Transcript

Lucy Liu on rejection, "Hey Ya," and returning to Mandarin in 'Rosemead'

From Fresh Air · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 43 min · 7,496 words · 114 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Lucy Liu on rejection, "Hey Ya," and returning to Mandarin in 'Rosemead'", an episode of Fresh Air published January 7, 2026 (43 min, about 7,496 words). It mentions 10 people, works and ideas, including Lucy Liu, Irene, Kill Bill, Rosemead, Ali McBeal.

What this episode is about

Lucy Liu discusses her multifaceted career spanning over 30 years, her emotional connection to the script of "Rosemead," and the unique exploration of immigrant family dynamics dealing with cancer and mental health. She emphasizes the importance of humanizing the characters and the cultural stigmas surrounding mental health, aiming to spark broader conversations within the AAHPI community and beyond.

Key takeaways

  • A 30-year career feels like yesterday; the heart of creativity thrives on diverse connections, not just one fan base.
  • Immigrant stories about love, cancer, and mental health are rare; it's time to shine a light on our shared struggles.
  • Cultural stigma around mental health can sequester individuals; breaking this silence could spark vital conversations across communities.
  • Language barriers aren't just words; they're emotional voids that can isolate families in crisis, deepening their struggles.
  • Judgment often trumps understanding in tight-knit communities; it’s vital to advocate for mental health in culturally sensitive ways.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: AAHPI community, Mandarin Chinese
  2. – 10:00: Doug Honor
  3. – 20:00: Beverly Hills 90210
  4. – 30:00: Kill Bill
  5. – 35:00: Kill Bill, Mandarin Chinese, Rosemead
  6. – 42:48: Rosemead

Notable quotes from "Lucy Liu on rejection, "Hey Ya," and returning to Mandarin in 'Rosemead'"

  • Something about exposing that in a positive way that might help spark conversation for not just the AAHPI community but for so many other cultures. How did you find a way to…
    about AAHPI community · at
  • About. We're talking about the literal language. She's an immigrant and she speaks Mandarin Chinese and she's here in the United States as an immigrant. So that's there's that…
    about Mandarin Chinese · at
  • Came up, it was really vital to make this authenticity sing. And I worked with this wonderful coach, Doug Honor, who's just a master at all different kinds of languages. And he…
    about Doug Honor · at
  • Yeah, I did. I w went into this audition for Beverly Hills 90210 and there was a room of like 10 or 15 people, it was an under five role, which I didn't really know what that meant, but it really means like you.
    about Beverly Hills 90210 · at
  • So, you didn't engage with criticism for a long time about Ling Wu's character and Orin from Kill Bill, which we'll talk about a little bit later, but then there was this essay…
    about Kill Bill · at
  • Yeah. And so there's Rosemead playing on one projector and then right next to it there's a 70 of the film playing on the other projector in the theater and you can see.
    about Rosemead · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Books & papers

Companies & orgs

  • Calgon — Company · 1 mention

Concepts & topics

Places & events

Full transcript with timestamps

It feels like I've kind of hit a lot of different areas and different groups. And it's a good feeling to know that it's not just one group, you know, it's kind of a a fan base of different people. And that that's really special. And it's funny to think that, you know, the career has been over 30 years because it feels like it just started yesterday.

I was so moved by this movie. Um, I read that you were kind of terrified when you first read this the script for this. Um, and I can understand why as we talk more about it, but what was it about that script that made you say, "I can't really look away from this. I have to take this on." I think that this story is so devastating. And I also realized that there's nothing like this in our lexicon. We don't have um a story about a family, an immigrant family um struggling with um cancer or even mental health. And I wanted to highlight the the love in this family. I think sometimes the the title of the article or things like that, it's very clickbait and not a way to humanize this woman and her son and to really talk about what happened behind closed doors. And I know for myself, um, there's a lot of cultural stigma and there's a lot of fear about being seen in a true light, thinking that it would be judged or, um,

