November 4, 2024 • 47 mins
In today's episode we welcome Emiko Ishii, a remarkable action actress! Multidisciplinary on all fronts, she made a print in various industries: dance, film and in the world of martial arts.
So many actors dream about moving to L.A., but how do you plan this... the smart way? Emiko had a vision and made her dream come true! Listen to how she prepared her big move, from London to Los Angeles.
Award-winning choreographer and founder of Epica Dance, one of her debuts of mixing all her skills together was the making of a Bollywood 15-minute short film. Her experiences in film school then armed her with the knowledge needed to excel both behind and in front of the camera.
Emiko shares how her martial arts training have propelled her into the world of action acting. We discuss the value of physical discipline and the importance of a versatile skill set in landing mocap roles.
Collaboration is key for action actors, Emiko emphasises the significance of safety, adaptability, and trust, while candidly sharing the unpredictable nature of auditioning for action roles. With personal stories of overcoming challenges like a severe ACL tear, Emiko's dedication remains unwavering.
Contact Guest on Instagram:
@emikojaneishii
@epikadance
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Loudest for Takeover podcast.
As you know by now, I'm anaction actress that is also on
the journey of making her ownfilms.
So, in the pursuit of making myown work, in the pursuit of
becoming a better action actress, I'm just having a lot of
extremely exciting conversationswith artists all around the
world.
(00:20):
Today I have a special guest.
She's actually amultidisciplinary Japanese
actress who was born in London,went for the big dream, moved to
LA.
She's also an action actress.
She's an award-winningchoreographer, she has a
background in dance and she willtell you more about what kind
of dancing.
She is the founder of EpicaDance.
Please welcome Emiko Ishii.
(00:42):
Hi Emiko, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm good, thank you, and thank you so much for having
me on the show.
It's always great to connectwith people that are in the same
industry.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It is so exciting to talk to you today.
So obviously you are amulti-curious, multi-skilled
artist.
We will dive deeper into whatyou do as an action actress.
First, let's dive a little bitinto your world.
Let's talk a little bit aboutdance.
Let's talk a bit about mocap,because you also do motion
capture, and then we'll talkabout action acting and martial
(01:14):
arts.
So tell us more about EpicaDance and your background in the
world of dance.
What do you do as achoreographer and as a dancer?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Oh my gosh, that is a very loaded question, but I'll
try to answer it in a nutshell.
I am a Japanese yes, accentdancer, but my main styles of
dance is hip hop.
I started ballet, but thenhalfway through my journey
actually earlier on I used tolove watching Indian cinema and
(01:43):
that's where I encounteredIndian dance and I trained in
different styles of Indian dancefrom, of course, the Bollywood
side of things, and then Kathak.
And then, when I went to do myyear abroad, I encountered
Bhaglatian.
I wrote Nakul Dev Mahajan andwe competed nationally in dance
competitions and I came back toUK and I decided to do extend my
(02:08):
classical training in Kathak,which is classical Indian dance
from North India, and then Idecided to fuse everything
together.
I also do Japanese dance,nihonguyo, and I created Epica
because I think, after dancingin different companies and
everything, I had a vision of myown.
But also I wanted to createmore opportunities for people
(02:30):
within the industry, especiallySouth Asians, east Asians,
because at the same time I wasalso in film school and I
noticed that there was a lack ofrepresentation in the Asian
community in film.
So for me I wanted to marrythose two together to give
opportunities to everyone.
So that's why I created EptaDance and now I've been running
(02:53):
it for goodness, I think 12years now, and we've been very
lucky to travel abroad sharingour passion for Indian dance.
But also my dancers have comefrom student level to now
professional level, so it'smaking dreams come true.
If I'm able to do that, then Ifeel that I am giving back to
the community, because I gainedso much from dance alone and I
(03:16):
would have never thought thatI'd be making a career out of it
, so I'm very grateful.
So that is my journey.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
That is so powerful and also I can relate to that so
much because for me as well,contributing to the next
generations and empoweringartists is a very big part of my
work, and I feel that is also abig part of what you do is
mentoring others, creating sortof programs that empower others
and opening doors for otherpeople, not just for yourself
but also for other people.
So you mentioned that you wentto film school.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I did.
I went to the Met Film Schoolbecause, having overachieving
parents Asian parents theywanted me to go to university.
I wanted to go to drama school,to be honest, to Guildford, but
they wanted me to get a properdegree, as Asian parents do, and
I'm very grateful for it.
So if I couldn't be in front ofthe camera, I thought then I
(04:08):
will create opportunities forothers behind camera.
So that's where I went to, ofcourse, keane College, where I
did film and American history,where I went to the Met Film
School to learn about practicalapplications of film and how to
create films from pre-productionbeing part of the crew and
(04:31):
post-production.
And yes, and that's where I wasable to do.
My first film was about Japaneseculture and then my second one
was a Bollywood short, becauseBollywood films are three hours
long.
Second one was the a Bollywoodshort because, as Bollywood
films are three hours long, so Ithought just let's twist it a
bit.
But also, if I can give 15dancers an opportunity to
(04:51):
present themselves on screen,then let's do a Bollywood short
and make it appealing, because Iabsolutely love Bollywood films
, but I understand that it'svery long for a lot of people to
sit down and watch, even withan interval, and then I think
after that, that's when Istarted working in editing and I
was a camera assistant in theEdinburgh TV Festival.
(05:14):
I've worked in casting withHubbard Casting as an intern.
I've done all those elements soI got a very good idea of how
it works behind camera and ithas absolutely helped me to
understand how to work in frontof camera as well and just a
quick question about thisBollywood short, because a
(05:34):
Bollywood feature film, like yousaid, is three hours long.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
What would you consider a short in that world?
Would that be a 10-15 minutething or would that be an hour
it?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
was a 15 minute film.
Yeah, I literally cut it downto the bare minimum and we even
did have a dance number in thatas well.
Yeah, I applied all thoseskills in one and um.
And you know you're pretty muchdoing the writing, you're
producing, you're directing it,I was choreographing it, casting
, location finding, you know,going through all the red tape
(06:05):
in terms of location.
So it's not guerrilla filming.
So you know you reallyunderstand the process and I
think for anyone who's in this,you know industry.
You have to understand theprocess because I think you also
appreciate it more as an actor.
You know you know that crew arethe first ones there, they're
the last ones to get out as well, and you do appreciate the
whole process of filming, and so, uh, part of your work is in
(06:30):
dance, part of your work isbeing an actress.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Then another side of you in regards to movement, film
and acting is mocap motioncapture.
Uh, can you tell us a littlebit more?
What kind of of training didyou do and what sort of work are
you involved now in regards tomotion capture?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
With motion capture.
I actually discovered it laterand it's just because, of course
, in the UK we're very luckythat we do have schools like
Target 3D, the MoCap Vault, sothey do offer the training to
give you an insight into motioncapture.
And that is the future as well,with AI coming in as well.
So in that sense, it just was anatural progression for me that
(07:09):
I was able to use my movementskills as well as my fighting,
as well as my firearm skills totransition into the mocap
industry.
In that sense, I did train backin UK with those two companies
and then, when I came here, Ialso did a CQB2 course and one
with the mocap vault so that Icould apply my firearm skills
(07:31):
into the film industry as well,into motion capture.
