Alum 恩典沈 Tells Stories Close to Home
Whether she’s telling tales in the sun-beaten 南太平洋, dancing through Belle Époque-Paris in 吉吉, or witnessing 的 Last Days of Judas Iscariot, 恩典沈 (‘93) knows the power of a good story. 下面, 我们将一窥她与奥斯卡获奖艺术家的合作, explore how she navigated an unforgiving industry, 思考那些悬而未决的问题.
出于篇幅和清晰度考虑，以下对话经过了编辑.
You’re a ‘93 grad who’s done a lot of theatre. 给我们讲讲你进入娱乐圈的故事吧……小池塘里的大鱼?
我很幸运. I was cast as Liat in 南太平洋 我毕业后不久在圣贝纳迪诺市民轻剧院演出. 我浏览了《澳门金沙棋牌真钱》和《澳门金沙棋牌游戏》，看到了那个试镜. 我喜欢音乐剧，所以我去试镜了，你瞧，我被选中了. That was such an amazing experience. 的 theatre is where your heart beats. 没有什么比站上舞台前站在侧翼更美妙的了, 你的心跳得如此之快，感觉它要跳出你的身体. 你有一个排练的过程，把所有的东西都记下来，找到角色和场景……非常有趣.
当时作为一名年轻的亚洲女演员进入这个行业是什么感觉?
It was definitely not easy. 作为亚洲人，我并没有太多的角色. This was in 1993; that was a long time ago. 所有的东西都很稀少，尤其是电影和电视. 我专注于戏剧，因为它对多样化的演员更开放. 最近情况变了，很高兴看到越来越多的亚洲人出现在银幕上，越来越多的亚洲故事被讲述.
I kept plugging away. 如果你内心有一点点热情，它会让你继续前进. 当你没有一直工作的时候，你会有这样的怀疑:我是否足够好? Is this ever going to happen? 这些想法会出现，所以保持信念，继续前进.
我很喜欢. What about stories you’d like to see? What stories are you drawn to?
I am drawn to stories about family and relationships. 的re’s a story from everywhere that can be told; everyone has a story from their own background. It doesn’t have to be the same ethnicity; it can be wide open. 我只是愿意接受这个人，不管他们的背景如何.
I have a story that I’m thinking of writing. 我把这件事暂时搁置了一下，我必须全力以赴去做. No one else will do it for me.
What’s the special story?
It’s about my dad. 他来自中国，在动荡的文化大革命期间不得不离开. 他去了台湾的神澳门金沙棋牌游戏，没能回到中国。. 我们移民去了温哥华，这么多年来他都没见过家人. 我有一堆他写给我妈妈的情书那是他们第一次见面的时候, so I want to incorporate those. 最后，当他在养老院的时候，他一直在说他有多想念他的家人. He never got to see his siblings or parents pass.
Are those two things connected? Is family important 文化ly?
哦,肯定. 肯定.
Tell me about that.
I am blessed to have a very loving, supportive family. To me, family is everything. 的re’s that tension when you don’t have that. 的 culture is steeped in tradition, 这是件好事，因为它告诉你你是谁, but it can be limiting in its expectations. 成功的压力一直存在:去当一名医生, 一个律师, an accountant–do something that brings in money.
Being an actor, you give so much of yourself. You have to be you, be authentic and truthful, and pour your heart into your characters, 融入你的艺术. It’s a medium that can change people. You can change people’s lives with stories.
H你如何看待你的工作改变了人们的生活，影响了人们?
I want to tell stories that inspire, that uplift. No matter what situation you’re coming from–economic, 文化, 我想讲一个故事，激励人们成为最好的自己. Stories without limits, 角色可以挣脱束缚，克服他们正在经历的一切，成为最好的自己.
如果我们回顾一下恩典沈作为一个正在看电影或读书的小女孩, what story does she want to see? What did you want to see?
(停顿.我并没有特别想看的故事. I just loved watching movies–all kinds. I definitely wanted to see myself represented. 每当我在电视上看到亚洲人，就会立刻引起我的注意，想知道那是谁.
你有什么想要传达给年轻的自己的吗?
我想要传达给年轻时的自己，要有信心，相信自己. That’s the thing I struggled with, having doubt. 相信我能做到，相信我足够优秀是很重要的. That came later, 把自己放在那里，努力工作，朝着我想做的方向努力. 了解你自己，了解你自己——因为这些永远不会消失, it’s in your makeup…you must understand yourself.
我听了艾玛·斯通(Emma Stone)的采访，她谈到了焦虑. 学会呼吸，意识到那些消极的想法是不真实的，这有多重要. 认识到它们并意识到它们，你就能找到处理它们的工具.
你现在想提一下你做过的另一个项目吗?
我真的很幸运能与一些奥斯卡获奖艺术家合作，比如亚历杭德罗·G. Inarritu. 观看和聆听这些艺术家是如此迷人. Alejandro was so detail-oriented; how he created everything was so impressive. 当我和他进行复试时，这是一个大约一个小时的工作会议. When you’re working with these big names, 你会焦虑地想，你是否足够好，或者你如何与别人相比……当他们付出自己的时候，真的很亲切.
And what’s next for you? You have all this stage work under your belt, 你刚刚提到和一位知名导演合作. What’s around the corner?
我还没有要做的项目，但是我最近做了一些事情. 的y haven't come out yet. I had a small role in 中国菜刘玉玲的独立电影将于今年年底上映.
I’m always looking ahead and getting more auditions.
We look forward to seeing what you tackle next. Working with Lucy Liu must have been a treat.
Yeah, she’s–she’s wonderful to work with. Very welcoming and gracious.
A pleasure chatting. Thanks for sharing such tender stories with me. 我们的读者也会很乐意深入研究它们.
Thank you, August. 你有一个伟大的“外观”-我可以看到你在很多东西.
I appreciate that. 干这行不总是容易的，所以听到这样的话我很高兴.
演员协会对恩典沈继续为澳门金沙棋牌游戏“包容性卓越工作小组”所做的工作表示感谢.” You can learn more about her at graceshen.com.