Actor’s epic path from Kirwan to LA
I hope young audiences feel like they’re experiencing these adventures with me
SHE’S gone from being a shy Townsville student to a LAbased actor and influencer, and Shuang Hu credits her old Kirwan Primary School performing arts teacher for setting her on her path.
Hu, star of the new big screen documentary Beyond The Reef, auditioned for the school’s Rock Pop Mime competition in Year 7 after initially going along to support her best friend.
She ended up landing the main role after the teacher said she saw “something in her eyes”.
“I auditioned every year,
but I never got in because I was really shy,” she said. “(The teacher) said the reason she cast me was she saw something in my eyes that made her really believe in me, and it was a spark of curiosity for me.
“That was the first instance where I remember I loved acting and performing and making people laugh.
Hu, who has previously starred in SBS’S TV series ‘The Family Law’ and in Comedy Central’s Ronny Chieng: International Student, has more than four million followers on Youtube and Tiktok.
She is the presenter of a new documentary, Beyond The Reef, filmed in 8K vision, which is released in cinemas on Thursday.
It features her scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, exploring the Daintree Rainforest, taking a boat ride on a crocodile-infested river and rafting in the Baron Gorge rapids.
Hu said the documentary
was designed to showcase the wonders w of Far North Queensland to a younger audience, a and to make them aware of the impact climate m change is having on them.
“I hope young audiences feel like they’re experiencing these adventures with me, and will be inspired to do all they can to protect this precious ecosystem, and our planet more broadly,” she said.
Hu said Townsville “still holds a really special place in my heart”, and she had also filmed and co-wrote another upcoming film in the city, Five Blind Dates, which will premiere on Amazon’s Prime Video at a later date.
As a Chinese Australian, she said she wanted to inspire other young locals from foreign backgrounds with her career path.
“In Townsville as a child I didn’t think it (having a career in the arts) was possible,” she said.
“I’m honoured to be the first host of a giant screen documentary in Australia and I hope other children of colour in Australia feel inspired that this can be a career for them.”