I guess you'll be shunned from the community. And I think that there's something about exposing that in a positive way that might help spark conversation for not just um the AAHPI community but for so many other cultures. How did you find a way to humanize her after reading about the choices that she made um in the end as she faces terminal cancer and she also sees that her son is very disturbed. I think understanding that she had a fragmentation in the language, um the communication was not something that was fully um understood by her, by the therapists, by the school. I think when she was home and she was speaking Mandarin fluently with her son, you can see that there was nuance in poetry and love and in humor. And when she was outside in the world, there's a vulnerability that she has. And I think that was a really important part of understanding how she was in many ways marginalized and also that she did not

have an advocate. I think the one thing that we see is when we start the movie, you know, you see the love between these two, a parent and a child. Um, but also we have to recognize that she's coming from a place of grief and of loss

because she lost her husband several years before. Correct. I want to slow down a little bit because um when you talk about language, there are two languages here we're talking about. We're talking about the literal language. She's an immigrant and she speaks Mandarin Chinese and she's here in the United States as an immigrant. So that's there's that cultural thing as well. There's that cultural language in addition to the literal language that she's isolated. She's very much isolated, but she also sequesters herself as well. And I think that is because there's a lot of judgment within the community and I think that they are not as open often times to mental health services like therapists and I mean the extreme of that is is western medicine taking you know SSRIs or whatever it is.

um and her suspicion there's just there's kind of this even her own friend in the movie says you know when she said when when Irene who is the character I play says he's he's getting better you know he seems to be getting better in therapy her own friend says you sound like a foreigner

you know so there is that when I mentioned sequestering earlier it's because there's really even with a dear friend there's that feeling of I guess the the stigma of well that's not how you do it. We've got herbal medicine. we've got other ways to exercise literally this demon out of him or you know thinking that it's not a real diagnosis not understanding that it's a medical thing you know and I guess steering it away towards towards superstition and there's lot a lot of that in our community as well

um language as you said plays a big part in this story I want to play a scene that um really goes a little bit deeper into the comfort that she feels speaking her own language and also sort of a a a disconnect with her son over this. So, the scene that I um want to play, Irene and her son Joe are having dinner together. He has gotten in trouble in school and she's tried to help but she doesn't know what to do. And she's asking him questions in Mandarin, but he is answering in English

and um then it all explodes. Let's listen. I heard you there in the hallway. You were there. I heard you and you were trying to We we hear him get up and throw the chopsticks at that point. He can speak Mandarin. He chooses not to in that moment. What's happening in that choice for him and for her? I think there's just this void between them. there's this communication where she's trying to reach out and say, you know, if there's anything going on, you have to really think about, you know, your choices. And she's trying to communicate, but it's not really connecting. And I think that often times happens in families.

And he's also not really taking his medication. He's throwing it away. He's starting to become more paranoid. and his way of trying to protect her is um really going off in a very different direction. He's becoming paranoid and she's also becoming very paranoid. And so the two of them are trying to protect each other, but they're not really on the same wavelength. You um spoke Mandarin until you were 5 years old, but you you had um a coach work with you. Can you tell me a little bit about that experience as you were trying to really master the language and the importance for you to really get that tonal quality and the exactness of it?

Yes. When I um was living at home, we only spoke Chinese. So when I went to public school, I was under the age of five and um really got dropped into the immersion of public school and just trying to understand what was going on. And we was also very insular in our home.

So we never really, you know, did anything except for maybe hang out in the alleyway, you know, in Queens and played or was just at home really at that age. Um so understanding the struggle of um I guess the fragmentation of not fully understanding. I mean, I went to school. I continued to go to school, but I really didn't have a grasp of, I guess, the bigger picture of what was happening and how everything was happening. And so, when this project came up, it was really vital to make this authenticity um sing. And I worked with this wonderful coach, Doug Honor, who's just just a master at all different kinds of languages. And he really understood the nuance. and we went into the dialogue and we dissected the language and made sure that it was conversational and when it was in Chinese and also made the English um very I don't want to say stilted but very clear because I think when somebody speaks a different

language it's much more direct. There's not this nuance let's say of us you know going back and forth it's more direct. So when it's it's more direct, I think there's a vulnerability that shows and that was something that I thought was very important to bring that humanity to Irene to show that she was not able to really express herself fully when she was outside the home and also to I guess receive information from the therapist or from her own doctor when she was outside the home. And I think that feeling of those gaps were really important to show how porous she was and how vulnerable she was. What was it like speaking Mandarin for the first time in a in a movie? That that extra component there after not speaking it for so long.

