the fear of disappointing myself and my family. Acting and performing have been things i’ve wanted to do all my life. And I am so incredibly blessed to have a family that supports my dreams and aspirations. But I didn’t want them to have put all that time, money, and effort, just to see their daughter fail. For a while, this belief made me second guess myself and my performance skills. Am I good enough to make it in the industry? Am I cut out for it? What if I fail? Will it all be for nothing?
But after going to college and being inspired by my peers, I realised that my fear of failing and/or being a disappointment was the reason I wasn’t striving for more. I had stopped myself from dreaming big and had played it safe. Thankfully that is not the case anymore.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
I would say the public version of me is the real me, but the people I hold close to me get to know more. For a long time, I just people pleased and played a character that the person across from me liked. But that’s exhausting. More recently, i’ve been allowing myself to be authentic to who I am because I’ve accepted that not everyone is going to like me. And that is okay. There is so much power in being my own self and the right people will stay.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope it isn’t just one story! I hope people remember me for the good I was able to in the world, or about how great I was in a film they saw, or how fun it was to work with me. I hope people tell stories about weird little quirks I had (that maybe I don’t even know about). All I know is that I hope people think of me fondly when I’m gone.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/hsustler
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hsustler
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-hsu-1a82a0190/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@nihaoyoshan?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Image Credits
Cathryn Farnsworth, 36neex
