Asian American Film: Features

Parry Shen, BLT star

04.01 - Posted by Editor

	Parry Shen Interview by Joan Huang

4.01.02 -- Parry Shen, one of the stars of "Better Luck Tomorrow," talks about the film, Sundance, acting, future work, and the epic battle between good and evil (on a G.I. Joe level).

AAF   When did you first know you wanted to be an actor?

PS  I think when I was a little kid just watching so much TV and movies on TV sort of just entered my subconciousness. I would watch an average of 6-8 hours of TV a day after I got home from school. I became very adept to picking up how a story was supposed to unfold with a beginning, middle and end. Peppered with conflicts to overcome, etc. I now realize why my little brother would always want to play GI. Joe's with me --because I could set up great adventures for them to go on; almost like a little play. The story would always unfold with the GI Joes winning a battle in the beginning to show their team work and introduce their specialties. Then it would cut to the bad guys (Cobra) and what evil plan that would unhatch, one of the GI Joes would get captured in battle because of this plan and then the Gi Joes would have to come up with a plan to overcome and win back their team member. It sounds pretty formulaic but for a nine year old, that's pretty impressive I think..

AAF   What was the first role you had onscreen?

PS   My first role on screen was a Guest Star on NBC's "Caroline in the City". I played this Chinese delivery food boy who gets disowned by his father and winds up living on Caroline's couch for the entire episode. I did the audition with no accent at first but then the producers wanted one and I thought, "Great, here it all starts". But Luckily, I've never been asked to do an accent since--but maybe that's because people saw the episode and discovered that I can't do an Asian accent at all. But that episode got a lot of play and a bunch of bloopers we did ended up on Dick Clark's Bloopers Show. Dick Clark even introduced me during the set up of the blooper--"Now, watch the actor on the couch, Parry Shen--he's making funny faces at Lea Thompson when he's off-screen to crack her up."

AAF   When you first read the script for BLT, what thoughts ran through your mind? What drew you to your character and project?

PS  I'd already auditioned once for Ben and then got the script after Justin wanted me to come back again. I read BLT in a little cafe in Santa Barbara and just sat there for an hour and a half. Just turning pages. And I couldn't believe that I was up for Ben. It's easy to say in hindsight that it would be a hit, but you could really tell. And if it wasn't well received, then something was really wrong with the world. It was just a riveting story and journey about these kids. No whining about being Asian. No inside Asian jokes that only Asians would get. Nothing that would alienate any audience member in terms of things they could relate to. And I was reading for this guy who's eyes the audience sees the film through. What a great challenge mixing the Voiceovers with performance. I was really excited to possibly be a part of it. And I knew it would be a great part for anyone who got it but I also knew that I'd be incredibly jealous of that person too.

AAF   Did you audition for the character you ended up playing?

PS   I auditioned for Ben twice and both times I just happened to be paired up with Karin Anna Cheung. And I was just so lucky because we just had a good chemistry, which only helped my performance at the audition. And I recalled thinking after the audition, "Man, Justin would have to be crazy for her not to be one of his final choices." After the shoot I heard things about Sung being up for Ben for a little bit, and I'm sure he would've been great but then Virgil, Daric and Han would have to been recast. The Han character would have to be like 7 feet tall.And most importantly, I wouldn't have been on this project!

AAF   What has been an unexpected pleasure or a memorable moment from the BLT experience?

PS   I didn't expect to vibe as well with my cast members-just because I've seen Jason and Roger at auditions for the past 6 years and have always auditioned against them for the same roles. When you're in the audition room, you usually have your game face on--cordial to people but you can't get too close or you lose your focus. So no real relationships. So just going through the rehearsal period in the beginning and improving scenes started this bond. That led to us talking and opening up about our views and concerns we had with our lives. Because we have more in common than uncommon because of this leap of faith we've taken with our lives in terms of career choice. It affects our lifestyles, ways of thinking, finances (or lack of)--so it was nice to find this support group. For me, it all culminated on the day we were in front of that Ferris wheel, Roger throws a stuffed animal at Jason and Jason throws this stuffed animal back at Roger and we all just gelled so well and were on the same page that we all chased Jason off screen out of just pure instinct. It was like telepathy.

AAF   Describe the sundance experience

PS   Sung hit it on the nose calling it, "Celebrity Boot Camp" Because the interviews, screenings, fans, BLT merchandise, parties with celebs and media buzz in a 10 day time frame was surreal. It was rewarding though because I think for the first time, we all felt that all these years of taking classes, auditioning and doing whatever to hone our crafts with no real end in sight, finally seemed justified. That we had all actually learned something from our teachers and plays we've studied and proved our mettle on film.

AAF   Did you ever reach a point where you thought you'd give up acting (any horror story auditions/roles/experiences)?

