‘The Whale’ star Hong Chau says he’s no longer staying at home and doing nothing, but wants to make four movies: ‘It’s been a really crazy year for me’

Hong Chau stole the show as a fierce, one-legged Vietnamese activist in Alexander Payne’s star-studded 2017 social satire To reduce. Now with Darren Aronofsky The whale, she does it again: This time she plays Liz, a no-nonsense caregiver who helps reclusive 200-pound English professor Charlie (Brendan Fraser) manage his failing health as he struggles to reconnect with his estranged and mismatched teenage daughter (Sadie ) to choose. sink). ). As the story unfolds, the unexpected reasons for Liz’s devotion to Charlie are gradually revealed, and Chaus’ scene-stealing performance – subtle and heartbreaking – balances the pain of Liz’s loss with a poignant frustration at her own powerlessness.

DEADLINE: a movie like The whale is such a rarity these days because small-scale chamber music pieces no longer make it to the big screen.

HONG CHAU: You are absolutely right. It’s really rare to see a film with such a small, intimate cast. I think movies these days, maybe for financial reasons, seem to stretch a lot and put as many famous people as possible in one movie. So to have something The whale that kept the parameters of the original game, I’m just so glad they didn’t open it up to a bigger world and add 20 different additional characters.

Even after the Covid lockdown, the industry just got going again. to get something like that The whale This is so ambitious story-wise, with all these characters so rich, it really felt like a miracle. When my first job out of the industry picked up steam again, it was just amazing.

DEADLINE: With everyone having to take time off during lockdown, have you had to relearn how to approach acting?

BYE: I think a lot of actors would say that, they feel that every new job makes them feel like they don’t know how to act. And that was certainly true for me. I also had my first child then. I found out I was pregnant when lockdown happened. And so I was pregnant and had my baby and I was very happy about that because I felt like I wasn’t missing anything. And it was actually a really fun time for me even though there was so much craziness in the world.

I didn’t really plan to go back to work right away, even when the industry picked up again. I waited a long time to become a parent and I just really wanted to. But then I got the script for it The whale.

DEADLINE: Were you familiar with Samuel D. Hunter’s award-winning play of the same name?

BYE: Unfortunately, one of the things about living in LA is that you don’t keep up with what’s happening in the theater in New York. And so I didn’t know who Sam Hunter was or was familiar with the play, it just never came on my radar. I read it and just knew it took so much and I didn’t think I was in the right place in my life to deal with something like that. I knew how much work it would take and I just didn’t feel like I could pull it off.

The character in the play is not specifically written as Asian either. In the play, the character was played by a white actress. And even in the script of the adaptation, she was not Asian. So I just thought, ‘Well, I certainly won’t be. There are only so many other more famous people who could play it, really great actors who are more famous than me. So maybe this is just an exercise where they just do their due diligence and see everyone.

I felt like I never really had a chance. And I said to my agent, ‘Look, of course I love the script and I love Darren Aronofsky and I think he’s great, but I just don’t think it’s going to happen. So I’m not even going to try to throw my hat in the ring for that. I’m happy for anyone who gets it because I think it’s a great role, but I don’t think it’s safe for me now? This is Darren Aronofsky, and he’d love to see you.” And I thought, “Well, if he’s telling me specifically, it feels a little different.” Then I kind of freaked out, because the character has these long monologues , which I felt required a lot of preparation and I didn’t think I could do it right because I had this little baby with me.

DEADLINE: That must have been a very interesting audition.

BYE: We were quarantined in this tiny two-bedroom apartment in LA and it was just a tough time. It was so hard to just record an audition tape for Darren, but we did it. I ended up FaceTimeing Darren a few hours after he saw my audition, so it was amazing that it went so quickly.

DEADLINE: Was there a trial period during which everyone could get to know each other and familiarize themselves with the script?

