After captivating audiences as the glamorous Astrid in “Crazy Rich Asians,” Gemma Chan was sent quite a few scripts with dignified but unhappy wives.
She sensed trouble ahead.
“There’s a danger of being typecast,” she said. “But I’m still a work-in-progress pushing back on that. I want to do something different and show something different and tell a different story.”
Her new film, “The Actor,” directed by Duke Johnson, checked those boxes. Chan plays Edna, a costume designer in a factory town and the romantic interest of an amnesiac.
She had loved Johnson’s haunting animated movie “Anomalisa,” and she responded similarly when she read “The Actor.”
“Then I spoke to Duke about how he planned to shoot it, which was in quite a different way to anything that I’ve shot before,” she said. “Quite experimental, bringing elements that were quite theatrical and quite stylized.”
Chan has also wrapped “Josephine,” with Channing Tatum, about an 8-year-old who witnesses an assault. And she is producing her own work: an adaptation of the “Rise of the Empress” fantasy book series for Amazon Prime Video, and an unconventional history of Anna May Wong, considered to be the first Chinese American movie star.
“As an actor, you often come in quite late in the process and you are part of fulfilling someone else’s vision,” she said. “That’s been really exciting, getting to choose where I want to put my focus.”
In a video interview, Chan talked about becoming a cat lady, living on Mars and learning to play Schubert. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Dim Sum
Having dim sum with my family has been a ritual since my childhood. There are certain restaurants that we go to time and again in Chinatown in London. The food is so delicious and in my relatively limited Cantonese, I can order all my favorites. There’s often quite brisk service in these restaurants, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
London
When I’ve been away for a long time, I really miss it. I miss the slightly grim sense of humor that Londoners have. The winters are bleak, quite diabolical, but when spring comes, it’s a wonderful place to be.
My Cat, Mr. Kitty
I was always a dog person and I never understood the appeal of cats. Then my boyfriend was doing a job in Puglia a few years ago, and he was staying in this farmhouse and there were stray cats all around. And this little kitten with a stumpy tail and a gorgeous personality wandered into his room and basically moved in there. We ended up adopting him and bringing him, sadly, from the beautiful Italian countryside to a flat in London.
‘A City on Mars’ by Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith
They come at it from a slightly skeptical point of view of “Should we venture out into space? Should we settle the moon and Mars?” There’s a lot of humor in the book, and they make the point that if you go out of the Earth’s atmosphere, it’s so hostile to life. It’s made me appreciate so much that we are living in an Eden already.
Sunday Roast
It’s the classic British dinner or lunch. You have the potatoes, trimmings, the gravy, all of that is such comfort food and it’s such a lovely meal to share.
Proper Tea
I love what we call a builder’s tea. I use Yorkshire tea bags, which are very strong. You have to brew them properly and then not add too much milk. I feel like we drink tea with a real seriousness in the U.K., whether we’re celebrating, commiserating or just trying to start the day.
Arsenal Football Club
I’ve supported Arsenal for nearly all of my life, since I was 4. I try to go several times a year to Emirates Stadium. There’s often moments of crushing disappointment that you become very familiar with.
Schubert’s Impromptus, Recorded by Alfred Brendel
I shot “Josephine” last year in San Francisco, and the place where I was staying had a Steinway piano. I started playing again for the first time in a long time. I listen to Brendel’s recordings when I’m traveling or when I’m on the train or when I just need to clear my mind. I’d always wanted to try playing one of these pieces, so I’ve started learning No. 3.
‘In the Mood for Love’
The colors, the costumes. You’ve got heartbreaking performances from Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. Wong Kar-wai’s skill in telling this story that could have been quite melodramatic, but he does it with such restraint that it’s all the more moving.
Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’
I didn’t understand it as much when I first started listening to it in college. But as I get older, the lyrics to her songs resonate with me more deeply. Just these themes of love and loss that she speaks about through her music. I think “A Case of You” is one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