There's such a tenderness that you feel. I felt such a great depth of tenderness. Um, and it just reminded me so much of, you know, the community and just the beautiful poetry of Mandarin and how some words just cannot be expressed in English.

Were there people that you patterned or you thought about as you were um, embodying Irene? Because you do transform in this film and I feel like I'm getting a sense of a person. I mean, you don't you don't seem like Lucil like I'm I'm watching Irene and Irene is an immigrant that is here and is experiencing all of these things. Your parents.

Absolutely. I think that for me, I really had grown up in that environment of seeing my aunties or my mother or my parents and just living in that world of going to Chinatown, going to Flushing, you know, the very um immersed in that community and understanding, you know, that that's this was just what it was and how it looked and how it felt. And I think what I really brought to I guess to Irene was not so much my parents as much as it was myself as a child

watching my parents. And it's a very different thing to see how my parents were at home or in Chinatown or in Flushing and then how they were outside of that.

How would you describe it? I think it's as a child when you are the one to advocate for your parents and to translate for your parents when you become more fluid with the language even though you don't have the experience to understand exactly what you're translating

it really changes the dynamic of um yourself and your parents. So you become the parents in that situation um even though they're the ones who have the authority. So there's a very strange dynamic that occurs and I think that a lot of people that are children of immigrants have experienced that too. And that's something that I wanted to imbue in Irene that she was still very childlike when she was outside of her home and outside of her community. You use this word vulnerability when you talk about the language in particular.

And so I can't help but think about five-year-old Lucy stepping into the classroom for the first time. You only speak Mandarin and so everyone around you is speaking English. Do you remember when those pieces of yourself you had to let go? When English then became a day-to-day practice for you and maybe what that was like? I mean, that's such a such a moment of having to grow up at such a young age.

It's funny because I've forgotten a lot of my childhood and I think it was probably because it was a lot of trauma

of, you know, not feeling like you belonged or, you know, wanting to seem like everything was perfectly normal and not looking like everybody else. I think that was also um I guess difficult, you know, because on television there was, you know, um I Dream of Genie and The Brady Bunch and all those shows that

really indicated, you know, what life was like outside of your own home. And I guess not having that in trying to aspire to something that you could never be or look like is a very strange um I guess amalgamation of conflict, you know, as a child not understanding like why don't I see myself on television? Um

do you remember feeling that as a child as you were watching TV? I remember thinking like why can't I just get into that get smart world you know and and have all those cool inventions and you know have that cone of silence and you know just I thought that there was I didn't really understand that there was were laugh tracks.

I thought that there was there was so much more entertainment and light-heartedness outside of the home and I really wanted to fall into that world and just walk right into that TV set.

Wait a minute. So you thought like, oh, everyone's having a great time in these other houses. They've got people laughing at them.

Yeah. They just are just, you know, people are just amused. And, you know, to me, I I really thought that comedy was, you know, the way to someone's heart.

But you tell this story about seeing how people treated your mother. I think there was a particular story where you all were in a store and you saw her being disrespected

and that kind of really told you something or taught you something about how you wanted to live your life and be treated.

I think as a child seeing that you know that she was kind of treated in a way based on her uh fragmented English and also based on what she looked like, based on what we looked like. It was really um infuriating as a child to see that. And I think there was a helplessness and a feeling of wanting to stand up for your parents, but then also feeling like you didn't have a voice. Let's get into your career, Lucy. Um we talked a little bit about how at a very young age, you knew you wanted to be an actor. you wanted to actually step inside of the TV and be with those families, which I find remarkable because at the time when you were growing up, you didn't see many people who looked like you on television and in movies. Um, where do you think that knowing came from without a map to follow?

