好莱坞的中国人分享他们的故事

It's been a long, hard road for Chinese people in Hollywood, as they have striven to build  meaningful careers behind and in front of the camera. From the silent film era to the present,  the history of Chinese in Hollywood spans about a century. In this next story, our Hollywood  reporter focuses on the contributions of Chinese and Chinese-Americans to today’s film and  television industries.

Hollywood has long-untold stories behind the Chinese faces that have graced the creative  industry both behind the scenes and on the silver screen.

Bright lights, big stars, and even bigger dreams. Along with high stakes and uNPRedictable  risks, Hollywood is not for the faint of heart. However, a number of pioneers are paving the way  both in front of the camera and behind the camera for Chinese and Chinese Americans in the  entertainment industry. With courage, spirit, and enthusiasm, they are passionate about telling  stories for global audiences. And now they’re ready to share their own stories."

Hollywood has long exerted an international influence on the global imagination. Chinese and  Chinese-American actors who aspired to a career in Hollywood found their opportunities limited  to roles that propagated Asian stereotypes. 87-year-old Lisa Lu revealed there’s been gradual  changes in Hollywood.

"When I first came in the 50’s, the late 50’s, there were no roles for Asian people. I used to  tell them Chinese don’t act this way – Chinese act this way, but no one pays me any attention.  Now I think they respect Chinese people especially the actors and actresses are so well trained  and the directors are so knowledgeable," said Lisa Lu, an actress.

Another actress, who didn’t have to fight the ugly stereotypes of yesterday’s Hollywood, Chloe  Bennet star of Marvels Agents of SHIELD, has benefited from pioneers like Lisa Lu.

"What I appreciate about them and their casting process is they had these characters and it wasn ’t about race and it really wasn’t about what the person looked like. It was really about who  the person was as a character and if they fit the mold to the character no matter what ethnicity  and that how me and Ming-na, two Chinese-American women, ended up as two leads on a show which I  don’t think has ever been done before," said Chloe Bennet, an actress.

From on-camera talents to behind the camera, American story telling often portray the Chinese as  exotic and devious characters reflecting the entertainment industry’s inherent racial  prejudices as well as its fascination with the Far East. Comedy writer Jessica Gao, who  immigrated from China, feels it is her duty to watch for any stereotypes whenever there is a  Chinese character in a script.

"Hi, Jessica, thank you so much for joining us today. Now how did your Chinese heritage  influenced you in being able to shape those stories out here? How has it helped you," asked Sanyee Yuan, the reporter.

"For all the projects I have worked on, whether it’s Star Wars Detours or Robot Chicken or  anything, for me it’s just about that being Chinese makes me very protective anytime on any  show there’s any sort of Asian character because I don’t want the character to fall into a  stereotype or some sort of cliché. I don’t want them to make any type of cheap jokes at my  cultural expense. You know," said Gao.

Working behind the scenes, stunt director Andy Cheng came to Hollywood with Jackie Chan; and for  him, making it in Hollywood as a Chinese Kung Fu master has been about working with mutual  respect.

"So with all these major movies like Twilight that cater to global audiences, how are you able  to have the stunts that are required for Hollywood," asked Yuan.

"They learn from us, you know? Like wireworks and how we do fighting. (They learned) the tempo,  the timing, the rhythm. What I learned (from them) to bring back to China is what I was learning  from them, like they ask me “why you do this”, “why you wire it”, “why that guy is flying? ” So they will question me a lot. And I have to find a reason, a logic and storytelling to tell  them for them to understand how to do that," said Andy Cheng, a stunt director.

Learning from different cultures, Chinese faces are now able to tell their stories – adding  Chinese elements in their work. Dan Lin, who is a producer of such hits as The Lego Movie and  Sherlock Holmes, touts that his position allows him to include the Chinese perspective.

"We’re talking about how your cultural background plays into the story telling and really  colors your perspective out here. How have you experienced that in the productions you’ve made?  How has the Chinese heritage come out," asked Yuan.

"You can see the influences in lots of different ways. For the next Lego Movie, we are making  Lego Ninjago. So we are making a martial arts movie built out of Lego. And we are about to  announce the star of that movie very soon. You will see it will be a huge Asian star, the  biggest martial art star in the world. Hint. Hint. He will be also doing the action choreography  for the movie. So that’s gonna be the first time you’ve ever seen action choreography for a  Lego Movie. And I take it very seriously that my next goal is to kind of bridge the gap between  Asia and the US and specifically in China. We’re trying to figure out how do we bring western  story telling techniques to China and at the same time bring great Chinese stories and Chinese  myths and be able to tell them and share them with the rest of the Western world. That’s the  next frontier, in my opinion," Lin said.

As China and America become intertwined in the movie and television industry, more and more  creative people from both countries will want to share their talents. Wei Zheng, the creative  director at Artemple, who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy and has worked on the Academy  Award winning movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and the soon to be released Gone Girl,  has some advice for the Chinese younger generation wanting to break into Hollywood.

"There are so many movies made in the United States but having a big box office resulting in  China, so everything went back and forth. So you possess two sets of skills, traditional skills,  which is harder to find in the States. If you possess that and at the same time play with the  computer, and also gradually connect the two parts. So when opportunity comes you can grab it  and take advantage of the opportunity and you can shine. You can be a star," said Wei.

Looking forward from the long way that they’ve come themselves, it’s clear that these stars  will continue to shed insight and shine light onto the path for future aspiring performers and  storytellers.