Lucy Liu is taking on a new challenge with the film “Rosemead.” Can you believe it? It’s her very first time leading a film. The actress sat down with Deco to tell us why this project and this moment felt like the right one!
Mental illness and the stigma around it are at the center of the based on a true story movie, “Rosemead.”
Lucy Liu stars in the film as Irene, a dying widow struggling to care for her teenage son as his schizophrenia diagnosis begins to take over their lives.
For Lucy, keeping the story as authentic as possible was paramount, which meant re-learning her native language.
Lucy Liu: “I did only speak Mandarin when I grew up. I did have to brush up on it because I think as you go in to public school, you know, they don’t cater to other languages necessarily so you have to let go of what you know and just bring on English.”
The movie marks Lucy’s first leading role in her 30-year career.
Lucy Liu: “It was really remarkable to actually be a part of something that you are, I guess, leading the charge. And I think that it was an important story that we wanted to tell.”
Newcomer Lawrence Shou plays Lucy’s son. He told Deco his proximity to the character helped out a lot when filming.
Lawrence Shou: “You know, this role is so personal to me because Joe grew up not too far from where I live, and I am Asian-American myself, you know, I grew up with immigrant parents and immigrant families, so for me, it wasn’t that hard to relate to him.”
Acting opposite of Lucy Liu wasn’t so bad either.
Lawrence Shou: “Lucy is the sweetest person. She’s so easy to work with, and I think a big part of that is that she just cares so much. Not just the acting, you know, not just the work, but also, she cared about me as a person, you know, she took her time to take care of me.”
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