In 2005, Memorial Day Weekend, Saving Face came out. It was the first — and pretty much only — feature I’ve starred in that has been released nationwide in movie theaters. It’s also the last one I acted on actual film for — I can’t believe I haven’t heard “Check the gate!” in over two decades!
These were the earliest days of social media, and we did most of our promotion in person: begging friends to tell others, asking local bodegas to hang up our posters… and the only way I knew that people were actually watching the movie was by tracking the per-screen-average on boxofficemojo.com. At the time, I was disappointed that our numbers were so far behind the big studio summer movies released on the same day, like Madagascar and The Longest Yard.
But in the last two decades Saving Face has really grown into something much better than just a movie with box office success. It’s been nominated for/won a bunch of awards (including The Golden Horse). The film still lands on “Best Of” lists — the LA Times says it’s Asian-American film canon! To this day, it continues to play at special screenings all over the world (it’ll be at The Smithsonian Asian Art Museum on June 1st).
And it’s going to be a Criterion DVD this August!!! Yes, I pre-ordered it already (they’re having a 30% off sale on all discs through May 26th).
I have done many interviews about its legacy and I’ve spoken with so many people about how much the film impacted their lives — giving them the courage to come out to their families, and shining a light on the lives of Asian-Americans, during a time when there was little representation.
The other unexpected blessing from Saving Face is how I’m forever bonded to my co-star Michelle Krusiec and our director Alice Wu.
We all went through something so special those years, from filming, to festivals, to promoting, and all the reunions we’ve been lucky to attend with loving audiences — both old fans and new.
I get very excited each time I spot someone from the cast in a TV series or movie. Recently I’ve seen Ato Essandoh (“Jay”) on The Diplomat, Hoon Lee (“Raymond”) on Your Friends and Neighbors, and Joan Chen (“Ma”) in The Wedding Banquet (the new one). I recently started listening to the book I Am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki and was delighted to discover it’s narrated by David Shih (“Norman” aka “my cousin”).
I’ve even gotten to act in other projects with some of them! I did two seasons of the webseries Nice Girls Crew with Michelle Krusiec, and Brian Yang has played my husband in several projects. This picture is of us is from 2020, on the very COVID-safe set of a Disney+ short, The Little Prince(ss).
Today I’m remembering the person I was 20 years ago — someone who was so very hungry — literally! This was when my eating disorder was at its worst, but also a time when my ambition to launch my acting career made me extra hard on myself. I found it challenging to celebrate myself back then. So I want to give myself some love and compassion now. I didn’t know in 2005 that I was given such a unique and special gift from the show business Gods. I feel incredibly lucky, especially as I watch the entertainment industry shift/change in scary ways.
Here’s some more pictures from the NYC premiere…
Getting interviewed by NY1’s George Whipple is still a career highlight. I rambled. A lot. Most of it didn’t make it into the spot, I’m sure my sound bites were unusable. I know, trying not to be hard on myself still… but can you spot the exact moment where I think: “Oh no, I don’t know what I’m talking about so I’m just going to say whatever pops into my head…”
Some after-party photos. I met Daniel Dae Kim that night and he gave me advice to move to Los Angeles (which I took to heart — that very same year)!
And finally, I think it’s time to share some hair/makeup/costume secrets from the film.
The high ponytail I sport throughout the film was achieved by using a small claw clip right under the hair tie, giving it maximum lift. The makeup artist used an individual lash curler on me every single time — it took forever and nobody else has done that since — but it really worked well on my stick-straight lashes.
I basically wore only 3 pairs of pants the entire movie. The main one were a pair of Adriano Goldschmied jeans that fit so well I went and bought 2 pairs right after we wrapped — more money than I had ever spent on clothing before. I wish I still had them!
Thank you to everyone who has supported the film and expressed how much it means to you. It means everything to me, too.
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