So in that sense, that's wheremy training lies.
But I've also I'm currentlydoing dance as well as also
emulating artists so that I canrepresent them and to you know
where they're going to be doingconcerts in the future, so that
people are going to be lookingat you know, looking at the
(07:54):
artists pretty much over likegoggles.
So it's just, it's incrediblewhat motion capture does offer
these days and I'm reallygrateful that I'm able to be a
part of it.
I'm actually going to a jobright after this interview.
I'm going to my mocap um workright after this and uh, you
know you did.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
You did some training to do motion capture.
Is it possible to dive intothis industry if we have a
movement background but we neverhad proper training or a
specific qualification in mocap?
Can we still have a go at theindustry or we have to go
through proper, qualifiedtraining?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I always advise.
It's good to understand theinner workings and the insight
into the technical side ofmotion capture.
You still have to understandhow it works.
You know from simple as thet-pose and you know get us
obviously getting captured.
But I think someone who is froma movement background is
(08:53):
definitely able to assimilatefaster because you understand
movement, you understand, youknow, you're more spatially
aware, you understand how yourbody movements are and also in
terms of what sector you want togo in.
Is it more of the fighting side?
Is it more of the acting side?
And also because you're alsocapturing not just your
physicality but also your faceas well and if you want to do
(09:16):
animal, for instance.
So there's different techniquesfor each sector.
So it's always good to, I think, at least a basic course in
motion capture because you are,and when you have all the gear
on, you know your motion is abit more.
It's not as free as you know ifyou had no gear on.
So you do have to be acquaintedwith the things and of course,
(09:38):
every company is different aswell.
So it's always good to be ableto adapt and to understand and
get an insight to it.
So I so, to answer the question.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yes, anyone can do it , but I do think it's good to at
least have a course in order tounderstand the the world of
mocap and how it operates andwhat is the most exciting part
for you as an artist when youare on a mocap set and you or
you have a gig in that world,like, what do you feel is being
expressed, you know, throughyour body?
(10:08):
Or what are you the mostexcited about when you do that
kind of jobs?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
You're transported into a different world, but
you're in one place thatvisually you are transported
into a different world.
It could be anyone you want.
You've got different avatars.
One minute I can be you know apop singer, and then next minute
I'm this giant, you know animal, this ogre to a military
personnel.
And I think it's the mostexciting thing is to be able to
(10:33):
really understand and capturethat character's movements, how
they, you know, facially, alsoact as well, and I think it just
gives you a lot of freedom.
It's the freedom that you get.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
In regards to the jobs, is it your normal acting
agent that gets you mocap jobs,or are they actually agents?
Or production companies, Idon't know or talent agencies
that are specifically lookingfor mocap talents?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I received my mocap job because of my agent, but
also other mocap job because ofmy agent, but also other mocap.
You know people who whoappreciate that you have
different skill sets that youcould offer.
So I think here it's all aboutnetworking.
It's all about making sure thatyour skill you've got the skill
set and the knowledge andsomeone who is adaptable and
(11:20):
who's very reliable andprofessional to work with.
I know that back in UK thereare a lot of agencies, so you
have that route as well.
But also you know you canalways put yourself forward.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And now let's dive into the world of action.
You as an action actress, soyou're an actress, so you can
play any roles.
And then there is the movementaspect to it.
Let's talk about the movementaspect first.
So you said you mentioned thatyou are able to manipulate
firearms.
I've seen videos of you onInstagram like using swords and
(11:54):
a whole lot of props to fight.
You also do martial artswrestling.
How did you build all thisknowledge?
Basically, how did you?
Was it on the job?
Did you do like a training forevery single skill, like, how
did you build all that knowledgefirst?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
First and foremost, I've always done martial arts.
Growing up I've always beenvery physical and very sporty
and I think my passion for thatside you know, kind of sparked
my interest in anything physical.
So it started with martial artsof karate, of course, I did the
ballet and then I went intodancing but then I watched a lot
(12:34):
of action films.
So growing up my father wouldpretty much make me watch every
action film there was StevenSeagal to Jackie Chan and
Sylvester Stallone.
So I grew up watching a lot offighting and I was very inspired
and I think every year he'lltake me to watch James Bond
films.
So my birthday was literallywatching the James Bond films.
(12:56):
This was with Pierce Brosnanand I saw Michelle Yeoh and of
course at the time she was theonly Asian actress that I saw
who was also badass and Ithought she was like the badass
Bond girl ever and I think afterwatching that that was like OK,
if I could do something likeshe does, then I would love to
do something like this.
(13:17):
But at the time I had noknowledge of stunts, had no
knowledge of where you could getthe training or anything like
that.
So at the time I only did themartial arts side of things and
competed, and then later on Ithink it was in 2013 or a bit
earlier I discovered the BritishAction Academy, where they
offered training for people thatwant to do fighting in film,
(13:40):
and I think that was my firstproper understanding of how
fighting in the film industryworks.
So when you said, okay, you'vedone all of these things,
initially, yes, because I'vedone the physical side of things
, but the moment I understoodthat all of these things you
know you could do in film, Istarted to add on to my training
.
I started to do a streamer, Idid, of course, fire rounds, but
(14:04):
I also was a part of the ULOTCand ROTC, so I had four years of
military training, basicmilitary training.
So I already so in that sense,yeah, I love to challenge myself
.
So this again, fighting onscreen seemed like a natural
progression because I'm able tomarry that acting as well as my
passion for action.
And I have to say the BritishAction Academy honestly has you
(14:26):
know, I wouldn't be where I amtoday, I think, without their
training as well, and I do valueit who is run by Andreas
Petraeus, and I very muchrespect him as a stunt
coordinator as well as someonewho teaches people to, to be a
professional fight actress oryou know fight or special action
(14:47):
.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So now I'd love to talk to you about how you made
the dream a reality, becausethere are two layers, I think,
to how you made it happen.
Number one you moved country.
You were born in London andthen you were like OK, I've got,
I see myself, I envision myselfin LA, I'm going to give myself
a chance in LA.
This is a big move.
It's a city where there is alot of opportunities and, I'm
(15:10):
sure, also a lot of competition.
So how did you find your waysin LA?
But then also, how did you?
There's a difference betweensaying I have these skills and
I'm being able to sell it,because you can tell your agent
even hey, I'm doing this actionstuff or whatever.
But then there is also how didyou sell yourself as an action
(15:32):
actress?
How did you start getting jobsin that field?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
First, and foremost, coming to America, getting your
O-1 visa is a whole process initself, but I think you know,
mainly building up yourcredentials is extremely
important, building yourknowledge, and before coming
here it's so important you doyour research.
Because at the end of the day,when you come here, you're
coming in as someone who iscompletely new.
(15:57):
You're, you know, I don't havea name here, even though you've
got a lot of credentials back inanother country you're from.
It's important that you buildyour reputation here, your
knowledge here.
So I think that's, first andforemost, the biggest transition
is understanding how everythingoperates here.
Everyone is coming to LAbecause they want to be an
(16:17):
actress, the next actress,action actress, stunts.