I don't know, but I feel like it was like an angel on my shoulder. And the I think the person that I could connect to was this there was an well I know now that she was an actress, but I thought she was a real person that worked in a laundromat and it was a Calgone ad. And she would say, "Calone, take me away." And that was the person that I really thought, "Oh, I see myself." So there's somebody in that set that looks like me, you know? And so it's pretty funny to think about that now. Um, but yes, it was something that I really was just dreamed about. Well, it was something that was your desire, but there were also people who saw it in you. Is it true that someone saw you like a scouting agent or someone saw you, discovered you on a subway? There was a manager on a subway. They gave me his card and I was of course very suspicious um because we've lived this very insular life you know and who's this person

giving me this card. And how old were you about? I was a teenager because I was going to high school at that point

and taking the subway by myself. Um, so I was definitely in high school at that point and I remember I mean we'd only had yellow pages back then. So I called the Better Business Bureau to find out if this person was real and it turned out he was real. And

what did he say to you when he saw you? He just said, "You have an interesting look and I feel like you might, you know, be very successful doing commercials or something. Give me a call." I mean, I'm pretty sure that's what he said. And then I I did call him. He did send me out on, you know, some interesting auditions and they were real. Um, I got I ended up getting a commercial for school supplies back in the day, but um there were some also kind of some sketchy auditions as well.

Like what? I remember going into a like a an audition where the person seemed a little bit off and I mean luckily I have that kind of New York common sense wherewithal where I was like I'm not comfortable being here and I left you know and he showed me a bunch of polaroids of well everyone else has done these things if you want to you know get this job and I thought no I think I'm okay.

What were the polaroids? There were polaroids of of, you know, young people probably my age just kind of dressed scantily clad, you know, looks and I just I I I wasn't really feeling the vibe and I left. And I think that's something that I I'm glad that I had the common sense to do that because I think most people would been like, okay, it seems kind of, you know, but I I just I I definitely had my my antenna was up and I walked away. And I think that's something that I'm I'm really proud of. You know, when something doesn't feel exactly right, just walk away.

You have that discernment. I really do. And I did. And I'm proud of myself. Yeah.

Yeah. There's been a lot of very strange uh incidents along the way for sure. Well, I've been curious about those because you you have also talked about how you know your counterparts um they would go on like 10 auditions a day and you might have 10 auditions a year.

Yeah. and what those auditions were like and how you kind of in spite of the fact that you were only getting a few could bring your whole self knowing that there was a really big possibility of rejection. I think rejection was on my resume. You know, it should have been like rejection takes it pretty well. Um I think that there was so there were so few auditions that I really didn't know how to get better. And so I think, you know, when because when you audition, you really need to know how to understand the room. You understand what you're doing, you know, there's a certain way to, I guess, introduce yourself. And because I kind of was very raw and um unpolished, maybe that worked in my favor, you know. I think the unknowing of it, the naive and the I mean really the sincerity of going in and just like doing your best and not having any expectation was was really a saving grace for me.

Do you remember a time where it worked for you? You walked in, you had no idea what was going on and it like really worked out for you.

Yeah, I did. Uh, I w went into this audition for Beverly Hills 90210 and there was a room of like 10 or 15 people, you know, it was an under five role, which I didn't really know what that meant, but it really means like you have under five lines.

Oh, okay. And I went in, I shook everyone's hand and I just did my lines and I left. And I think the I guess the the confidence of shaking people's hands and looking at them in the eye and just, you know, going in there and being very welcoming and warm was I guess the ticket. I have no idea. I mean, you never know what's going on behind closed doors, but for me, I just I just felt like I have nothing to lose, you know? This is just who I am.

Yeah. Did you get that role? I got the role. Yeah. I played a waitress on 90210, like, you know, had four lines or something like that. And it was a thrill. I had What did that feel like? Okay, I'm on my way. I mean, I had a scene, I think, with Luke Perry or Jason Priestley. It was like, wow, this is it. I'm on my way. Yeah. Who knew? being a shy little girl. I mean, describing yourself as shy. How did that girl learn to to survive built on rejection? Like, you know, I guess I didn't even remember that I was shy until I found those um report cards that my mother had saved for me. She gave me this Manila envelope um I think it was during the pandemic.

