Page 44 - MU VOL4 #3

GLASS HALF FIL

Isabelle Du
& Dennis Hour

Isabelle Du

ACTRESS WANTED, SUCCESS FOUND

Kwan’s book or not – were delighted by being first language was Vietnamese. It wasn’t until
represented in a big-screen blockbuster. It I started first grade that I was required to take
meant that there was a chance for the rest of us English as a Second Language (ESL) classes
beyond a bit part or mere stereotype. Clearly because of my very thick accent.”
it succeeded in dazzling others as well given
the film won Best Comedy of the 2019 Critics “I still remember gravitating towards my
Choice Awards, and garnered Constance Wu Vietnamese-American classmate who spoke
a Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy perfect English but didn’t speak Vietnamese.
or Musical nomination during the Golden I felt more comfortable talking to her in
Globes. Yet despite these accolades, inevitably Vietnamese, and I remember her being at the
naysayers found something to nitpick; “But are top of a yellow slide and before she slid down —
GLASS HALF FIL Asian cultures really like that?” “Isn’t the family she shouted at me to ‘SPEAK ENGLISH!’ I was
dynamic a bit over-the-top?” And my personal
only 6 but I remembered feeling so stunned by it.
By NAIIA LA JOIE favorite, which I was met-with in the midst of Here is a fellow Vietnamese American girl but
writing this article, “Why does it matter so much we had different cultural identities.” Perhaps it is
who plays what role? As an American Caucasian this upbringing of being raised between worlds
ike the awestruck crowd witnessing I can play a European or vice versa and it’s not a that made Isabelle the perfect candidate to be
their first-ever Lion Dance during big deal. It’s all make-believe.” cast in the role of Linh in the 2018 independent
the Lunar New Year, it is difficult not feature Actress Wanted.
be swept-up by the success of 2018’s Well. For those of us whose ethnic background
Lfilm rendition of Crazy Rich Asians. that “make-believe” is based on, much like Written and directed by Minh Duc Nguyen
Both are lavish, heavily ornamented, and inspire Constance Wu’s character Rachel Chu who (whose previous feature Touch won Best First
a cultural curiosity in onlookers. Above all else, it identifies with two cultures, we sometimes find Feature at the 2011 Santa Rosa International
seemingly sparked a reaction that rippled across ourselves stuck in a bizarre in-between – or Film Festival), Actress Wanted is a dark yet
the Asian and ethnic community of performers worse, ostracized by both. Such is the case with deceptively-delightful horror, whose white
– “FINALLY!” they sighed in unison. international actress, model, and host Isabelle knuckle-inducing tension-filled moments are
Du. Born and raised in Northern California interspersed with the charming chemistry
All of my Asian and half-Asian film industry to two Vietnamese immigrant parents, Isabelle between leads Long Nguyen and Thien Nguyen
friends – whether they had read Kevin elaborates on the trials of her early years: “My (who won Best Actor and Best Actress during the

42 manilaupmagazine.com