00:03I think that I face some personal resistance to identifying fully with my
00:07Asian identity because I am very racially ambiguous. Because of that people assume
00:12that you are a different type of person that they're targeting but no one's
00:16really looking at or thinking about who those different people are. My journey
00:20with the different social climate is very different from someone else's and
00:23sometimes it's not because of who I am it's because of who people perceive that I am.
00:28I feel like I faced resistance from both sides because non-Asians always
00:34attributed everything I was doing to being too Asian whereas Asians always
00:39questioned whether I was Chinese. I don't think of myself as being solely defined as
00:45Asian and so I'm able to participate on a variety of dimensions. I feel like my
00:50story is quite layered. I'm half Chinese but I have a British accent so I feel like
00:54I'm kind of a mirror of this culture clash and I actually love that.
00:59You know I didn't face resistance as much as just a lack of opportunities to express my
01:04individuality. To proclaim that I was Chinese beyond just what I looked like.
01:09I think that what I would like to see is more Asian actors just being a part of
01:13like everyday life that doesn't necessarily have to do with the fact that they're super Asian.
01:18I feel like we're asked to tell the same story over and over again. That is easier to digest.
01:23They want to hear the story of why I do or don't wear a hijab. They want to hear the
01:27story of whether I had an arranged marriage or not and that's not my experience.
01:32I feel like there's a lot of nuances that still need to be unpackaged. Instead of just one character
01:38on a show I'd love to see a family. No one does it like Asians when it comes to getting
01:44together
01:44and having a really good time. The thing that makes me most proud of being Japanese American
01:48is the way we approach food and hospitality. It brings me a lot of joy to see how far my
01:54mother has come from her life in Malaysia to build her life in America and have such a beautiful and
02:01wonderful family. The thing that brings me the most joy about my culture are my family
02:05and the values that they've instilled in me. The respect for other people around you
02:11and an emphasis on hard work.