Oh, just a few years ago. Yeah. Not that long ago. And I looked at them. I was sort of, you know, shredding all these things and getting rid of all these things that um had come from Los Angeles because I had, you know, lived there for so long. And then I looked at them and I was so surprised because that was somebody that I had forgotten

and in some ways that's kind of sad, you know, that I forgot this little girl that didn't um have a voice. And I also felt like, wow, not just, you know, look how far I've come, but wow, this poor child, you know, she must have felt so completely confused in these classrooms to not be able to even, you know, participate and have a conversation because everything was like, she doesn't talk, she doesn't participate, she's too shy, you know, she needs to really, you know, step up. I just I don't know who that was. And remembering that is sort of a shocking thing to feel like, wow, I really left her behind.

When did you start to feel like that you weren't anymore? You weren't behind. When I left for college, that's when it really started to find my own voice and literally my own footing cuz I was out of the house and I was in my own room. And I think that it was the first time I really didn't have to, you know, compare [clears throat] myself to where my family was and where I was, you know, cuz you didn't want to be too far away from them. But I think being in college, being as far as I was out of the house was really helpful and it helped me find my individuality and I think more of my interiority as well.

You majored in you didn't major in theater or acting. Yeah. It was something like Asian studies,

Asian languages and cultures. Yeah. Did you have an intention to do something with that degree?

You know what happened was when I went to college, it was sort of a free-for-all and I was so excited to take, you know, all these multiple courses like ceramics and Chinese and, you know, which I had rejected so much when I was a child. We would go to Chinese school on the weekends and I would just absolutely despise going to Chinese school.

Wow. Because it was this this, you know, Saturday morning and here we are, you know, we didn't I just wanted to have a childhood. I wanted to run around and just, you know, I guess ride my bicycle and do all the things that everyone else was doing. And here I was sitting in a classroom,

you know, I guess repeating these vowels and these tones and I I just didn't it wasn't my interest.

Yeah. And I think that also I was trying to get away from, you know, I was struggling with like am I am I Chinese? Am I American? Where where am I? And so here I am trying to be American and try to find a voice, but then I'm stuck in Chinese school. And so I think when I got to college I was like I can choose this now and it was a choice and that's a very different feeling to make that decision for yourself. Um so I was taking all these you know all these courses that were interesting to me and then all of a sudden they're like you need to have a major and I thought oh my gosh what am I going to do? And you know all the things that I was learning like Chinese philosophy and the language itself and art I I then saw okay these are the most credits I have. I better just

I better find something that's going to get me out of this school in time in time.

So that's how Asian languages and cultures came to be. So you always knew though I'm going to be an actor or

I didn't know I mean I knew but I didn't know that I could actually you know make that choice and push push the button. I didn't know that I could press the button and just go.

Yeah. until I was a senior and I thought, you know what, this is this is my life and this is my only time I'm going to be able to do this and I'm going to make the choice and that's what I did. Yeah.

Okay. So, your breakout role came in 1998. You you had uh smaller roles and before then, but Ling Woo on Ali Mciel, sharp tonged, that's how she's described, a lawyer who made no apologies. And I actually want to play a scene because I want to familiarize um the audience to this character. The scene I'm gonna play is from uh season two. Ling is on the witness stand defending her side business, a mud wrestling club that a mother's group is trying to shut down, and Porsche Dasi plays her attorney. Let's listen.

The idea that it degrades women is ridiculous. Every woman wants to be thought of as desirable. Imagine they can go home at night and say, "Even in mud, I look good."

You have to admit this activity does objectify them. So, Ling, how can it not be a little degrading? Women struting around in bathing suits. Guys whooping.

Could I respond to that? I wish you would. First, the women there make nearly $100,000 a year. How? These drunken Neanderthalss hurl money at them. Go into that club, you come out with a lower opinion of men. Trust me. That could be true. But these girls do make that money with their bodies.

