David Chiu

I sent my headshot to New York today for a Meryl Streep movie that will begin shooting this summer. I was told that they are looking for an asian actor to play a native born Chinese character which has a major part in the movie. I’m not sure I can pass for a native born Chinese, at least probably not the “look” that they want. Some of my asian friends actually thought I was Thai or Hawaiian when they first met me. Plus, I honestly can’t do a Chinese accent. But you never know… maybe there is another part in the movie that I might fit better. If not this movie, maybe another movie. Heck, any studio movie will do. But what an incredible opportunity! Working with Meryl Streep would be amazing!

I’ve picked out a 10min scene from the Woolgatherers. It’s in Act II when my character “Cliff” freaks out ’cause he thinks Rose is cheating on him. In the process of him trying to catch her in a lie (which she isn’t lying, per se…) she flips out because of a traumatic experience that happened in the past. It’s all pretty dramatic. We now have one week to get it into performance shape complete with costumes and props. Luckily the costumes and props won’t be that hard. It’s just memorizing the scene and getting it in good shape that I’m worried about.

I’m REALLY worried about it…

On the positive side, I rocked in my paraphrased performance of the Edmund Pollard monologue for class. My paraphrase was more like a modernized spoken word, R&B singing type of thing. I know they weren’t expecting that. Just imagine me in a toga performing spoken word and singing R&B… It was a lot of fun and my acting coach said that I have the “actions” and “emotional line” down so I can now start incorporating the original text with my paraphrase.