BYE: We had a training period of three weeks, it’s such a luxury. Many film directors don’t like to rehearse because they feel they can lose the sense of spontaneity one gets without rehearsals. And with film, you’re always trying to capture that flash in a bottle.

But since it was based on a play, we really needed to plan in that practice time. And from the first reading of the table, I felt that all the actors were so engaging, so generous and so interested. in, not only her own character’s journey, but also that of the other characters in the story. I love it when actors say, “Oh, I really like the line your character is saying here.” And I definitely had that with Brendan, Sadie, Ty [Simpkins] and Samantha Morton, who zoomed in as much as possible from the UK.

DEADLINE: Liz is a conflicted character, what do you take away from her?

BYE: Liz is the best friend, but she’s definitely not the typical best friend you get. She has a lot of different qualities about her, being clearly a caretaker, but she’s also incredibly quick-witted and a little mean at times. Although these are different traits, I find this to be so true in real life for people who have very stressful jobs where they take care of other people and have so much responsibility and weight on their shoulders. You have to get rid of it somehow. It was finding those moments of lightness in a very heavy, serious atmosphere. And I really enjoy playing this type of character that has so many layers of complexity and dimension.

I fought when Liz wasn’t nice to Charlie. I mean have you met Brendan? He is immediately cute. I don’t know how you can talk to Brendan and not immediately hug him.

DEADLINE: With all the characters in and out of Charlie’s apartment, it’s really necessary to establish who you are as soon as we see them. What tools did you use to enter the room this way?

BYE: I came up with my own background for the character. Since she wasn’t written as Asian, they added the line that she was adopted after I was cast. So I had to find out what it would take to have Liz not only adopted, but live with this very oppressive family. I thought she had some really wild rebellious days when she was younger, so I requested tattoos for my character. You never see her on camera, but it was really just for me. Judy Chin, our makeup artist, puts these tattoos on my arms and neck every day. And it just felt so special because it was really just for me, and it helped me a lot in terms of how I feel about the character. Just tapping into that darkness, her sense of desperation and loneliness that she felt too. While Liz is taking care of Charlie, I don’t think she’s doing a good job either. She works a lot and stays busy, and that’s how she deals with the things that happen in her life. So she doesn’t really care about her appearance. And you can see it in the film.

DEADLINE: Did your performance in that headspace allow for spontaneous moments, or did you have to stick strictly to the script?

BYE: There was one scene in particular where Charlie almost choked to death and I remember being so mad at him that I hit him. Afterwards, Darren said: “I don’t think that’s where we want to go.” And we talked about it, and I explained where I was coming from and how I thought it would apply to this relationship. And after talking to his team and medical advisors about the sensitivity of this group of people, we found that it is quite common among healthcare providers who are unusually close to their patients. So I’m glad it’s still in the movie.

DEADLINE: The film also shows her wicked sense of humor, which emerges unexpectedly.

BYE: Liz always tries to say something funny and Charlie pranks. I think throughout their relationship there is a sense of covering up certain things and trying to put better wrapping paper over them, even when the situation is very grim.

DEADLINE: Speaking of humor, you do a complete 180-degree turn in your other film The menu in which you play Elsa, a fearsome Maître d’. It’s great to see you play such completely different roles this season.

BYE: There wasn’t much on the page related to Elsa The menubut I have to have a creative back and forth with it [director] Mark Mylod and we developed Elsa’s tone on screen. It was a gamble, but I’m just happy with how it turned out.

To be honest, I was really blown away by the amazing directors and material I got to work on. I really didn’t expect to work after having a baby. And then in 2021, from a woman who just wanted to stay at home and do nothing, I did four films that year.

In January I left to do The whale in New York, and while I was filming in New York, I got an offer to do Kelly Reichardts to show yourself in Portland. When I was shooting in Portland, I got the offer The menu in savannah. And when I was in Savannah, I had to leave to go to Spain to do Wes Andersons asteroid cityand then come back to it The menu. It wasn’t all planned. They just magically appeared, so it’s been a really crazy year for me.