They make it by teasing men with something they'll never get their hands on. That goes to the very essence of a woman. Excuse me.

Sex is a weapon. We all use it. We tease. We tanalyze. We withhold. It's something we do in almost every walk of life. Be it marriage, business, God gave us that advantage by giving men the dumpstick. It's hot in here and there's no water. The dumpstick. Penis. They've all got them.

What do you think when you hear yourself? You your face says a lot. Oh my gosh, I can't even. It's been so long and you know, hearing that um that Ling Woo voice just makes me giggle because she was so um she was so blunt and that's what I loved about her. There was an honesty and she really had a point of view and I really appreciated that about her. And um obviously David E. Kelly who's just a an incredible writer and very prolific and he just would be able to create these monologues for her. Um that would just make absolute sense you know for her and she just really believed it. I mean she had to really believe it and she really I think was a feminist in so many ways.

She just saw things as they were. Looking back, we can see it so clearly and I'm sure it could be seen then, but I mean it's really an interesting exercise to go back and watch those. You actually auditioned for a different role and it after David met you, he created this role, right?

That's right. Yeah, I auditioned for Porsche's role. um Nell Porter who I thought was just fantastic and um he I guess was liked the way that I read that audition and then he said that he would write something for me. That's that's the the feedback that I got after the audition and I didn't have a lot of hope for that. I just thought, okay, that's very nice and people have said that before, but no one's ever written anything. And then they came back and um offered this guest star role to come on and,

you know, be this character, Ling Woo. There was this article, and I know you've been asked about it many times, but I want to ask you about it now to talk about this dragon lady stereotype. So, you didn't engage with criticism for a long time about um Ling Wu's character and Orin from Kill Bill, which we'll talk about a little bit later,

but then there was this essay in Teen Vogue that singled out Orin in particular, and you responded with your own oped pointing out that no one calls Sharon Stone a drag dragon lady or for basic instinct or other women who play really strong characters. What made you decide to finally speak up about it? I actually didn't even know the article existed. A friend of mine sent it to me. Um, I just found it really surprising that we were all women assassins.

Mhm. And that I was singled out um as a dragon lady, but nobody else was. And we all were doing the same thing. You know, we that was our job. Our career was we were assassins.

Yeah. And that really indicated to me that there was some undercurrent to me of I guess racial profiling.

There's this thing that I read um that I found so fascinating that first off that you spoke up about it. You wrote this oped for the Washington Post. you really laid out those same arguments that you're saying now, but you've also talked about how um the characters that you've played, some of them have had um names that you know are not Asian names and you wanted to keep those names because you wanted there to be evidence that these parts weren't written for an Asian woman. Talk to me about that idea and why that was important to you.

I just think it's imperative to know that these roles, although they were not written for someone Asian, that they could be and they should be retained as those names because it shows that having been cast in that role, it's become something that's more ubiquitous, it's more accepted, it's more it's there. And I think that the I guess the vision for what people do and how they present their writing or how they present the description of a character um does not necessarily have to be um that limited,

you know, and I think that that leaving that name in there to me um shows the history of how things can change and how they have changed and they can continue to change. So, for instance, like your role in Charlie's Angels with Alex.

Alex Mundy. Yeah. Yeah. Or um Lucky number seven. What was your name in that? Lindsay. Lindsay. Yeah. I remember the description said like a I think it was like an energetic bouncy blonde, you know, knocks at the door.

And I just thought we have to keep that in the script, you know, because it's kind of great to know that you can also be an energetic, bouncy person but not be blonde, right?

You know what I mean? like they definitely had a different idea of what it was. But I think it's to me it's about, you know, chipping away and understanding that, you know, these are the ways that things can shift and change. And it's definitely not going to be overnight, but it is so for me important to remember, you know, those moments because I feel like those are huge leaps forward. Kill Bill was re-released this month.

I cannot even believe it. I have to say that when Roseme opened last week in New York City for that one week, we waited upstairs in the projection room. That was our green room.

