It’s probably not a wise idea to mess with JuJu Chan Szeto. Aside from being a butt-kicking action star with a black belt in taekwondo and experience with other martial arts like judo, Thai boxing, Wing Chun, and others. She’s also wicked smart.
Szeto already possesses one master’s degree in interactive telecommunication and film from NYU and is now pursuing another one, in data science. All while starring in movies, developing a project for her to make her directorial debut, and, oh yeah, she just had a baby a year ago.
Her latest outing is in the hit flick Fight or Flight, starring Josh Hartnett. It’s one of the biggest English language projects so far for the Hong Kong native, but will undoubtedly be far from the last. She spoke to us from her home in Hong Kong.
Insights: Lessons From Juju Chan Szeto
- Identify and embrace what sets you apart (e.g., martial arts, languages), and market yourself accordingly rather than trying to fit a mold.
- Continuously pursue new skills and education to stay adaptable and relevant in a changing industry.
- Don’t wait for the perfect role—develop your own projects and consider moving into directing or producing to expand your creative impact.
How did you get into acting in the first place?
I started when I was a kid. I had already been doing drama classes and performing in school.
My undergraduate study was computer science because my parents wanted me to do something more practical. They were more traditional Chinese parents, but I always loved the arts and sports. If I could choose, I would have tried to compete in the Olympics, or just go for singing or dancing and acting.
So you were pretty versatile, is what you’re saying.
It’s really hard for me to sit still. It’s just so difficult. My favorite subjects are the arts, music and sports, but those are not practical, right? (Laughs)
I also inherited my father’s genes. He is a computer scientist and is really good at it. I inherited his mathematical and computer science skills. Those subjects were fun, but I just couldn’t sit still to program.
I’m a pretty good programmer and am doing another master’s degree at the moment because everyone’s talking about artificial intelligence and data science. I just have a lot of interest in stuff, and I want to learn about it, and I think we need to keep learning.
How did you then turn your love of the arts into a career in film?
I started modeling as a teenager and picking up little roles in different projects in Hong Kong. I had been traveling back and forth to the States as well for my education.
After I graduated, I tried to do programming, but it just didn’t work, and while I was doing that, I was still auditioning for some roles. When I graduated from NYU, over 10 years ago, the industry still didn’t have a lot of Asian roles; so I had to come back to Hong Kong.
That’s when I got a casting call asking me to be in a reality show here called Rich Mate Poor Mate, which led to me getting cast by Chinese American producers in the first web series film in Hong Kong, called Lumina, and it was all in English. That was the first lead role I had in a real project. From there, I started to audition for more English-speaking roles for films in Hong Kong and then was cast in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny.
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That was your breakthrough?
Yeah. They knew about my action background, which is something I’d been trying to hide, because back then, especially in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, all the actresses were feminine.
You didn’t want to be perceived as too tough?
Right. Or like a tomboy. The audience back then was looking for a Barbie doll girl, so I was trying to hide my action side until I met a director/producer named Antony Szeto, who is now my husband. (Laughs)
He directs action films, and he gave me really good advice. He’s constantly looking for authentic martial artists who can act and do their action, so he said, “Instead of competing with everyone else to play one of these drama roles, why don’t you market yourself as a real action actress?” I thought that made sense, and did that. I knew it might lead to my being typecast, but being typecast is not always a bad thing.
Not if you’re getting interesting roles that challenge you.
Of course, I love dramatic roles, but as an actor, you want to constantly work. From there, I started to work hard to let people know that I could do my action but was also capable of dramatic performances. I got Crouching Tiger, and that was the launching pad for me to get representation in Hollywood.
Did the work start coming regularly?
If you remember, that was the first Netflix original film, a collaboration with the Hong Kong team of Master Yuen Woo-ping, and it made a lot of noise. We had a huge launch everywhere in the world, which made it a lot easier for me to get signed.
Once I had reps in Hollywood, yes, a lot more projects started to approach us because they knew that if you want to find a young female who can do action and can act, it’s JuJu Chan and not too many others.
I would think that your being fluent in English must have been beneficial to you as well.
Absolutely, and being trilingual. I speak Mandarin, Cantonese and English, and so many action films appeal to the international market because action is one of the genres that easily sells anywhere.
Anyone from anywhere can enjoy action. You don’t need to speak the language, you can just see it, so they’re putting together more international casts as well. I get a lot of people looking for me to do those kinds of roles.
Is that a lot of pressure, having your fan base like that?
I have to say, I feel so lucky that I can do something that people love to see. It’s very rewarding, while also pushing me forward so that I know I need to do better and keep producing good work.
Now that I have a daughter, I also want her to see that mommy is going full force in her career, and [I want to] be a role model for her and other young kids.
I always wanted to be an actress. I always loved performing and playing different roles. I have so many interests, and being an actress allows you to live different lives. That’s really appealing.
You mentioned before that when you were starting, there still weren’t a lot of roles for Asian actresses. That’s changed a lot, which is certainly good timing, right?
I totally agree that there are more opportunities for us. Action films are still dominated by men, and there aren’t very many female-led, kick-ass, full-on action films. I would love to see more opportunities for us there, too.
I’m developing something for me to direct — an action film from a female perspective. There aren’t many female directors who have a background in action.
Fight or Flight is one of the bigger English language films you’ve done. What was it about the film that appealed to you?
I loved the whole storyline. Everyone who worked on it is just amazing. I’ve found a lot of new fans from it.
When I got the script, I thought the character needed more, so I came up with this whole background and based her on a Chinese legend of a warrior woman called Lian Nichang. Her hair turns white after having to fight a man that she’s fallen in love with. That’s why my hair is all white and done in a Taoist priest look.
Also, I was really happy when they told me my weapon was gonna be the rope dart. We came up with really creative choreography, fighting with the rope dart in such a narrow plane. All the moves, all my jumps, they had to be so precise. I had bruises everywhere, too, when we were training, but it was so much fun.
The next thing you want to do is to direct, but from an acting perspective, having just gotten more exposure to American audiences, and having this desire to not just be an action star, what do you want to do in front of the camera?
I would love to be on a TV series. It gives you time to develop the character, instead of just an hour and a half on film. Doing an action role would be pretty cool, but I’d love just playing pure drama as well. I haven’t received any offers just for dramatic roles yet, because people just want me for action.
I’d imagine it would be nice to play a role where you’re not kicking someone’s ass all the time, right?
Yeah, but I think even if that happened, they would still throw a punch or a kick into the character. (Laughs)
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