Celebrity News November 22, 2024
Joan Chen Reacts to Oscar Buzz for ‘Didi’ (Exclusive)
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Actress Joan Chen is getting major praise for her work on “Didi.”
“Extra’s” Adam Weissler spoke with Joan, who plays an immigrant mom raising several kids in America in the film, directed by Sean Wang.
The acclaim that Joan is receiving from her role in the film “came as a surprise” to her. She explained, “I love the character. It’s a tiny little film that was made in Sean’s backyard, as well as Sean’s mom’s friend’s backyard. Those were the two houses we worked in. The crew was very young, energetic but very lean. I knew we were making something good, but tiny little films, I would not know where it would go… When it actually won Sundance, it was actually a surprise. It was a happy surprise, and then Focus Features picked it up and the reviews came back to be so good. These were all happy surprises — I did not expect that.”
Joan has been on red carpets promoting the film, but said she was “out of practice” for some time. She said, “I live in the Bay Area, I don’t live in Los Angeles. This film has brought me back to Los Angeles so many times… I would go back to see my parents in Shanghai a lot more often than I would come to L.A.”
Chen called it a “great” thing to be back in Los Angeles, where she lived after moving to America. She said, “It brought back a lot of memories of when I was younger.”
Despite all the accolades, Joan stressed that the “creative process” is what brings her the most joy. She elaborated, “When you nail a good scene, that was the true happiness. You feel so gratified.”
She emphasized, “Hopefully, the red carpets will bring me that kind of joy.”
As for a possible Oscar nomination, Joan noted that she doesn’t want to think much about it, saying, “It’s out of my control.”
“I live my life. I think that is the one thing that is most important right now, is life itself, in a time of uncertainty, of conflict, of division,” Joan commented. “You focus on the things that you could touch, the people you could love and the parts that you could live well and enjoy.”
While “Didi” is a “culturally specific” film, Chen believes it conjures up “universal feelings.”
“It is about coming of age, an awkward teenager trying to fit in,” Joan elaborated. “America is made of this myriad of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. That, to me, is the most beautiful thing about America, that we have all these different people… It is a country of immigrants, but the shared humanity is all the more important… We share so much more than we are different.”
