Today we’d like to introduce you to Cindy Chu.
So, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started life in Detroit, the third of five children to first-generation Chinese-American immigrants from Taiwan. I learned to read and write from a very young age, and loved reading stories out loud. After my family moved to Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, my parents got a king-sized bed and I started organizing little skits and plays with my siblings, using the bed as our makeshift stage! In third grade, I got to play a gender-bent Eddie in an American Girl play about Samantha. I adored being part of the class plays because I was bullied and picked on a lot as one of the few students of color in our school system, GP being extremely WASPy. When I performed, I got to pretend I was someone else. I would see commercials for those acting and modeling workshops that would come to Detroit now and then, and begged my mom to take me, but she laughed it off. A great part of our public school program in GP was the arts: band, show choir, wood shop, etc. As soon as I was able, I joined band AND choir and participated in both until high school when I was allowed only one, so I chose show choir. I also was part of our high school Players Club, aka the theater kids, and participated in our musicals, plays, and even the school improv troupe. I lived for performing, I was obsessed, and it made me so happy. My junior year, I was the lead of our school play, a one-act called Laundry & Bourbon, by James McLure. I played Elizabeth to raving reviews, and we performed in our district, and for the state, and were adjudicated to be one of ten MainStage performances at the International Thespian Festival. I’d known for a long time this was what fed my soul and what I really wanted to do, but my senior year, as everyone began picking majors and colleges, my parents told me I had to choose something “real.”
At the University of Michigan, the only university I applied to and was immediately accepted to, (hey hey salutatorian except my high school stopped this tradition my graduation year) I ended up testing out of some requirements, but if you took the next course, you’d get extra credit hours, so I took some more math classes, did poorly in chemistry, and decided instead of the pre-med route, I’d try to major in Economics and graduate early! I tried to sign up for acting classes, or even photography but wasn’t able to because I wasn’t in the right “college” at UofM to be able to. In this time, I dragged my friend from home, Katie, who also had gone to UofM with me, to some pretty sketchy “auditions” off of CraigsList. That’s how desperately I wanted to still be an actor! One semester, I took a class for my minor in Asian Languages and Cultures, and it was about Asian representation in American cinema. It was so eye-opening and ignited my passion even more, but I had no idea what to do being stuck in Michigan.
Then at one point, I was able to sign up as a costumes intern and featured background player on Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, Whip It! I had the most fun I’d ever had, and I knew I needed more. From there, I participated in a few student films, a local Ann Arbor play, did a little more costumes work, and started production assisting, and from there came other jobs, production secretary, office PA, production coordinator, etc. I even worked on a couple of documentaries, one about climate change and how it was affecting the Great Lakes, and one about a shipwreck in the Great Lakes. I had also managed to get signed with a local Detroit talent agent, as well, and begun going on some auditions. I booked some commercials for a local tire company and OnStar, and I got Taft-Hartley’d on the remake of Red Dawn starring a then little known pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth. From there, I booked several other films and a pilot and decided it was time to make the jump to Los Angeles.
Through advice from friends, I managed to find a commercial agent first and booked some work through them, and eventually, I found a manager and theatrical agent through workshops. I had also spent time self-submitting on various acting websites (LACasting, Actors Access). I didn’t get my theatrical reps until I had been in LA for about two years! I had thought because I was already SAG-AFTRA it would be easy, but LA isn’t a small pond, it’s an ocean of talent, and I had no idea how to navigate it at first. I also struggled with crippling social anxiety my first couple of years and had to work through that to get comfortable feeling like I had a place in LA.
With my team, I’ve booked a national McDonald’s commercial, worked on New Girl, MacGyver, Hawaii Five-0, Shut Eye, the upcoming Paradise City, and the just-released film Saving Flora. I’ve had the opportunity to work opposite some amazing actors, Chloe Sevigny, James D’Arcy, Lucas Till, both Chris Hemsworth AND Liam Hemsworth on different projects, David Arquette, Rhea Perlman, and more. There was definitely a time where I couldn’t have imagined all the amazing things I’ve done working in the industry behind the camera and in front of it. Right now, my main focus is on acting, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me.
