This A-Profiler we bring you Chinese Canadian actor Albert M. Chan. Find out how this Ph.D. in engineering discovered his true love in acting, what it was like working with Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner on Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and what unique fan mail he has received.

Your site URLs:
albertmchan.com

What movie character best describes who you are?
Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption. I identify with his optimism, his drive, his patience, and his ability to see the big picture. I had a chance once to meet the man himself, Tim Robbins—nice guy.

What's your favorite Chinese dish? Favorite Chinese restaurant?
I love Cantonese noodle places. They serve my kind of comfort food. I love pepper steak chow foon, seafood congee, wonton noodle soup, Shanghai fried noodles, and Singapore-style curry vermicelli (though not all strictly Cantonese dishes). My favorite Chinese restaurants are all back home in Toronto. I think any Chinese restaurant in the Toronto area is excellent—there is just such a large Chinese population that the demand for great Chinese food is really high.

When you're preparing to do a scene how do you get into character?
I don't really believe in "getting into character," because any character I play is really a part of me that I might not even realize I have, no matter how different from me the character seems at face value. To prepare for a scene, I try to access whatever part of me is required, which essentially means understanding the specific circumstances my character is in (usually some kind of personal trouble). Once I understand the circumstances, I also try to ground myself in the reality of the scene by making eye contact with other actors in the scene, touching props, or fixing my wardrobe.

What's one thing you should know before you become an actor?
It's not an easy career. There's always the possibility of getting that lucky break that comes out of nowhere, and by all means, if it should happen, take advantage of that opportunity!  But in the absence of such opportunities (and even in the presence of such opportunities, which may be taken away at any moment), a contingency plan based on hard work, strategic planning, perseverance, and patience will continue to move your acting career along, putting more of the ball into your own court. Training's an essential part of that strategy—with all of the obstacles imposed on actors (especially ethnic actors), why let mediocre acting be an additional obstacle? To get the most from training, I strongly recommend an ongoing class in which you perform regularly, and the instructor can guide you long-term.  Developing acting technique is such a highly individual process that the instructor needs to understand your specific strengths and weaknesses and follow you through what's often times a frustrating journey.  Acting is a lifelong artistic endeavor that requires serious commitment, so a series of random workshops with various teachers will probably not result in fundamentally better acting.  Ongoing classes may not be available in every city, but private lessons with acting coaches can be a great alternative.

I hear there's a lot of down time when you're shooting a movie. What do you do to kill time in between shoots?
Yeah, there's a lot down time, but you have to ready to go at any given moment. In between takes, you can probably find me on my laptop or lying on the floor relaxing. When I was shooting Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, you could also find me playing ping-pong (the director was a big fan of ping-pong and brought a table with him everywhere).

What's the hardest thing about being an actor?
The hardest thing about acting is being patient. The art of acting, like other art forms, takes a lifetime to master. It can be a frustrating and demoralizing journey when you're stuck on a plateau with no (or even backwards) progress, but the reward is great when you suddenly leap to the next level of mastery. Furthermore, you rely on others to cast you in projects, so patience is also required there. Instead of sitting around idle, you need to remain active by training or writing and directing your own projects.

What are some truths and some fictions about going to MIT?
It's kind of true that we're all mega-smart—when you first go to MIT, you go from feeling like the smartest guy around to feeling like the dumbest guy around. And it's also true that a few of us aren't great in the hygiene department—computer rooms can sometimes end up smelling a little stale. However, contrary to popular belief, most of us are able to function regularly in society with the requisite social skills.

Do you have a preference between acting in movies or in television?
These days, the quality of the writing for television, especially cable, is on par with that for movies. They're both great media and have their advantages. As a series regular on a television series, you get to know your character really well, and you get to take your character on a potentially long journey. And you can be an employed actor for a very long time! As an actor in movies, you need to go through a learning and exploration process for each new role, which is both fun and challenging. Every movie role can be different. Both movies and television have their benefits, so I'm game for either.

How did your parents react when you told them you wanted to act instead of finishing up your Ph.D.?
I initially got interested in acting during the seven years I spent getting my Ph.D. It started off with a couple of musicals on campus. Soon afterwards, I was doing student films and local independent films. As one of my general philosophies, I believe in finishing anything I begin and make a commitment to, so quitting the Ph.D. program wasn't an option. So, I graduated with my Ph.D. in 2004 and have been managing two careers ever since. When I'm not acting, I work as an engineer doing research and development in the cell phone industry, which gives me a sense of balance. It's really not that uncommon, even for top actors, to have two careers. For instance, Josh Brolin is a day trader and has his own investment business called MarketProbability.com. And he claims to make much more money from his market trading than he does from acting. As for my family, they've always been supportive of my endeavors, knowing well enough by now that I'm a real go-getter and work hard to achieve anything I set out to do.

