Nearly five decades into her career, Joan Chen is getting another chance at a Hollywood comeback — but this isn’t the first time the acclaimed actress has tasted success.
Her introduction came when she was the 18-year-old star of the 1979 Chinese film “Little Flower,” for which she won China’s most prestigious acting award. Eight years later, she experienced fame on a global scale with Bernardo Bertolucci’s celebrated historical drama, “The Last Emperor,” which took home nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Now, at 63, Chen is receiving renewed attention for her achingly nuanced portrayal of Chungsing, an immigrant Taiwanese mother who gives up her artistic dreams to raise her less-than-grateful American teenage children in Sean Wang’s feature directorial debut, “Dìdi.”
“Life is mysterious, isn’t it?” Chen said of the recent kudos coming her way. “Sometimes we try to put it into some kind of a framing to understand it, but I don’t think there is any logic to it. You just lean into the mystery, and it happens to be at this time of my life.”
The Shanghai-born actress came to the U.S. in the early 1980s to study film, eventually putting together a lengthy résumé that includes a varied mix of television and film projects, from David Lynch’s 1990s “Twin Peaks” series to Alice Wu’s 2004 queer rom-com “Saving Face” to Ang Lee’s 2007 erotic espionage thriller “Lust, Caution.”
It wasn’t easy in the beginning, though.
“Culturally, people who looked like me just weren’t cast in movies or anything meaningful,” Chen said. “But things slowly changed, and in the past few years, we’ve made great strides. As a result, more films such as ‘Dìdi’ are now being made.”
“A sweet letter” that Wang wrote to Chen about his vision for the film convinced her to give the young filmmaker a shot. “When I began to read the script, I was very much attracted [to it],” she said. She then gave it to her two daughters, both in their 20s, for their unfiltered opinions. “They’re usually very critical, and they both loved it. So I know that this is right, that my own judgment is affirmed.”
In the semi-autobiographical tale based on Wang’s Northern California upbringing in the early aughts, Chen’s maternal character is inspired by the director’s own mother, with whom he has a loving yet fraught relationship. (Chen came to know Wang’s mom “very well,” studying her mannerisms and vocal intonations to aid in her performance.)
There are obvious similarities between Chen and Chungsing — both are immigrant mothers raising two American-born children, though Chen insisted, “We’re two very different people.” As Chungsing, Chen brings a level of subtlety, elegance and grace to the part of a slightly disregarded mother struggling to understand her rebellious son while navigating her own conflicting feelings about identity, self-worth and generational and cultural misunderstandings. She’s at times loving and supportive of her children but also quietly demanding.
“I haven’t seen real Asian mothers that I know being authentic on screen,” Chen said. “It doesn’t have to be exotic or accepted Asian [stereotypes] like tiger moms or strict matriarchs. [Chungsing] is just so real and warm and empathetic and artistic. I loved that part of her — that she’s got an artistic aspiration and also a dashed dream that I understand very well.
“I haven’t portrayed that side of my life previously, and this became an opportunity,” she added, “and it comes so naturally from me. It’s a very subtle performance but I feel it’s quite full.”
Chen felt that each one of her scenes in “Dìdi” unearthed a new facet of the character that informed the larger whole. But the bedroom monologue that comes near the end of the movie, when Chungsing heartbreakingly questions how she ended up living such an ordinary life, is her most cherished scene. “That really completed the character,” she said. “I treasured the smallest of the small moments — every one of them.”
The accolades and glowing reviews she’s received for her work in “Dìdi,” including an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best supporting performance, are some of the best notices she’s gotten in her storied career. Chen admitted it’s all been “unexpected.”
“It’s a nice pat on the shoulder, but if the recognition leads to opportunities for self-expression, then yes, it is very important,” said Chen, who next stars in Andrew Ahn’s remake of “The Wedding Banquet” and a Christmas movie directed by Michael Showalter.
“Sometimes I have imposter syndrome when I hear praise, always trying extremely hard to do my best to be worthy. So at this time, I’m energized by this moment.”
This story first appeared in the Awards Preview issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. Read more from the Awards Preview issue here.