Yeah. And so there's Rosemead playing on one projector and then right next to it there's a 70 mm of the film playing on the other

projector in the theater and you can see the audience and it was just mindblowing. I had no idea. That was not my plan but what a plan. It was masterful to have two 22 years apart.

22 years apart. Yes. Um we've got to play an iconic scene from Kill Bill. Um, your character Orin has just taken over the Tokyo underworld when her uh when boss Tanaka challenges her with a slur about her heritage and she takes his head off.

Wouldn't it be so easy if somebody always made slurs about us? And we like, um, are you sure you want to finish your sentence because I'm just about to say something that might ruin your life. Then she turns to the rest of the council and says, "Question my logic anytime you want, but bring up my heritage as a negative and I collect your head." Let's listen to it.

As your leader, I encourage you from time to time and always in a respectful manner to question my logic. If you're unconvinced a particular plan of action I've decided is the wisest, tell me so. But allow me to convince you. And I promise you right here and now, no subject will ever be taboo.

Except of course a subject that was just under discussion. The [snorts] price you pay for bringing up either my Chinese or American heritage as a negative is I collect your head just like this here. Now, if any of you SONS OF GOT ANYTHING ELSE TO SAY, NOW'S THE TIME.

I didn't think so. That's my guest, Lucy Lou and Kill Bill as Oen. And you you learned Japanese for this role.

I did. I did. I You said that it changed the way you held yourself in the character. It did because it's such a beautiful language and there's so much about it that's smooth and also staccato

and that's very different from Chinese from Mandarin Chinese at least. It's not a staccato and there's a gentleness to it that I just find so graceful. And the the the costume, you know, we had somebody that came in from Japan specifically for my costume to create my costume for Ren. And they also flew somebody in because we were shooting in China actually um from Japan who only was my costumeumer who every time that I would finish a scene she would come and rearrange and fix and redo my entire costume because the thing about the kimono and the beauty of it is like it's covered but the kind of the sensual part of the kimono is the wrist

and the back of the neck. M. So those were things that had to be very very precise

precise. And so she would kind of arrange it, undo the whole belt and redo it. And that's why when um I was working with Samurai Sword, when she kind of pulls up her sleeve, you see part of her skin

and that's very revealing and that's very intimate. What a subtle storytelling device,

isn't it? Yes. What other things do you really remember about embodying Orin that really stick with you? Oh, just um I guess how she where she came from because she really had a backstory. There was the anime that created this real feeling of survival for her and understanding that she was never going to die of old age

and understanding that she was never going to die of old age. She was going to die by the sword most likely. Mhm.

And seeing that she had been through so much and she really understood life at a young age. um this I guess revenge and what life and death was I think gave me such a strong base for her you know just because a lot of the other characters didn't have that you know backstory that was given and she did and there's this I think that it gives you this feeling of rooting for her

even though she is on the list as we all know as we all know what's a role that people um associate with you the most or come up to you to talk to you about the most.

You know, it's so funny. It just depends on where people are from. I I find a lot of people from Europe

are very much into Lingu. Isn't that funny? Yeah. Yeah. They I I don't know what it is, but it's something really connects to them about her character. And it was so long ago that you kind of forget. But now that it's back on, people really can access this, you know, Ali Mciel again and kind of, I guess, reconnect with characters that I played in the past.

Um, of course there's the the cult classic of Aren that people really um, love. And then I find a lot of parents and teenagers are really big um, Joan Watson fans.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I think that there's a very big community of people that grew up um with Alex Mundy,

you know, and [clears throat] that's it feels like I've kind of hit a lot of different areas and different groups and it's a good feeling to know that it's not just one group, you know, it's kind of a a fan base of different people and that that's really special and it's funny to think that, you know, the career has been over 30 years because it feels like it just started yesterday. I watched a panel discussion where a young woman uh asked you a question and she was named after you.

That's right. It was so funny. I couldn't believe it. Um I thought, "Wow, that's that's that's such a strange thing." Also, when somebody has a tattoo Yes.

of one of your characters on their body, it's really kind of it it really jolts you awake like to have that kind of impact.

Or when you're in a song, I think I counted five songs out there where your name is referenced. Of course, the biggest being outcasts. Hey, uh, you know, not to all the Beyonces and Lucy Lou.

