Clare Chun,
Seattle, WA.
I’m an aspiring actress and filmmaker. Whenever I share this with others, every so often I get hit with, “Oh like that Lucy Liu girl!” First off, I am Korean American and she is Chinese American, secondly, we don’t look or act anything alike. Yes, as shocking as this sounds, we are not “penguins” where you can’t tell us apart. We are in fact individuals who have distinct facial and cultural differences depending on which Asian country we come from.
When I watch movies or television shows I am inspired to see we recognize the brilliant African American actresses Halle Berry, Angela Bassett, Taraji P. Henson, Queen Latifah, Viola Davis, and many more all as individual unique entities, not one clump of “African American Talents.” I am inspired we do the same for the Latina Actresses Eva Mendes, Salma Hayek, Jennifer Lopez and Penelope Cruz, and the countless others I can’t fill this whole page with.
I can’t wait for the day I hear “Oh Sandra Oh, Lucy Liu, Margaret Cho, Zhang Ziyi and Olivia Munn are very different from each other, and so talented! It’s hard to put them in ONE category!”
I hope I contribute in some way as an artist thru my own personal journey to shift the stereotypes and ignorance involving the Asian American experience. And if I’m lucky and blessed enough to be the 1% working in Hollywood, maybe people will recognize me and say, “Hey, you are that great actress CLARE CHUN!” 🙂