But if you come in herecompletely blind, without doing
the research, I think you knowit is going to be more difficult
.
You do have to make yourcontacts, you do have to network
.
It is a hustle.
I'm not going to lie, it's thatis the reality of it.
I think some people are verylucky to be able to go straight
(16:38):
in.
But I think you know, for me Ithought, first and foremost,
when I come here, I, I did myresearch.
I always wanted to come herefrom a young age I've been
talking about since I was like15 years old and um, you know,
and I made it happen because mywhole training leading up till
now was because I had this focusthat I wanted to be here.
(16:59):
I knew I had to be here tochallenge myself and take myself
to the next level.
I continued with my screamertraining.
So, you know, you contactdifferent places where you can
still continue your training,but that also builds networking.
Training at jam, here you know,as um or temple.
So people, a lot of stuntartists, go to those places to
train specifically and you, youmake your connections.
(17:22):
In terms of the acting, I'mstill, of course, doing a lot of
castings and because I have abackground in production as well
, I was able to work on aproduction and then get invited
to audition as an actress andnow I'm doing two films where I
am doing acting and action atthe same time and able to put my
(17:43):
choreography skills within,fight choreography.
So, you know, I think you justhave to stay focused, determined
, believe in your skill sets andbelieve in what you know, be
reliable and professional, asanyone should in this industry,
and yeah, and just make ithappen, don't be afraid, and I
just want to clarify a littlebit.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
What do you do, or what do you?
You know, what do you do mostand what do you want to do?
Are you more an actress thathas an acting role and
eventually that role is alsofighting, or are you actually
stepping in for another actor asa double, because the actor
cannot do this choreographedfight?
Are you doing both, or are youdoing both, or are you doing one
(18:27):
more than the other, or I doboth.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
So I I do stand.
I do, uh, doubling work.
So whether it's a being a stunt, double, I do that as well.
But here my focus is that Iwant to aim to be a TV series
regular within film and doingpure acting, but doing my own
stunts.
So hence why the action actressbeing able to do both things?
(18:52):
Because I've got both skills.
So that is my goal here.
But of course, you have tobuild.
You have to build your skillset, you have to build your
knowledge.
I used to have to work on mycraft as well.
So it's constantly learning.
You're constantly evolving.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Yeah, and I hear that you're in continuous
professional development, incontinuous training, and I think
that's what our industry isrequired.
You know, it's like you cannotjust settle and say, yeah, cool,
I've got my degree now or I'vegot my little diploma in this or
this, like your body needs tokeep training.
Well, even as an actor, we needto keep training.
(19:28):
We need to be in thiscontinuous development of our
craft.
So you've already mentionedthat you're also a bit in
production, so you were able tocreate your own opportunities.
You also made some films andmaybe you're going to make some
films in the future as well.
Um, when it comes to yourrelationship with your agent
(19:49):
does, is it a specific agentthat does action that is sort of
very well networked in theaction world, or do they
understand your vision or how doyou work with your agent in
regards to that?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
I wanted an agent that is going to have my back no
matter what and who understandsme and appreciates that I've
got three different skill sets,because I think a lot of the
times you do get caught in theidea of, okay, I'm a pure
actress, so I can't promote myother skill set here.
I think you have to be, youhave to know how you want to
promote yourself and that comesinto your own marketing, your
(20:24):
own branding and who you are asa person and how you want to,
how you want people to see you.
I wanted people to know thatI'm not just a pure actress.
Yes, I do stunts, I do action,I do fight choreography, I also
do dance and I am amultidisciplinary artist and I
have trained specifically ineverything individually as well,
(20:44):
so I can be purest as well, butat the same time, at the same
time, this is who I am.
So when I was looking for anagent, I wanted an agent that
appreciated all of those skills.
Because that was the firstquestion I asked Should I put my
act, should I put my dance show?
Cause I don't want them to seeme as a dancer who is also
trying to be an actress or viceversa, and and I'm confident
(21:06):
that I know that I've trained inall of those things completely
and utterly to expert level.
So in that sense, when I lookfor my agent, she appreciated it
, she understood that.
In fact, she promotes it, shehighlights it.
So I think for anyone, if you'relooking for an agent, a find
that relationship where you knowthat you can work together to
(21:27):
elevate because your success isher success as well as well as
making sure that you know howyou want to put yourself forward
for castings.
I do want my acting roles, pureacting roles, as well, as if
there are action roles, I'mhappy to do that.
But also, yes, I want to alsodo some dance roles.
But you have to be clear ofwhat she wants and I believe
(21:48):
that with my agent right now, Iam very lucky that she
appreciates all of those thingsand we're on the same page.
So we've got the same goal andthe same path.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Okay, so you've got really one agent and you're
fully aligned, but you don'thave different agents for your
different sort of skills, oneagent that is able to understand
you under this umbrella ofskills that you have.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yes, and the next stage is a manager.
I did have a manager prior, but, of course, when I moved here,
I stuck to just the one agentnow, but I will be looking for a
manager here.
You know so because in US thisis normal as well, so that you
are also.
They're also helping youcultivate your branding, how you
promote yourself, and givingyou advice, and I think that's
(22:30):
so important.
You know that.
You know that.
You know in different countriesthings operate differently from
headshots to how you showyourself on in your spotlight
page, or actors access castingnetworks, which are all these
places where you do, whereyou're seen by casting agents.
So it's important that you'vegot a good agent or manager to
(22:51):
be able to help you understandthe inner workings and what
works, what doesn't.
I think that's so important andI went through 250 agencies and
managers to find the one thatthat was right for me.
Wow, that's a lot of research.
It's a lot of research.
I went through the whole SAGlist of agents and managers and
(23:12):
I even looked at their ethos.
I looked at their website forthose that did have websites,
but I'm just one of those peoplethat I like to do my research.
I like to know who I'm workingwith and if they're going to
help me with my career as well,and then my win is their win,
and I'm going to put 200% intoanything that.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
I do.
This is so important because,obviously, this is the Loud
Whisper Takeover podcast andthis Loud Whisper, this
intuition, this feeling alignedit's a theme that's very
important and a lot of thepeople that I'm inviting as
guests.
I feel there is this theme of Isearched for the person perfect
to work with and being justaligned with the opportunity,
(23:53):
the collaborator, and I thinkthose are very important
reminders for us as artists.
Going back to your work as anaction actress and you fighting
in front of the camera, what doyou feel is empowering about it?
What attracted you to thesekind of roles, outside of the
fact that you know you had thephysical abilities?
What is this part of yourselfthat you express?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
You just feel you know great, that you're using
your skill set and because Ilove these characters.
I love strong characters,whether it's within fighting,
being a villain or being a goodcop.
I think this with acting givesyou the freedom to be anyone you
want to be and you can create,you can evolve those characters
and when you're adding theaction element to it, that's
(24:38):
another layer that you're doing.
You're doing the movements thatwe still have to tell a story
through the physicality of it.
So I think that's why Iabsolutely love to being an
action actress, because I get tomarry the two together.
I think you know, if you justhave the action, you're not
telling the story, you're notgiving the intensity, the energy
and the relationship betweenthe person that you're fighting
(24:59):
with.
Then it just becomes a regularfight.