PS   Many times. But the first time was my fault when I came into town. A few years ago, I used my marketing degree and business savvy to come up with all these fake magazine articles about myself in US Magazine and Premiere, etc to create hype. I worked too--big agencies were interested, casting people but when I got my shot, I just didn't have the skills to back up the hype. I wanted to quit but then realized I hadn't put in the hard work to hone my craft--so I enrolled into a slew of acting classes of every technique, Strassberg, Meisner, Stanislavsky.. and then the roles started coming like crazy. Flash forward a few years a later...I had just bought a house and the SAG commercial strike hit--I had no money and nary a part in like 7 months. I was still on top of my game but auditions weren't panning out. I had auditioned for BLT already but Justin was still casting for a few months to see everyone. So for all intents and purposes, I didn't have the role yet. I decided to get a job waiting tables--but to set this up, I had real issues with becoming an actor statistic of being a waiter. I had a college degree for christsakes, President of the Business Fraternity--so making that decision was a huge blow and a sure sign I'd given up. The first day I was scheduled to start waiting tables I auditioned for a film from Columbia Pictures called, "The New Guy". Three hours into bussing tables and accepting my station in life, my agent calls me at the restaurant and says I've not only booked one of the lead roles but that I have to leave in 9 hours to shoot for 2 months in Texas. I still have a check for $20.13 waiting for me at the restaurant. It totally renewed my faith and saved me. The very day I got back from shooting New Guy, Justin calls and offers me the part of Ben. Flash forward a year...now I don't have to doctor up those fake articles because we're getting real ones written about us.

AAF   If you weren't acting, what do you think you would do?

PS   If I weren't acting, I probably would be a Zoologist. I've garnered a lot about animals since childhood watching animal documentaries.

AAF   What advice would you give to other working Asian American actors?

PS   Advice to Asian American actors--like anything it takes really hard work. Fame isn't guaranteed. But being a successful good actor is. You can act anywhere. In your friend's basement, church, 3rd street promenade. If the act of acting is what you want to do, it's not hard. Every actor I know that books work all have a certain work ethic about them. I don't know that many non-working actors because they usually never last that long a result of their lack of work ethic. Strive not to use your ethnicity as a crutch and whine about the struggle of Asian actors. Every type of actor has their own obstacles to overcome. White actors have to deal with that they’re a dime a dozen Josh Harnett and Ben Affleck get everything. Black actors always play ganstas that speak in Ebonics. Be judged on by merit. You shouldn't be hired you because you are Asian but because you were undeniably the best actor.

AAF   Who are your inspirations as an actor? What filmmakers/actors would you like to work with in the future?

PS   Gene Hackman and Natalie Portman. Gene makes anything believable and justifiable. From playing cheesy characters: Lex Luthor, to dramas like Mississippi Burning, thrillers: Enemy of the State, Crimson Tide, inspirational: Hoosiers, quirky: Royal Tenembaums--his technique transcends to all mediums. And that speaks volumes of his talent. On the other hand, Natalie is a natural with no formal training--actors study for years to get what she has instinctually. I saw her in Anne Frank on Broadway a few years ago and was inspired for my acting to be so unassuming and "natural". I really want to work with Stephen Soderberg--and it sucks because everybody does too. But I loved him before Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and Ocean's 11. He knows what he's doing so well that he can change the look and feel of a film based on the content--and that really shows a director's not on auto-pilot and really putting thought into the project. But in a sense, Justin works that way too, plotting what lenses for each scene and storyboarding--so I've kinda already worked with Stephen in a roundabout way.

AAF   Favorite movie? Why?

PS   Goodfellas. I felt like a part of the family even though these guys were killers. I love the intimacy of the scene when they're making dinner. Cooking up steaks, making the sauce, slicing the garlic with the razor...but when you pull back, they're all doing this in prison! It was a very achieved balanced in not really glamorizing the lifestyle but gaining an understanding of justification for it and humanizing it. Which is why I loved playing Ben because I was able to draw a lot of it from Ray Liotta's narration. What was even more trippy and full circle was that Ray Liotta's film "Narc" was up against ours in competition at Sundance.

AAF   What's next for you?

PS   I'm waiting for my film "The New Guy" to come out on May 10th. Then BLT in Fall. And I've been going out like crazy for pilot season to book a series. But in terms of proactive things, I've been writing a script for the past 2 years that I want to start to get into production. It made the first top 250 cut from 7000 scripts in HBO's projectgreenlight. Before even before I heard about or read BLT, I wrote parts for the same actors in my film. So it was trippy when I found out who was in the BLT cast. So if it gets made, it'll be a reunion of sorts for the cast but a totally different and lighter project.

Comments

I'm looking to get some auditions for film, Asian American thirty years old any ideas

Posted by: zachary Schafer on February 8, 2006 06:29 PM

Parry Shen is REALLY good in the movie "Better Luck Tomorrow". I really enjoy his acting and wish to see him in more movies =)

Posted by: Ken on October 24, 2003 11:35 PM

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