BREAKS THROUGH
Downsizing, she said in her real cadence, a slight Southern twang that hints at her Louisiana upbringing.
“I didn’t want the accent to be the thing people take away most from this movie,” she continued as she dug into a dessert at a restaurant here. “I wanted them to really see this woman. I wanted them to feel her heartbeat.”
Many reviewers see it her way. Writing for New York magazine, Emily Yoshida called Chau’s performance “easily the most interesting and vibrant of the entire cast’s”, while Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter was more direct, describing her as “sensational”.
Plaudits indicate Chau is a good bet for an Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.
“Every director will see how incredible she is in Downsizing and will be falling all over themselves to try and work with her,” the film’s star, Matt Damon, said by phone, but he acknowledged the historical lack of inclusivity for Asian-American actors in Hollywood.
“The question is, will there be a better buffet of roles for her to choose from? Because she deserves it.”
The director of Downsizing, Alexander Payne, who wrote the script with Jim Taylor, agreed, citing Chau’s ability to convey deep emotions despite her clipped dialogue.
“I think Hong Chau is Vietnamese for ‘scene stealer’,” Payne joked in a phone interview.
“I’m a big fan of Akira Kurosawa, and he said Toshiro Mifune could communicate more in one gesture than other actors could communicate in three. Hong is like that with words.”
Chau has come a long way from the refugee camp in Thailand where she was born after her parents fled Vietnam by boat in 1979.
Her Downsizing turn is an homage to them. Still, “she’s not doing an impression”, Damon said. “This is something that’s deep within her.”
Had she not been
Matt Damon cast as one half of a faltering couple in John, a 2015 off-Broadway play by Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Baker, Chau doubted she could have handled the sizeable part in Payne’s film.
The play “was 3½ hours long, with two intermissions, and it had only four characters, so there was a lot to do,” she said.
“It was my first time having a meaty role. Because of that play, I was not nervous before Downsizing. I was ready. It came at the right time in my life.”
Chau majored in film studies at Boston University. She wanted to make documentaries, but pursued acting after classmates praised her performances in their projects.
She has yet to choose her next role after Downsizing, but she knows the kind of movie she wants to make.
“I hope it will be an interesting story with a good director who’s passionate and has been trying to get something off the ground for years that nobody wants to work on,” she said. “Certain things need a little bit more love than others.” NYT Heather MenziesUrich as Louisa von Trapp in ‘The Sound of Music’
Trapp played by Canadian actor Christopher Plummer, who starred with English actress Julie Andrews.
Menzies-Urich’s son, Ryan Urich, said she was diagnosed with brain cancer and died on Christmas Eve surrounded by family, according to celebrity website TMZ, as well as Variety’s website.
Menzies-Urich was born in Toronto, Canada. Her husband, Robert Urich, died from cancer in 2002. He was a United States television star who shot to fame in the 1970s through his series, Vegas and Spenser: For Hire.
After his death, she founded the Robert Urich Foundation to support cancer research and patient care.
The Sound of Music opened on Broadway in 1959 and was made into a movie in 1965 with memorable hit songs, including My Favourite Things, Edelweiss and the title track. AFP