I know. I love being connected to Beyonce. Come on. That's not going to be something I'll forget anytime soon.

Take me back to when you first heard that particular song or that line. I was driving down Laurel Canyon towards Sunset Boulevard um from Mahulland and then um they somebody said uh you know your your your name is in this song and then it came on and I thought what are you talking about and then it just I heard Ice Cold and then I heard my name and it was such a fast thing. it was a blur. And you know, back then you couldn't just, you know, you didn't have they didn't have se they didn't have the um the ability to play something right away. It was like played on the radio and that's when it was, you know, um you'd have to listen it again when it played. And so it was so shocking to me and it was I it didn't really occur to me what it meant,

you know, because I wasn't really I don't think I was as present as I am now back then because I was I was so busy just doing

and I wasn't really just in the moment as I am now. Like when I was working, I was in the moment, but I was always just going from one place to another. And I think that could have been a sense of anxiety even. You know, I wasn't really as present as I am now. And I'm not sure if it's because I'm a parent.

Yeah. I was just going to say parenthood does change things. It it kind of forces you to be present.

Yeah. I guess it does. And I think it's also an appreciation for knowing that, you know, time is is sliding by so quickly.

Yeah. You know, tying this back to Rosemead, um, you're raising a son. You're teaching him Mandarin. Is that right?

He's learning Mandarin. I don't know if he's feeling the same way that I felt when I was in, you know, on the weekend school classes. But I really want him to remember part of his culture, you know, that he where he comes from, where, you know, where we all hail from. And, you know, maybe it's something that he'll decide not to do later on.

Yeah. Um, but I want to be a part of that moment for him and have him understand me when I'm talking to him and just not forget, you know, I think it's really vital.

Yeah. But I'm thinking about Irene and Rosemead and of course that was a tragic story but it allowed you to take stock and take a look at your own life and your parents you know and so as you are now a mother has this has this movie in any way um kind of like informed or made you think about your your role as a mother?

You know what's so fascinating? I have not thought about myself and my son as much at all actually but I've thought about my parents and myself as a child

and it has really brought me so much compassion so much more compassion for my my parents and for myself as a child you know I think that I think it was just a little bit more um difficult not having a childhood but now seeing that and kind of seeing it from the side. It really gives me a great deal of healing to know that and to feel that and to also sense that, you know, and give that to my child as well. Give that to my child self and to give it to my child. And it's this is the greatest gift I think I could have been given, you know, to see that and to feel that cuz I think you kind of forget how difficult it can be. And also seeing their struggle, but not really knowing it as much because you really wanted them. I wanted them to stand up and be like, "No, you know, this is who I am. I'm I'm incredibly intelligent. You know, I'm a civil engineer." And they couldn't do that.

And so as a child, you kind of are frustrated, but also um there's a vacancy there that needs to be filled. And I think that this movie helped me to really see that that vacancy was really for compassion.

Lucil, thank you so much for this conversation. [gasps] What a pleasure it's been. Thank you for having me on the show.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Lucy Liu on rejection, "Hey Ya," and returning to Mandarin in 'Rosemead'"?

Terry Gross (Host), Lucy Liu (Guest).

What is "Lucy Liu on rejection, "Hey Ya," and returning to Mandarin in 'Rosemead'" about?

Lucy Liu discusses her multifaceted career spanning over 30 years, her emotional connection to the script of "Rosemead," and the unique exploration of immigrant family dynamics dealing with cancer and mental health. She emphasizes the importance of humanizing the characters and the cultural stigmas surrounding mental health, aiming to spark broader conversations within the AAHPI community and…

What is mentioned in this Fresh Air episode?

10 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Lucy Liu, Irene, Kill Bill, Rosemead, Ali McBeal, Mandarin Chinese. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Lucy Liu on rejection, "Hey Ya," and returning to Mandarin in 'Rosemead'"?

The episode runs 43 min; the transcript is about 7,496 words in 114 timestamped sections.

More from Fresh Air

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 8, 2026.