Kunjue Li – Tigertail

By starrymag | June 25, 2020

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you have been busy working on?

A) I have been working on Simone, directed by Betty Kaplan, staring Esai Morales. I play the title role Simone.  The film is described as a mysterious, erotic and haunting love story between a writer/professor at Puerto Rico’s leading university and an aspiring artist from the immigrant Chinese community. I’m actually flying to San Juan today, after the re-opening.

 

Q) Please tell us the premise for Tigertail.

A) In this poignant multi-generational drama, Pin-Jui (Hong-Chi Lee) is a free-spirited yet impoverished young Taiwanese factory worker who makes the difficult decision to leave his homeland – and the woman he loves – behind in order to seek better opportunities in America. But years of monotonous work and an arranged marriage devoid of love or compassion leave an older Pin-Jui (Tzi Ma) a shadow of his former self. Unable to sympathize with his daughter Angela (Christine Ko) and at risk of living out his retirement in solitude, Pin-Jui must reconnect with his past in order to finally build the life he once dreamed of having.

 

Q) How was Zhen Zhen originally described to you?

A) Zhen Zhen was Grover’s wife, the women he married for his ticket to America.

 

Q) What did you find challenging about portraying her?

A) I guess portraying the happiness she felt in the beginning of her relationship with Grover because she had hope that he would love her, but then the sadness slipped in as she loses hope in her marriage. Portraying a “sad” character without playing “sad.”

 

Q) Were you familiar with any of your co-stars before working with them on the movie?

A) I knew of Hong-Chi, the actor playing Grover. He worked a lot in China. In fact, he went on to do a movie where our mutual friend was directing and where I was also considered to play his girlfriend.

 

Q) What advice did director Alan Yang offer that you took to heart?

A) Alan is a very freeing director. He allowed us so much freedom in portraying our characters. One thing he talked about is the comedy of the film and that in every sad situation, there is still humor. I took that advice to heart.

 

Q) What were some of your favorite scenes to film?

A) I like the pregnancy scene because I had to wear a fake belly and walk like I’m pregnant. That was fun because it is something I was yet to discover in my own personal life – how it feels to “grow a life” inside of me.

 

Q) How did you shake off a long day of filming?

A) I actually asked Hong-Chi for advice on this one. I find it hard to shake off my characters. Hong-Chi taught me to have a “playlist” of songs that anchors me to who I am in real life and take small things that remind me of me in real life with me when I travel. So, after a long day of filming, I can anchor myself back to who I am.

 

Q) What did you personally take away from your time working on Tigertail?

A) It’s such an emotional journey, everyone was so supportive on the film. It really felt like a small family. I would like to keep in touch with everyone from the film, if possible. One of the film’s producer Kim Roth is like my hero now. She is so supportive, encouraging and inspiring. Because we had such a good team, we all got along so well and I felt so emotional when the film wrapped.

 

Q) What messages do you hope viewers take to heart after watching this movie?

A) Everyone has their story and there are a lot of stories out there about immigrants that are worth telling.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. What kind of fan feedback have you received to the film?

A) So many messages from people telling me about their own stories about their immigrant families, their parents and their generational gap. It was so heart-warming.

 

Q What would you like to say to everyone who are fans and supporters of you and the work you do?

A) Thank you so much for supporting such a heartfelt story. Thank you so much for watching me grow over the years.