00:00So, you play Astrid. What would you say is your favourite thing about that character?
00:04Well, Astrid's, you know, she was my favourite character when I read the books.
00:08And, you know, what I love about her is that she does have this incredibly glamorous facade.
00:14She's got an amazing wardrobe.
00:16You know, the most interesting thing about her is that there's so much going on beneath the surface.
00:20You know, everyone thinks she has this perfect life, this perfect marriage, you know, perfect family.
00:25But really, you know, she's struggling to hold it all together and she's crumbling.
00:29So, yeah, it was really great to get under her skin and to find the emotional truth of the journey
00:36that she's on in the movie.
00:38And, yeah, her wardrobe is pretty great too.
00:41Insane.
00:41I know, yeah, yeah, that was fun.
00:44What's your kind of, like, attitude to spending money, the glitz, the glam, the Gucci that she hides around the
00:49house?
00:50Are you quite spendy or are you a bit more refined or do you have moments?
00:54You know, I buy the occasional investment piece, like a kind of, you know, present for me.
00:59And then, no, I like to mix it up.
01:02It doesn't always have to be the most expensive stuff.
01:03I love mixing up High Street and, you know, vintage vines and, yeah.
01:09I mean, I don't have, yeah, I don't quite have Astra's budget.
01:12I mean, who does? I mean, God, you can't even imagine.
01:14And so if your real-life Gemma life was part of the Crazy Rich Asians narrative, who do you think
01:21you'd get on with best out of the characters?
01:24Mmm, I think I'd get on pretty well with most of them, actually.
01:28Oliver.
01:28Yeah.
01:29Would be good fun.
01:30Pick Lynn and her family.
01:32Do you think you relate to Astrid in any sort of way?
01:35Was there anything that kind of really drew you to her in particular?
01:38Yeah, I think she's a woman that is trying to juggle a lot of things and I think a lot
01:43of women can relate to that.
01:45I think she's slightly hiding her light at the beginning of the film and by the end she asserts herself.
01:51Yeah, I definitely identify with a woman who's got a lot going on underneath, yeah.
01:57As I'm sure we all do, especially Generation Instagram.
02:00Exactly.
02:01We're all pretending everything's totally fine.
02:03Yeah, we're fine, fine.
02:04We've done it together.
02:04Going home, you know, having, yeah.
02:05No, I'm not.
02:06Yeah, exactly.
02:07And obviously representation is a huge part of the conversation around this film.
02:12And did that put any pressure on the end result because, you know, it's really celebrated as a huge force
02:18of, like, incredible Asian talent.
02:21But did that put any pressure on you guys in terms of how you thought it was going to be
02:24received?
02:25Well, I think, well, I certainly felt that the film could be something special when we were making it.
02:31And I kind of thought that from when I first read the books, that it could be a brilliant film.
02:35But, you know, you just you just don't know.
02:37You don't know how people are going to receive it.
02:39You hope that it's all going to come together.
02:41And, you know, and it is it does feel significant and it is a milestone in terms of representation.
02:46But it, you know, ultimately had to be a good movie for it to work.
02:49So I'm really relieved.
02:51I'm really, you know, happy and grateful that it's turned out to, you know, the way it has.
02:55And it's a credit to everyone who worked on the film, you know.
02:58Yeah.
02:58And I think what's nice is it's a really, really fun film.
03:01Like that's the core of it.
03:03It's a fun film.
03:03And it just so happens to have this great cast of people who are all from a minority that aren't
03:08often represented in a big blockbuster films.
03:11Yeah.
03:13From your perspective, because you've been working in the street for a while now, how do you think UK entertainment
03:17does for representation?
03:19Because one of the things that really sticks out to me often with a lot of the films that have
03:23come out is the big Hollywood ones.
03:26And still, like, it'd be nice to have more.
03:29But I don't know how you feel about how the UK is doing with representation.
03:33I think things have definitely improved.
03:36I think we've probably still got some way to go.
03:38I feel like British TV has got better than it was.
03:40You know, I've been working now for 10 years.
03:44And I do think things have shifted from there.
03:46And even from like five years ago, I wouldn't have imagined that this film would have been made.
03:50And what do you think it will take for it to just become normal?
03:53Not, oh, here's a great film with a really diverse cast.
03:55What do you think is going to need change for it to just become talented?
03:59Well, hopefully, I think, you know, eventually it will just be accepted as the norm.
04:03And, you know, we won't be making as big of a deal about it.
04:06I hope so. Fingers crossed.
04:07Fingers crossed.
04:08Yeah.
