Images: © 1986-2022 disney / pixar
Photographer: Brian Lee
T-ONO: Since Crunchyroll Expo is your very first anime convention, what is your overall impression of what you have seen so far?
Rosalie Chiang: I think what I love most about Crunchyroll Expo is seeing just how big anime is here and seeing everyone have a common interest. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and cultures and here we can all sort of bind together as anime fans whether we like the same anime or not. We can appreciate everyone's interest, seeing people cosplay as your favorite character and many more. You can really appreciate the work people put into these events. I also love exploring the exhibit hall, with all the different booths and so many amazing figures and fan art. It's exciting seeing all the new things coming out. It's definitely an anime fan's dream.
T-ONO: Crunchyroll is heavily promoting the Vtuber agency hololive. Are you familiar with them?
RC: Yes, I do know about Vtubers. However, I actually haven’t watched a lot since I have a very busy schedule.
T-ONO: Did you get to attend any panels during your time at Crunchyroll Expo and were there any memorable moments?
RC: Yes I did. I was able to attend The Art of Japanese Vegetable Carving with Chef Okitsugu Kado. He was an incredible artist and an incredibly charming guy. He carved the Colossal Titan out of a carrot. It doesn’t get better than that!
I also attended the Jujutsu Kaisen English Dub Panel. Additionally, I was featured in a panel with the voice actor Kaiji Tang. You may know him as the character Satoru Gojo. And of course, I did my own panel, The Rising of API representation in Anime. It was a very cool experience and I hope to see more.
T-ONO: Since you are a fan of Jujutsu Kaisen, are you excited for season 2?
RC: Oh for sure! I actually have not finished season 1 yet, but I just want more and more and more!
T-ONO: Regarding your panel on representation, what is your opinion on the Asian and Asian Pacific Islander (AAPI) representation in media, such as anime and movies? How has that changed since you started working and are there any new changes you would like to see going forward?
RC: There was less representation when I was younger. I feel like the entertainment business is not a typical route that Asian people go through. Typically, Asians will get a regular job with a stable income, and the entertainment industry is everything but that. There is definitely an increase in [Asian] people joining the acting business, and Domee Shi is the first Asian director at Pixar. She made the first Asian lead Pixar film Turning Red, and it's great to see more people giving other AAPI creators a chance to tell their own stories. We have a lot to offer, including the culture behind everything we do.
I think a lot of Hollywood studios are trying to include AAPI representation; however, it feels like they don’t want to cast full Asians. When a character who was clearly meant to be a full Asian, they end up casting a half Asian.
T-ONO: We heard that for your audition for the movie Turning Red, you recorded it on your mom's iPhone 6. Can you describe how that experience was and if you could go back to that moment what advice would you give yourself if any?
RC: I still remember that night like it was yesterday. I was in Los Angeles for an acting camp and the audition was for something in San Francisco. For some reason, I was assigned homework to draw the bedroom of my character and I also had this audition. At the time I wasn’t into audio editing, so I had to do the entire monologue, which is a solid one-and-a-half-page monologue of Mei being super angry.
At the time of the audition, I believe her name was Kei, as they did not want to reveal any details about the character yet. I was really exasperated by it because it was super exhausting. I had to do it all in one take, which is incredibly hard compared to being able to edit the right lines in the right places. If I miss one little word, I have to do the entire thing again. I did it until 1 AM in the morning and I still had not finished my acting homework.
At the time, I told my mom that maybe I should just not do this because this is way too hard and I can't do it. Maybe I should just forget about it. My mom said, “Oh just do it, it’s fine. If it’s not perfect, it’s not perfect. What can you do about it?” Finally, I was able to finish my acting homework, and I just forgot about it. It was a crazy night.
T-ONO: What kind of research did you do for your character, Mei Lee? Were you able to learn anything about your character before recording such as backstory or any important details?
RC: I didn’t get a chance to do any sort of research because I got the scripts on the day of recording. I would walk into the booth and the scripts would already be there, so I knew nothing about my character; however, Domee Shii (the director) and Julia Cho, the writer for Turning Red, gave me a lot of insight into the scenes to help me understand because we shot them out of order. I did not know what was going on and the story evolved over the 4 years I was recording. Domee and Julia helped me out a lot during production.
T-ONO: We heard in a previous interview you mentioned that there was a scene from Turning Red in which they cut a line from the movie. Can you tell us a little more about that?
RC: Ooh! There were a lot of scenes that didn’t make it to the final movie because they differed completely from the story. In an older script, Mei had a cousin who could also turn into a red panda, and that was the first plot line I recorded. It is exciting to see how different Turning Red is now, compared to how it was then. It’s been really interesting to see the long journey Pixar takes with its movies.
T-ONO: Since you share a common interest with the character Mei Lee who is a K-pop fan, could you tell us who your favorite K-pop group is and who is your bias?
RC: I have so many groups on my mind! I am more of a girl group stan (an ardent fan) with some of my favorites being Twice, Red Velvet, Black Pink, Stacy, and Dreamcatcher, and then for boy groups BTS, Seventeen, NCT, and EXO. I could go on and on about this. That’s going to be the entire interview right now, just me listing K-pop groups!
My bias is Seulgi from Red Velvet. She’s an incredible dancer!
T-ONO: Have you ever attended K-Pop events like KCON?
RC: I have not been to KCON before; however, I attended my first concert ever, and that was for (G)I-dle. I went there with my squad just like Mei did with hers, and it was the most thrilling experience of my life.
T-ONO: Since there are currently so many Pixar and Disney movies out right now, were you able to watch any of them growing up as a kid, and any, in particular, that may have inspired you to start voice acting?
RC: I owe it all to my dad who is a big film buff. He showed me all the Disney classics and the Pixar classics. I also watched all the Disney princess movies, of course. The one movie that stands out to me is Lilo & Stitch. The character Lilo is also an API. Her relationship with Stitch is such an interesting thing because they're so different but Lilo accepts Stich before she knew he was an alien. She just accepted him as her best friend.
T-ONO: Lastly, could we get a closing statement from you to our fans and readers around the world who could not be at Crunchyroll Expo?
RC: To all The-O Network fans, watch Turning Red of course. It is such an interesting film because anyone can take away something from it. The movie combines all these different genres. It has fantasy, action, and comedy, and it has the relationship between a mother and daughter from a Chinese perspective that you don’t often see now in Hollywood. Give it a watch and you will love it.
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