I think people want to see astory and I think getting that
autonomy as well as an actionactress, it's so liberating and
empowering as an action actress,you're obviously in touch with
the stunt coordinator or thechoreographer.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Can you explain us a little bit more how you work
with a stunt stunt coordinatoror a fight choreographer and
also what your relationship iswith the director?
Like, how are thesecollaborations happening on set?
Speaker 2 (25:30):
so with stunt coordinators.
I've been very lucky to workwith really good stunt
coordinators who, of course,situation dictates.
Whether you're handling weapons, whether you're doing unarmed
combat, whether you're onfirearms, you do get the
training prior and, of course,understand the situation, what
you're going to be doing.
(25:51):
If you are lucky to haverehearsals and pre-biz, then
great.
But sometimes you're in asituation where you have to
think on the spot and with thetraining they'll get you to
create something and they'llmake sure that everyone is safe.
If you're working with peoplemultiple people around you make
sure that everyone is safe.
If you're working with people,multiple people around you and
this is including essays, um,you know, um extras or
supporting artists you have tomake sure that it's not only
(26:13):
your fight partner that you'rekeeping safe, but also other
people.
So I think the stuntcoordinators they really do they
they have to also trust you.
So you are being hired becauseyou are skilled and
knowledgeable in all of thosethings.
So I always love working withdifferent fight choreographers,
stunt coordinators, because theyhave always something to offer.
Different fight coordinatorswill have different ways of
(26:35):
punching.
Even a simple punch could bedifferent.
So adaptability, I think, isvery key as an action actress or
stunt person and safety as well.
I think I'm very lucky thatI've worked with stunt
coordinators where I am doingfalls on concrete or I'm, you
know, getting jerked back andyou know to make sure that I'm
(26:57):
okay and the fact that you'revery much aware of what is
happening situationally inadvance so that, yep, you can
give the best performance theycould possibly give for that
scene.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
And what about directors?
At what stage do they come in?
Do you meet them on set?
Do the directors of the moviesalready come to rehearsals?
What is your relationship withthem?
Do you feel you receive a lotof directions of the director,
or are you just and only sort ofworking with the stunt
coordinators?
How does that work?
On bigger productions.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yes, if you're hired as a fight performer or a stunt,
you're working closely with thestunt coordinators, the fight
choreographing team or a secondunit director.
You do get an idea of what thedirector wants and, of course,
they feed it to you in terms ofthe scenario, what character you
have to be, what kind of fightstyle that you're going to be
(27:51):
doing, what they want.
So you do get the direction,but mostly you'll be working
closely with the stuntcoordinator or second unit
director or the fightchoreographer.
But then when I'm doing action,acting for the films I have
been doing recently, thedirector was very much feeding
me okay, this is the characterthat I want, but he gave me
freedom to be able tochoreograph my own fights, for
(28:13):
instance.
And sometimes, when you'reworking on independent films or,
if you're working on, you know,feature films whereby
distribution is going to go fast, you have to be able to think
on the spot.
In that sense, I think I had tocreate a fight scene within
five minutes and then, okay,we're ready to shoot now, so
we're going to go now.
So it's one of those thingswhere you have to think on the
spot.
(28:33):
Okay, I'm this character and Ihave to deliver this final fight
scene where I'm up against asix foot four guy.
So how do I create this fightwithin five minutes, and also
for someone who's not asexperienced, who's also more of
an actor than an action actor.
So as long as you know whatyou're doing and as long as
there's communication, thenyou're able to deliver.
(28:55):
I think that's the main thing.
And, of course, as long as youhave the skill set and the
knowledge to be able to workfast.
But that comes with experience.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
I want to bounce back about rehearsals here and the
amount of rehearsals, because abit earlier on you said
sometimes we have to just createsomething on the spot and then
you said, oh yeah, when we haverehearsals or when they give you
five minutes to createsomething.
So first of all, I think myfirst question is when there's
little time or no time torehearse, is that due to budget
(29:27):
or is that due to creativeprocess?
You know, is that a choice ofthe creative process or is that
just literally?
Look, there is no budget, wecan't have rehearsals, so we're
going to have to do with thosefive minutes here.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
It could be both, but it could be.
I've worked on situations whereit's just because they trust us
, because we're from a certainacademy whereby they know we're
trained to be able to create ourown fights.
If we're background fighting,then you're just creating your
own bits and mostly the stuntcoordinator knew that we were
from that academy.
Like with the British ActionAcademy, they know that we are
(30:02):
reliable to create our ownthings if they need us to and if
there are specific scenes whereyou're in front of camera and
you need to make sure that allof those hits and everything
work for camera, and, of course,when everything is happening
around you at the same time, ofcourse you have time to be able
to rehearse that.
So I've had that luxury and, ofcourse, doing the luxury of
pre-visits for other things,where you literally create the
(30:24):
fight scene from beginning toend, being able to film it prior
to when you're actually goingon set and then, of course,
recently being in a situationwhere, yeah, I had to create it
within five minutes, and that isdue to that was due to timing,
because they had to filmeverything in one place because
of the location.
It's sometimes because due tothe fact that you only have one
(30:45):
day to film in this one locationwhere everything is happening
in that one place.
It could be due to budget.
Yes, I've had times where itwas due to budget.
And then there are times where,even with the budget, you know
you have the previs andeverything.
Not all of the fight scene isused.
And you know because of time,because you know when you're
doing hair and makeup and youknow those things kind of factor
(31:06):
in technical things happeningon set.
Anything can happen on set andthat kind of whittles down your
time.
So it could be so manydifferent factors but situation
dictates and you just have to beprepared for any situation that
happens.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
I have a question about your profile because, as
actors, we are the product.
Our physical outlook is theproduct.
You know, whether we want it ornot.
You know I am a woman.
I have a shaved head.
It's a part of my brand, Iguess as well well does your
physicality, the way that youlook, and and in that you know,
I mean the fact that you are awoman.
(31:40):
I believe you are petite.
Am I right in saying that youare petite?
Um, the fact that you're Asian,are there things that play in
your favor or are there thingsthat, on the contrary, make it
hard for you to get casted or toget jobs in the world of action
movies?
Speaker 2 (31:57):
I think my physicality sometimes.
Of course, if I had to be anAmazonian woman, I will not be
casted for that because purelybecause of my height, my
physicality and everything, butat the same time that doesn't
concern me, because I've been inauditions where I'm up against
hundreds of people and thenbecause of my firearm skills and
(32:18):
the fact that maybe I am EastAsian and there's not that many
East Asian people that do a lotof the fighting, that I got
hired.
But I would like to think Iscene where I look convinced,
I'm convincing and I, you know,unbelievable, and I do
(32:39):
everything technically sound howthe director or the fight
coordinator wants it, I believethat I'll get hired.
And if not, it wasn't for me.
But yes, there are times whereyou know I've been told oh,
maybe you should do more of thechild acting stuff.
You know the child double,which I can do because I'm small
and petite.
But I've been very lucky.
I've been with Secret Invasion,for instance.
(33:03):
I was auditioning with hundredsof people and then myself and
another actress with the onlytwo females amongst 30, other 35
other guys and we were playingSAS and secret service and it
was purely because of ourfirearm skills.