Besides the recently released Saving Flora, Paradise City should be coming out this year I believe, and I have a really important short film about sexual assault that should be making the festival circuit later in the year and early next year. It’s called From This Day Forward, and I star in it with the extremely talented Adam Huss and Michelle Sun, and I’m proud to say we had a strong female presence behind the camera, our director Hannah Driscoll who had her directorial debut with this project, our producer Roxy Shih who also helps direct the Taiwanese American Film Fest and is an amazing director in her own right, and our DP, Ludovica Isidori. I have to thank our writer, too, who is a man, but a man of color, Doulos Kun. If it weren’t for his voice and vision, we wouldn’t have this incredible film.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I would say it hasn’t been the smoothest of roads, there have been many hurdles, and I had to just keep plugging along, but when it’s something you want that much, you deal with the hurdles and find solutions and just keep going. When I was in Michigan, there weren’t so many roles for me that I fit, as an Asian woman. There was a time I had to do an accent for comic relief and at that time, I didn’t know better and regret it, but thankfully it was a one-liner and now at this point in my career I could turn those types of jobs down. This industry is definitely a tough one, there’s no surefire path to success, and it looks different for each person. What I keep hearing over and over again, though, is to just keep going, keep doing good work, keep building relationships and showing up, and eventually you’ll carve a niche out for yourself. It’s absolutely soul-crushing at times, but you learn to roll with the punches and ride the highs, and just keep going! Several years ago, there weren’t that many Asian roles, and the ones there were pretty stereotyped: ninja, nail lady, sex slave, etc. Nowadays, there are so many more opportunities for my community, and I’m seeing a lot of friends booking work, including series regulars, and the types of roles have grown so much. It’s exciting to be part of it and see the growth happening, and I’m wishing and hoping that I’ll get my shot soon, too.
Tell us about your work – what should we know?
My jam is definitely heavy drama, but I have a background with improv and storytelling and have done a little standup as well, so I enjoy making people laugh and cracking jokes to ease any tension. There’s a joke with some of my friends that I’m so good at crying, and I have cried in so many projects I actually did make a crying reel at one point. I would say I’m known for my work ethic and kindness, I’m a team player, and I always bring it 100 for any project I’m involved in. I also speak Mandarin, and can pick up phrases in other languages pretty easily, and would love to be able to utilize that in an acting job. I’ve done a lot of world traveling, and I feel that brings a deeper understanding of humanity at its core, and I hope to bring that same understanding to any role I was lucky enough to play. I love making people feel and think, and I know that if given that chance, that bigger opportunity, I can bring it and help elevate the project.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Surprisingly, after “encouraging” me to choose a “real” major, my mama has been one of my biggest supporters. Let’s just say she had one of those “come to Jesus” moments in life or had maybe watched one too many Oprah and Ellen episodes, but now she’s a huge advocate for us to find happiness and joy in life, of course along with financial independence, but she has been a big cheerleader for me with any win, big or small. When she told me she cried at the end of my Hawaii Five-0 episode, when I’m at the funeral for my TV mother, that was some of the most meaningful praise I have heard in my life.
I also would have to thank my high school drama director Meaghan Dunham, who cast me in a leading lady role and believed in me, and gave me hope that I could do this. My high school choir director Ellen Bowen, as well, who helped all of us grow so much musically, having us participate in Solo & Ensemble and be responsible for working on solos, and stage presence.
More recently, I adore my acting coach Saxon Trainor, she helped heal some anxieties I had developed prior to studying with her, and she has this incredible energy that uplifts everyone around her, she really makes you feel SEEN.
I also owe a lot to my team who have stood by me and believed in me, even when things have been excruciatingly slow (at least it seems that way on my end), and they’re still invested in me and supporting me and sending me out, Stephany Burns, Gary Ousdahl, Mark Stephens, Ryan Silva, Tom Markley, Lauren Gibson. I’ve also had some great pep talks from my former manager Gary Reichman, who is now an agent, he’s continued to encourage me to keep going.
I’m also so inspired by so many of my friends who are creating and doing! I would also like to do that, and I’m processing through some emotional and mental blocks right now, but I truly know so many incredible people! LA gets a bad rap sometimes, but I have met so many passionate, artistic, inspirational dreamers here, who are weaving their own realities, and it never ceases to inspire me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3083853/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cindychu/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cindychuactress/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamcindychu
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