Actor Tzi Ma discusses his career creating memorable characters on screen and his efforts to draw attention to the need for better representation of Asian-Americans in the entertainment industry.
On Asian-American representation in television and film: “We need many voices out there. We need voices to be represented. You can’t just have one voice…. It’s a little better, but it used to be one show on TV that every Asian-American was like, ‘That show sucks.’ Because it doesn’t represent me, which is true, right, it never really represented them. But so hopefully we’re able to get diverse voices out there that represent us so that everyone in the room can say okay, ‘I know a little bit more about who this guy is, right?’ So those things are important.”
On how the stage helped his acting career: “I think the stage was really pivotal in who I am today because I was able to do plays about us whereas in the movies back in the day the opportunities were very limited.… I think all actors should do some stage. And I think that would be helpful to you because you get a sense of continuity in a play…. You get to rehearse from beginning, middle and an end and you get to perform it that way so you have a sense of where you are in these projects, so I think it’s important for actors.”
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