So in that sense, I think morethan anything I'm not thinking
(33:23):
about my look when I'm doingcertain roles.
Of course, depending on therole, I would adapt to it.
But if it is action, I wouldlike to think that I was brought
into audition for a reason.
So I have just as muchopportunity as anyone else in
the room.
I just have to believe in myskill and believe in my skill
set and give it my best shot.
And if I get hired, great.
(33:43):
If not, then on to the next.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
And a word of encouragement towards women in
this industry.
Do you think we have to createmore space and even claim more
space, more roles for femaleaction actresses, or do you
think that at the moment, thereare equal opportunities when it
comes to action roles for men asmuch as action roles for women?
Speaker 2 (34:08):
I think there's a huge demand, I think there is a
huge market for women in actionand, of course, I've just met a
very incredible stuntwomanrecently who's just got pregnant
.
Of course, as women, we have toface the reality that if you
want family and everything likethat, that might take you away
for a bit.
But in general, I think thereis so much space for women to
(34:31):
represent and I think there is aneed for women to, you know, to
be in this space where we canrepresent as action artists, as
stunt women, as strong womenwho's got so many skills to
share, just as much as men.
So I feel that there is such ahuge opportunity right now for
any woman.
(34:51):
So, you know, get on it.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
So let's talk about auditions, because obviously
when you go as an actress for ajob, we might have auditions, or
in person, and then you do some.
Uh, you know, you learn ascript, somebody gives you the
lines or your self-tape.
When you go for an action role,either as a pure as an action
actress or a person, that ispure just the movement aspect of
(35:17):
it for the film, what is theaudition process like?
Is it very different?
Is it self-tape first?
Is it?
What sort of things do they askyou to do in an audition?
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Yeah, so I've had two different styles I've had in
person.
I just literally had one theother day where it was for
fighting and to be a karatepersonnel, so, of course, all
day, and it was very quick andsweet, you know, doing a couple
of shadow boxing as well aspresenting a kata or a form, and
(35:48):
that's what they wanted to see.
And then I had another auditionwhereby they were like you are
basically an assassin, butyou're interrogating a person
and then an explosion happensand you have to enact a whole,
um, enact a whole action scenein a self-tape in this with this
background.
You know, mid-shot, they don'twant you to enact it.
(36:11):
And then I had one where theywere like can you please do this
whole?
You know I had one line butthen the rest of it was action.
You know where they wanted meto, um, you know, get strangled,
be thrown from my back and rollin to deliver another line, and
they wanted that in a location.
So you know the audition processis, it varies in so many
(36:32):
different ways.
Um, so it's exciting on so manylevels and it can be
challenging because you'rethinking, oh my gosh, I'm doing
all of this for, for a castingwhere you know, I might not even
hear back from this castingagent.
I might be lucky to hear backand get the role, but it just
goes to show that you know, youjust have to love your craft
(36:54):
because there's so manydifferent scenarios that you're
going to to get, and in fact,with the uh, the one I had to do
, you know, in in this location,um, yeah, it's, you know, I I
actually did um book the job,but it's just um, yeah, it's so
many different factors, you know, you just have to be so aware
(37:14):
and and this is another thing, Ithink, in this day and age, you
have to know how to self-tapein different ways.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
That was a self-tape, the one that they asked you to
roll over and where your hairwas pulled and you had to be in
a location.
That was a self-tape, or thatwas actually.
You had to go to the castingand you were in a location.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
I was in a location for that where I had to roll the
other one where I had to be anassassin and the explosion
happened and I had to fightsomeone on the space and it was
like four different scenarios inthat one casting the element of
interrogation, then you knowthe fight, and then explosion
happening, then a fight, anotherfight scene happening, and
you're doing this to yourself,but you had to do it to a camera
(37:58):
so that it makes it believablethat you're fighting someone,
and then in the end you gothrough a door and you're being
arrested.
So many different elements inone self-tape.
As an actress and, of course,as a movement action artist.
It's a very exciting self-tape.
But at the same time it's avery exciting self-tape but at
(38:18):
the same time it can be verychallenging because of course,
you would love the luxury ofbeing able to fight someone else
, but if it's a self-tape and Ihad limited time, I literally
had four castings that day, so Iliterally was doing it within
like the 30, 40 minutes.
Actually, I was timing myselfand I had to do it in two takes
and get it right and rememberthat whole scenario, you know.
So it's challenging, but thisis what we do.
(38:38):
This is what we live for, andif you know so, you have to have
thick skin like dragon skindoing this job.
I think let's talk aboutinjuries.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
We are moving, we are movement artists, we are
athlete artists.
Injuries can happen, and thatcan happen in dance, that can
happen in fights, that canhappen in choreographed fights.
I believe you had an injurythat was quite impactful and it
was a challenge that you had toovercome.
Would you mind telling us alittle bit more about what
(39:09):
happened and how you overcamethat challenge with positivity?
Speaker 2 (39:13):
so I've had multiple injuries in the past, the
biggest one being an ACL tear onmy right knee.
And this was via dance and Islipped on the carpet because it
was very slippery and then Idislocated my knee and full ACL
tear and I had a hamstringreconstruction surgery.
But that was probably thebiggest injury I ever had
(39:34):
because prior to that I had alot of dislocations on my left
shoulder from swimming andcompeting.
But I think it's so easy to sayand it's easy to say this when
you're not injured and whenyou're healthy, is that, oh yeah
, no, everything will be fine.
But of course, when you'resomeone who relies solely, your
whole career is your physicalityand that's your job it of
(39:57):
course it's mentally,emotionally, very difficult and
debilitating.
And I think at the time atfirst, when that happens because
you know, I didn't know whatthe injury was about and I was
told that I had to find out thecareer I was told that it's
going to take me nine months toa year to recover from that
injury.
So I had to give up all mydance jobs.
(40:19):
I was on a theater job at thetime.
I was a lead actress for thetheater production, but I had to
walk in that.
So even after that injury, thenext day in the rehearsal I was
told please can you show me thatyou can walk without your
crutches, because otherwise I'mgoing to have to replace you.
So I think the reality of thisindustry is that you are very
(40:42):
much replaceable.
Expendable with the realitythat hit me and of course, I had
my cry.
I was, you know, absolutelydevastated because I thought
this is the end of my career.
I'm not going to be able to domy martial arts, I'm not going
to be able to do my martial arts, I'm not going to be able to be
an action artist.
I'm going to have to do purelynon-physical things which I felt
defined me.
(41:02):
But I think those are theopportunities.
I think when you are someonewho loves your sport, you love
action, you love all of thesephysical things, you think those
things are what define you asan artist.
Without those things you don'texist anymore.
But I think that gave me theopportunity to think okay, what
can I do whilst my recovery ishappening, to build myself more,
(41:26):
not only as an artist but as aperson?
Because I think those thingscan be so emotionally
debilitating that you can gospiral down in a negative space.
So I think in those things,those are the opportunities.
You think that this happened fora reason for you to either slow
down at the time was probablyto tell me to slow down and to
(41:48):
really work on my acting, towork on my business, to work on
the person that I am.
To have purpose even withoutthose things.
Who am I?
Strip everything that I have,the skill set, my, my skill set,
who am I, in a nutshell, as aperson?
