Thirty-seven years after her Hollywood breakthrough in The Last Emperor, Chen is back in new drama Dìdi. She discusses her roots in China, objectification and the protective power of creativity
Joan Chen is talking about her busier-than-ever work schedule, her face lit up with excitement, when she mentions being “in the winter of my career”. After decades in the film industry, she sees this as the final chapter. But the Chinese American actor never expected there could be new beginnings, too: at 63, she has been earning glowing reviews for her moving performance in the indie film Dìdi (弟弟).
After her breakout role in 1987’s sumptuous historical epic The Last Emperor, Chen became a huge star in the 90s, until she got tired of being typecast as the exotic, seductive temptress and started making her own films. She has continued to work quietly and consistently as an actor and director, in Hollywood and China, but now appears on the brink of a career renaissance. Last year, Chen appeared in Disney+’s critically acclaimed mystery A Murder at the End of the World, and we speak while she is in Atlanta shooting Oh. What. Fun., a festive film with an all-star cast led by Michelle Pfeiffer. With Dìdi, a hilarious and touching immigrant coming-of-age story, she is firmly back in the Hollywood conversation.
