Actress / Stuntwoman
- FROM ACTRESS TO STUNTWOMAN AND BACK AGAIN
Growing up, it was my Aunt Lilia, my father's sister, (also known by her stage name Lona Nai), that inspired my love of the arts. She was a struggling Asian American actress in Hollywood during the 60's and 70's who worked occasionally on television and stage. To survive, she taught drama and I was one of her earliest pupils. She would later guide me to study with Broadway casting director, Michael Shurtleff who discovered Dustin Hoffman for The GRADUATE. He also wrote "How to Audition", a book I still refer to years later as both an actor and filmmaker.
Graduating out of high school, I found a gig working as a regular background actress on the hit T.V series "Moonlighting" with Cybil Shepard and a newcomer at that time, Bruce Willis. After earning my SAG card on the show, I hit the "auditioning" pavement but found that work for my "type" was limited--I was considered an "actress of color" and years ago, T.V shows didn't quite have the incentive to hire cast members of other ethnic backgrounds. It was frustrating. I actually left the 'biz" for a while.
It was a fluke how I came back into the Hollywood world--and martial arts would be the key. My fiancé (now husband) Ron Balicki was rehearsing with Temura Morrison for a fight scene and needed my assistance to play the "role" of the other Guard (which hadn't been cast) on the set of a film called BARBWIRE. Little did I know that the producers and director were watching me at a distance, and decided to change the male guard to a "female" guard and cast me. That day changed my life. I would work as a stunt actress--and it allowed me to be a working member of the SAG union.
After that show, I was asked to fight double for Sarah Michelle Gellar
on a presentation piece for a proposed T.V show, called "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". with director Joss Whedon. After 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers "green lighted" the series, I worked for 5 more episodes of BVS. By some shift of fate, I ended up working as a re-occuring stunt double for guest stars on another popular show "Walker Texas Ranger". I loved working with Chuck and his son Eric Norris and the rest of WTR clan.
But, even with a very good life and children and a husband and all that, there is still something about the "process" when you're an actor that you love. In between projects, I became involved with two theater companies as an actress and fight choreographer--Lodestone Theater Ensemble and East West Players. There I was able to return to what I loved most--acting. By being involved with these theater groups I started to nurture my skills once again as an actress. Years later, I turned down working on Spiderman as a stuntwoman (very hard decision) to have a chance to be cast as the "phobic" web geek, Ash, in the independent film called "The Prodigy" with director Will Kaufmann. This was a turning point for me to return to acting.
Today, Webisodes are becoming the new force of entertainment. I just worked on God Rewards the Fearless, with cult classic director, Phil Cruz, and I am looking at several other projects. I would love to do a comedy. I can't find the scripts; they are few and far between. This is where I like the philosophy of Directing Actors , Ed Burns and Ben Affleck, even my Honorary Uncle, The late Bruce Lee. Sometimes you have to create your own projects to showcase you. That's why I ended up doing "The SENSEI" and that's why I am continuing to develop over projects as the line between actor and filmmaker can be very thin. Definitely, I have some things stirring in the pot.