And it got me to work on thosethings.
And I think once you have thatdown, you begin to understand
(42:10):
this is not the end, this isjust the beginning of developing
yourself, and I believe thatthe greatest thing about
anything like this is thatyou're of developing yourself.
And I believe that the greatestthing about anything like this
is that you're not conditionedto be the same person that you
were 10 years ago to who you arenow.
You're constantly evolving.
So, having said that, I have hada recent injury myself on a job
, on a contracted job, and itwas a freak accident and it's a
(42:35):
show no-transcript moved here.
(42:57):
I'm just starting my career andI, you know, got all of these
bookings and everything, and nowthis has happened.
Why and you think, why is ithappening to me?
But from why is it happening tome?
I changed that mindset to okay,this has happened before.
I know that I can recover fasterthan anyone because nine months
(43:17):
was the time I was given andwithin one month I was back in
dancing and doing a stunt job,which is very unusual for an ACL
tear.
But that's only because I wasvery focused to get back in.
This is what I want to do.
I've got no other choice.
This is what I want to do as acareer.
So my mindset right now is I'mstill able to do a lot of the
(43:41):
jobs, thankfully, but of courseI won't be able to do crazy
stunts or anything like that.
But this has given me again theopportunity to think okay, what
do I want to do next until I'mable to fully function again
after post-surgery?
So now I'm having thisopportunity to speak with you
and again I'm able to say to youthat I'm going to evolve again.
(44:02):
I'm having to evolve again withthe situation that's happened
to me and I know as a fact thatI'm going to come back stronger
and I'm going to come back withdifferent things.
I've already planned what I'mgoing to be doing, while I'm
probably going to be, you know,one month without being able to
move physically.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
I absolutely love listening to your power, like
the fire you have in your belly,as transpires really in every
story that you're sharing.
Just to wrap up this interview,because you are very passionate
about empowering as well, likethe next generation, Is there
any top tip, word of wisdom,mantra that you can share with
(44:43):
action actors?
Action actresses that want tomake it in this industry,
whether it's in LA, in anothercountry, but just move forward
and keep on track with theirdreams.
What would be your words, youradvice to them?
Speaker 2 (44:58):
My advice always is a Japanese proverb which is
nanakorobi yaoki, which meansyou fall seven times, get up
eight, no matter how much,because this industry, it can
definitely emotionally strainyou in a lot of ways.
It's going to be mentallychallenging, but at the same
time, you always have to believein your skill.
(45:19):
You have to believe in yourselfand you're the only person you
can be your own cheerleader.
No one else is going to do thatfor you, it's you.
And I think once you are able tomentally prepare yourself,
mentally condition yourself tobe able to take any hit that
comes, you'll be able to comeback stronger and you'll be able
to take any hit that comes.
You'll be able to come backstronger and you'll be able to
fight through any kind ofobstacle that's going to come
(45:39):
your way, because there's goingto be a lot.
There's going to be a lot ofrejections, there's going to be
a lot of wins, there's going tobe a lot of highs and lows, but
that is the whole process ofthis journey.
There is no one direction.
Well, there is one direction,but you know it's to get to the
top of the mountain.
You are going to have to takedifferent ups and turns and
(46:01):
everything.
So you just have to keep going,never give up and believe in
yourself and fight for what youwant.
Speaker 1 (46:08):
Emiko, if people want to know more about you, follow
your journey, know more aboutall the magnificent things
you're up to, where can theyfind you?
Speaker 2 (46:15):
on social media they can find me on at emmycara jane
ishi on instagram or, if youwant to know more about the
dancing side at epica dance, oninstagram as well.
But, yes, no, please do reachout.
I'm always happy to answerquestions.
With what I know, there's somany different experts out there
(46:36):
as well.
Start networking, start talkingto different people, but if
there's anything that I cananswer, I'm always here to
answer any questions as well.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
Thank you so much, amiko.
I really hope that our pathsare going to cross and that we
will work together one day,because I feel, yeah, I really
absolutely love your vibe andyour energy and your outlook on
life.
So thank you so much for beingon this podcast today what a
journey you have as well.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
So, absolutely, we have to connect and, you know,
hopefully get a fight in.
You know I'll be honest.
Yes, thank you.
Thank you so much.
Welcome to the Loudest for Takeover podcast.
As you know by now, I'm anaction actress that is also on
the journey of making her ownfilms.
So, in the pursuit of making myown work, in the pursuit of
becoming a better action actress, I'm just having a lot of
extremely exciting conversationswith artists all around the
world.
(00:20):
Today I have a special guest.
She's actually amultidisciplinary Japanese
actress who was born in London,went for the big dream, moved to
LA.
She's also an action actress.
She's an award-winningchoreographer, she has a
background in dance and she willtell you more about what kind
of dancing.
She is the founder of EpicaDance.
Please welcome Emiko Ishii.
(00:42):
Hi Emiko, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm good, thank you, and thank you so much for having
me on the show.
It's always great to connectwith people that are in the same
industry.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It is so exciting to talk to you today.
So obviously you are amulti-curious, multi-skilled
artist.
We will dive deeper into whatyou do as an action actress.
First, let's dive a little bitinto your world.
Let's talk a little bit aboutdance.
Let's talk a bit about mocap,because you also do motion
capture, and then we'll talkabout action acting and martial
(01:14):
arts.
So tell us more about EpicaDance and your background in the
world of dance.
What do you do as achoreographer and as a dancer?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Oh my gosh, that is a very loaded question, but I'll
try to answer it in a nutshell.
I am a Japanese yes, accentdancer, but my main styles of
dance is hip hop.
I started ballet, but thenhalfway through my journey
actually earlier on I used tolove watching Indian cinema and
(01:43):
that's where I encounteredIndian dance and I trained in
different styles of Indian dancefrom, of course, the Bollywood
side of things, and then Kathak.
And then, when I went to do myyear abroad, I encountered
Bhaglatian.
I wrote Nakul Dev Mahajan andwe competed nationally in dance
competitions and I came back toUK and I decided to do extend my
(02:08):
classical training in Kathak,which is classical Indian dance
from North India, and then Idecided to fuse everything
together.
I also do Japanese dance,nihonguyo, and I created Epica
because I think, after dancingin different companies and
everything, I had a vision of myown.
But also I wanted to createmore opportunities for people
(02:30):
within the industry, especiallySouth Asians, east Asians,
because at the same time I wasalso in film school and I
noticed that there was a lack ofrepresentation in the Asian
community in film.
So for me I wanted to marrythose two together to give
opportunities to everyone.
So that's why I created EptaDance and now I've been running
(02:53):
it for goodness, I think 12years now, and we've been very
lucky to travel abroad sharingour passion for Indian dance.
But also my dancers have comefrom student level to now
professional level, so it'smaking dreams come true.
If I'm able to do that, then Ifeel that I am giving back to
the community, because I gainedso much from dance alone and I
(03:16):
would have never thought thatI'd be making a career out of it
, so I'm very grateful.
So that is my journey.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
That is so powerful and also I can relate to that so
much because for me as well,contributing to the next
generations and empoweringartists is a very big part of my
work, and I feel that is also abig part of what you do is
mentoring others, creating sortof programs that empower others
and opening doors for otherpeople, not just for yourself
but also for other people.
