Dissecting Her One-Woman Show: “My show is not about, ‘Let’s see how many characters I can do.’ My show is more about showing a mother and daughter and showing both sides of the arguments. And I think [Teddy] felt there was something in that that maybe I could bring to the role of Wil.”
Michelle Krusiec Defines Her Character in “Saving Face:” “She’s a lot different from most of my friends or people who know me might expect. I pretty much modeled the character off of [writer/director Alice Wu]. As we started rehearsing, I started seeing things that she would do. I know she’s writing from a very personal perspective, but she would do things that I found fascinating and I started adopting her mannerisms.
While we rehearsed we would find the emotional truth of the character. But in terms of physicality, I pretty much just stole everything that she would give me, from pulling her hair to the way she scrunched over. To me, I’m much more fascinated by human behavior in that respect. I’m much more interested in that kind of work as an actor.”
Michelle Krusiec on Speaking Mandarin at Home: “In my house we spoke Chinglish, which is broken down English. My mother could sit here and you could ask me everything and I’ll say exactly what you’re saying, but I’ll break it down for her. And that’s how my mother will respond in terms of English. But we didn’t speak Mandarin in the house. She was learning English.
My Mandarin was pretty poor and when Teddy told me that Alice was concerned that my Mandarin wasn’t very good, I flew myself to Taiwan a couple of times and for a period of about 3 or 4 months I went to school every day for about 6 hours and learned how to speak Mandarin, which is one of the most difficult languages to learn.”
On Being Nervous About Carrying a Movie: “ Yeah, I was. After every take I would go in my trailer and, “F**k! I wish I had one more take,” because I felt like I only got one take and everyone else got seven or eight. That’s how I saw everything. But yeah, it’s my first lead role and I’m playing more of a ‘character’ more than anything. If I was doing something that I’d done before and I was regurgitating those same things then I would say, ‘No big deal.’ But I was playing something quite different than what I’d done before. Given that it was new and given that I was 99% of the film, in the film, my big fear was that I would suck (laughing).”
Love Scenes with Women vs. Love Scenes with Men: “It is different because there is something delicate about it, at least the way we played it. We were both a little shy, both a little awkward. Alice specifically said Wil may not be the same way in bed as she may carry herself outside. Meaning that she may not be so awkward. She might actually come out a little bit more, in terms of her aggressiveness. So once I got that sort of understanding, it was a little bit easier for me to guide myself through the emotions of the scene. You know, when you call, “Cut,” you’re just hanging out and talking to each other. After a period you do get a little more comfortable. There’s carbonation to it.”
The Emotional Challenges of Being in an Onscreen Lesbian Relationship: “Initially, I was attracted to certain actresses when we were auditioning. I noticed I was attracted to certain actresses that were more masculine. Then I realized for me that if I’m going to be in a relationship with a woman, I’m drawn to a certain kind of energy. That’s not where Alice casts – I told her who I was attracted to. Lynn [Chen] and I, I don’t think we have the chemistry we had in the film. Whereas for me, I was drawn to this person because she had a tougher personality.”