What was it like working with big name actors/actresses like Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner?
These well known actors are just real people who want to be treated like real people. It's when others around them start acting weirdly that they may seem standoffish. There's no reason to be intimidated when working with big name actors if the focus of the collaboration is to serve the story that's being told. These days, film budgets can be so tight that there's no time to be intimidated—you're whisked onto set, you do your scene, and you're whisked away. If you're not completely focused on telling your part of the story, you probably won't be hired again.

If they made a movie about your life, who would you choose to play yourself and why?
Matt Damon. I hear he's a math whiz who finishes impossible math problems throughout the hallways of MIT, so I think he could really understand the role, you know? Plus, if he can successfully transform himself into an Asian dude, I think you'll definitely be hearing some Oscar buzz.

When's the last time you received a red envelope?
It was probably when I was back home in Toronto for Memorial Day weekend, and my 82-year-old grandmother gave me a belated red envelope for Chinese New Year.

What are some Chinese traditions you like to pass on?
My family's never been big on Chinese traditions even though my parents emigrated from Hong Kong. But in terms of values associated with Chinese culture, I feel strongly about respect for parents and elders. That and taking shoes off in the house—I hate creating unnecessary housework like shampooing the carpet!

Can you tell if there are any social differences between Chinese Canadians versus Chinese Americans?
I've noticed that Chinese Canadians my age are either immigrants themselves or the children of immigrants, so they're usually familiar with Chinese culture and speak at least some of the language. This is because Canada's a young country, and the explosion of the Chinese Canadian population has only been in the past couple of decades. On the other hand, it's not that unusual to meet Chinese Americans whose families have been in the United States for generations and generations.

What American and Chinese actor do you enjoy watching? Who's an up and coming actor we should look out for?
I really like Emile Hirsch. It's not that often you see a young actor who makes smart choices about his career. He's done quality work in projects like Into the Wild, Milk, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, and The Mudge Boy. I also love watching B. D. Wong in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit—it's cool when a psychologist is also an FBI agent who occasionally does undercover work in Chinatown. And anyone who plays Song Liling in M. Butterfly has to be really gutsy. As for an up and coming actor, I'd say Ezra Miller. I worked on the family drama Every Day, in which Ezra played Helen Hunt and Liev Schreiber's teenaged son. He's pretty talented, with a recurring role on the USA Network series Royal Pains and a guest starring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

What are your top 3 favorite Chinese movies?
Mina Shum's Double Happiness, for which a young Sandra Oh (playing a Chinese-Canadian) won the Canadian Genie Award for Best Actress. You gotta love a country in which an actor of Asian ethnicity can be honored as the best in the profession. The Joy Luck Club, which proved that a mainstream Hollywood film about Asians could transcend race. And I'll admit I shed a tear or two when I watched it way back when. Finally, Fong Sai Yuk starring Jet Li. Gotta love that Hong Kong campiness.

What are some activities we could find you doing on your days off?
Heh, I'm managing two careers—what's a "day off"? But when I do fit it in, I love to play tennis, go backpacking, and play acoustic guitar.

What are some of Hollywood's misconceptions on Asian Pacific Islander actors?
East Asian men have historically been typecast as martial artists and gangsters, and are typically not romantically involved with anyone. East Asian women, on the other hand, are usually typecast as prostitutes or as the "hot" girlfriend of a Caucasian character. In the past few years though, roles for East Asian actors have become more varied to include professional characters such as doctors, lawyers, and scientists, but there is still a ways to go for the roles to truly reflect the full range of the East Asian experience. I encourage all ethnic actors to make their own films. Filmmaking can be such a powerful tool when it comes to changing people's perceptions and the stereotypes they're used to seeing from typical Hollywood fare. I recently wrote, directed, produced, and acted in my own film Fate Scores (http://fatescores.com), which so far has played at such venues as the Boston International Film Festival, the Wisconsin Film Festival, the Memphis International Film Festival, and the Asian American International Film Festival. Instead of portraying a professional or yet another gangster, I basically said to myself, "In this film, I want to be an indie rock musician and I want to get the girl in the end," and I went out and did just that without having to explain myself to anyone.

What's the strangest encounter you've had with a fan?
There's been more than one occasion in which I've gotten fan mail praising my performance in a particular feature film and requesting a signed photo. Unfortunately, my scene was cut from the final version of the film, and the deleted scene wasn't even part of the DVD extras. A little strange, but seemingly harmless—so a signed photo it was!

Thanks for taking time out to answer my questions; do you have any words you like to leave your fans?
Be sure to check out my website at http://albertmchan.com for my latest updates. Thanks for reading!

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This issue of A-Profiler is brought to you by Ray Lam.
Special thanks to Albert M. Chan.

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