So you mentioned that you wentto film school.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I did.
I went to the Met Film Schoolbecause, having overachieving
parents Asian parents theywanted me to go to university.
I wanted to go to drama school,to be honest, to Guildford, but
they wanted me to get a properdegree, as Asian parents do, and
I'm very grateful for it.
So if I couldn't be in front ofthe camera, I thought then I
(04:08):
will create opportunities forothers behind camera.
So that's where I went to, ofcourse, keane College, where I
did film and American history,where I went to the Met Film
School to learn about practicalapplications of film and how to
create films from pre-productionbeing part of the crew and
(04:31):
post-production.
And yes, and that's where I wasable to do.
My first film was about Japaneseculture and then my second one
was a Bollywood short, becauseBollywood films are three hours
long.
Second one was the a Bollywoodshort because, as Bollywood
films are three hours long, so Ithought just let's twist it a
bit.
But also, if I can give 15dancers an opportunity to
(04:51):
present themselves on screen,then let's do a Bollywood short
and make it appealing, because Iabsolutely love Bollywood films
, but I understand that it'svery long for a lot of people to
sit down and watch, even withan interval, and then I think
after that, that's when Istarted working in editing and I
was a camera assistant in theEdinburgh TV Festival.
(05:14):
I've worked in casting withHubbard Casting as an intern.
I've done all those elements soI got a very good idea of how
it works behind camera and ithas absolutely helped me to
understand how to work in frontof camera as well and just a
quick question about thisBollywood short, because a
(05:34):
Bollywood feature film, like yousaid, is three hours long.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
What would you consider a short in that world?
Would that be a 10-15 minutething or would that be an hour
it?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
was a 15 minute film.
Yeah, I literally cut it downto the bare minimum and we even
did have a dance number in thatas well.
Yeah, I applied all thoseskills in one and um.
And you know you're pretty muchdoing the writing, you're
producing, you're directing it,I was choreographing it, casting
, location finding, you know,going through all the red tape
(06:05):
in terms of location.
So it's not guerrilla filming.
So you know you reallyunderstand the process and I
think for anyone who's in this,you know industry.
You have to understand theprocess because I think you also
appreciate it more as an actor.
You know you know that crew arethe first ones there, they're
the last ones to get out as well, and you do appreciate the
whole process of filming, and so, uh, part of your work is in
(06:30):
dance, part of your work isbeing an actress.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Then another side of you in regards to movement, film
and acting is mocap motioncapture.
Uh, can you tell us a littlebit more?
What kind of of training didyou do and what sort of work are
you involved now in regards tomotion capture?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
With motion capture.
I actually discovered it laterand it's just because, of course
, in the UK we're very luckythat we do have schools like
Target 3D, the MoCap Vault, sothey do offer the training to
give you an insight into motioncapture.
And that is the future as well,with AI coming in as well.
So in that sense, it just was anatural progression for me that
(07:09):
I was able to use my movementskills as well as my fighting,
as well as my firearm skills totransition into the mocap
industry.
In that sense, I did train backin UK with those two companies
and then, when I came here, Ialso did a CQB2 course and one
with the mocap vault so that Icould apply my firearm skills
(07:31):
into the film industry as well,into motion capture.
So in that sense, that's wheremy training lies.
But I've also I'm currentlydoing dance as well as also
emulating artists so that I canrepresent them and to you know
where they're going to be doingconcerts in the future, so that
people are going to be lookingat you know, looking at the
(07:54):
artists pretty much over likegoggles.
So it's just, it's incrediblewhat motion capture does offer
these days and I'm reallygrateful that I'm able to be a
part of it.
I'm actually going to a jobright after this interview.
I'm going to my mocap um workright after this and uh, you
know you did.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
You did some training to do motion capture.
Is it possible to dive intothis industry if we have a
movement background but we neverhad proper training or a
specific qualification in mocap?
Can we still have a go at theindustry or we have to go
through proper, qualifiedtraining?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I always advise.
It's good to understand theinner workings and the insight
into the technical side ofmotion capture.
You still have to understandhow it works.
You know from simple as thet-pose and you know get us
obviously getting captured.
But I think someone who is froma movement background is
(08:53):
definitely able to assimilatefaster because you understand
movement, you understand, youknow, you're more spatially
aware, you understand how yourbody movements are and also in
terms of what sector you want togo in.
Is it more of the fighting side?
Is it more of the acting side?
And also because you're alsocapturing not just your
physicality but also your faceas well and if you want to do
(09:16):
animal, for instance.
So there's different techniquesfor each sector.
So it's always good to, I think, at least a basic course in
motion capture because you are,and when you have all the gear
on, you know your motion is abit more.
It's not as free as you know ifyou had no gear on.
So you do have to be acquaintedwith the things and of course,
(09:38):
every company is different aswell.
So it's always good to be ableto adapt and to understand and
get an insight to it.
So I so, to answer the question.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yes, anyone can do it , but I do think it's good to at
least have a course in order tounderstand the the world of
mocap and how it operates andwhat is the most exciting part
for you as an artist when youare on a mocap set and you or
you have a gig in that world,like, what do you feel is being
expressed, you know, throughyour body?
(10:08):
Or what are you the mostexcited about when you do that
kind of jobs?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
You're transported into a different world, but
you're in one place thatvisually you are transported
into a different world.
It could be anyone you want.
You've got different avatars.
One minute I can be you know apop singer, and then next minute
I'm this giant, you know animal, this ogre to a military
personnel.
And I think it's the mostexciting thing is to be able to
(10:33):
really understand and capturethat character's movements, how
they, you know, facially, alsoact as well, and I think it just
gives you a lot of freedom.
It's the freedom that you get.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
In regards to the jobs, is it your normal acting
agent that gets you mocap jobs,or are they actually agents?
Or production companies, Idon't know or talent agencies
that are specifically lookingfor mocap talents?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I received my mocap job because of my agent, but
also other mocap job because ofmy agent, but also other mocap.
You know people who whoappreciate that you have
different skill sets that youcould offer.
So I think here it's all aboutnetworking.
It's all about making sure thatyour skill you've got the skill
set and the knowledge andsomeone who is adaptable and
(11:20):
who's very reliable andprofessional to work with.
I know that back in UK thereare a lot of agencies, so you
have that route as well.
But also you know you canalways put yourself forward.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And now let's dive into the world of action.
You as an action actress, soyou're an actress, so you can
play any roles.
And then there is the movementaspect to it.
Let's talk about the movementaspect first.
So you said you mentioned thatyou are able to manipulate
firearms.
I've seen videos of you onInstagram like using swords and
(11:54):
a whole lot of props to fight.
You also do martial artswrestling.
How did you build all thisknowledge?
Basically, how did you?
Was it on the job?
Did you do like a training forevery single skill, like, how
did you build all that knowledgefirst?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
First and foremost, I've always done martial arts.
Growing up I've always beenvery physical and very sporty
and I think my passion for thatside you know, kind of sparked
my interest in anything physical.
So it started with martial artsof karate, of course, I did the
ballet and then I went intodancing but then I watched a lot
(12:34):
of action films.
So growing up my father wouldpretty much make me watch every
action film there was StevenSeagal to Jackie Chan and
Sylvester Stallone.
So I grew up watching a lot offighting and I was very inspired
and I think every year he'lltake me to watch James Bond
films.
So my birthday was literallywatching the James Bond films.
(12:56):
This was with Pierce Brosnanand I saw Michelle Yeoh and of
course at the time she was theonly Asian actress that I saw
who was also badass and Ithought she was like the badass
Bond girl ever and I think afterwatching that that was like OK,
if I could do something likeshe does, then I would love to
do something like this.
(13:17):
But at the time I had noknowledge of stunts, had no
knowledge of where you could getthe training or anything like
that.
So at the time I only did themartial arts side of things and
competed, and then later on Ithink it was in 2013 or a bit
earlier I discovered the BritishAction Academy, where they
offered training for people thatwant to do fighting in film,
(13:40):
and I think that was my firstproper understanding of how
fighting in the film industryworks.
So when you said, okay, you'vedone all of these things,
initially, yes, because I'vedone the physical side of things
, but the moment I understoodthat all of these things you
know you could do in film, Istarted to add on to my training
.
I started to do a streamer, Idid, of course, fire rounds, but
(14:04):
I also was a part of the ULOTCand ROTC, so I had four years of
military training, basicmilitary training.
So I already so in that sense,yeah, I love to challenge myself
.
So this again, fighting onscreen seemed like a natural
progression because I'm able tomarry that acting as well as my
passion for action.
And I have to say the BritishAction Academy honestly has you
(14:26):
know, I wouldn't be where I amtoday, I think, without their
training as well, and I do valueit who is run by Andreas
Petraeus, and I very muchrespect him as a stunt
coordinator as well as someonewho teaches people to, to be a
professional fight actress oryou know fight or special action
(14:47):
.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So now I'd love to talk to you about how you made
the dream a reality, becausethere are two layers, I think,
to how you made it happen.
Number one you moved country.
You were born in London andthen you were like OK, I've got,
I see myself, I envision myselfin LA, I'm going to give myself
a chance in LA.
This is a big move.
It's a city where there is alot of opportunities and, I'm
(15:10):
sure, also a lot of competition.
So how did you find your waysin LA?
But then also, how did you?
There's a difference betweensaying I have these skills and
I'm being able to sell it,because you can tell your agent
even hey, I'm doing this actionstuff or whatever.
But then there is also how didyou sell yourself as an action
(15:32):
actress?
How did you start getting jobsin that field?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
First, and foremost, coming to America, getting your
O-1 visa is a whole process initself, but I think you know,
mainly building up yourcredentials is extremely
important, building yourknowledge, and before coming
here it's so important you doyour research.
Because at the end of the day,when you come here, you're
coming in as someone who iscompletely new.
(15:57):
You're, you know, I don't havea name here, even though you've
got a lot of credentials back inanother country you're from.
It's important that you buildyour reputation here, your
knowledge here.
So I think that's, first andforemost, the biggest transition
is understanding how everythingoperates here.
Everyone is coming to LAbecause they want to be an
(16:17):
actress, the next actress,action actress, stunts.
But if you come in herecompletely blind, without doing
the research, I think you knowit is going to be more difficult
.
You do have to make yourcontacts, you do have to network
.
It is a hustle.
I'm not going to lie, it's thatis the reality of it.
I think some people are verylucky to be able to go straight
(16:38):
in.
But I think you know, for me Ithought, first and foremost,
when I come here, I, I did myresearch.
I always wanted to come herefrom a young age I've been
talking about since I was like15 years old and um, you know,
and I made it happen because mywhole training leading up till
now was because I had this focusthat I wanted to be here.
(16:59):
I knew I had to be here tochallenge myself and take myself
to the next level.
I continued with my screamertraining.
So, you know, you contactdifferent places where you can
still continue your training,but that also builds networking.
Training at jam, here you know,as um or temple.
So people, a lot of stuntartists, go to those places to
train specifically and you, youmake your connections.
(17:22):
In terms of the acting, I'mstill, of course, doing a lot of
castings and because I have abackground in production as well
, I was able to work on aproduction and then get invited
to audition as an actress andnow I'm doing two films where I
am doing acting and action atthe same time and able to put my
(17:43):
choreography skills within,fight choreography.
So, you know, I think you justhave to stay focused, determined
, believe in your skill sets andbelieve in what you know, be
reliable and professional, asanyone should in this industry,
and yeah, and just make ithappen, don't be afraid, and I
just want to clarify a littlebit.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
What do you do, or what do you?
You know, what do you do mostand what do you want to do?
Are you more an actress thathas an acting role and
eventually that role is alsofighting, or are you actually
stepping in for another actor asa double, because the actor
cannot do this choreographedfight?
Are you doing both, or are youdoing both, or are you doing one
(18:27):
more than the other, or I doboth.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
So I I do stand.
I do, uh, doubling work.
So whether it's a being a stunt, double, I do that as well.
But here my focus is that Iwant to aim to be a TV series
regular within film and doingpure acting, but doing my own
stunts.
So hence why the action actressbeing able to do both things?
(18:52):
Because I've got both skills.
So that is my goal here.
But of course, you have tobuild.
You have to build your skillset, you have to build your
knowledge.
I used to have to work on mycraft as well.
So it's constantly learning.
You're constantly evolving.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Yeah, and I hear that you're in continuous
professional development, incontinuous training, and I think
that's what our industry isrequired.
You know, it's like you cannotjust settle and say, yeah, cool,
I've got my degree now or I'vegot my little diploma in this or
this, like your body needs tokeep training.
Well, even as an actor, we needto keep training.
(19:28):
We need to be in thiscontinuous development of our
craft.
So you've already mentionedthat you're also a bit in
production, so you were able tocreate your own opportunities.
You also made some films andmaybe you're going to make some
films in the future as well.
Um, when it comes to yourrelationship with your agent
(19:49):
does, is it a specific agentthat does action that is sort of
very well networked in theaction world, or do they
understand your vision or how doyou work with your agent in
regards to that?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
I wanted an agent that is going to have my back no
matter what and who understandsme and appreciates that I've
got three different skill sets,because I think a lot of the
times you do get caught in theidea of, okay, I'm a pure
actress, so I can't promote myother skill set here.
I think you have to be, youhave to know how you want to
promote yourself and that comesinto your own marketing, your
(20:24):
own branding and who you are asa person and how you want to,
how you want people to see you.
I wanted people to know thatI'm not just a pure actress.
Yes, I do stunts, I do action,I do fight choreography, I also
do dance and I am amultidisciplinary artist and I
have trained specifically ineverything individually as well,
(20:44):
so I can be purest as well, butat the same time, at the same
time, this is who I am.
So when I was looking for anagent, I wanted an agent that
appreciated all of those skills.
Because that was the firstquestion I asked Should I put my
act, should I put my dance show?
Cause I don't want them to seeme as a dancer who is also
trying to be an actress or viceversa, and and I'm confident
(21:06):
that I know that I've trained inall of those things completely
and utterly to expert level.
So in that sense, when I lookfor my agent, she appreciated it
, she understood that.
In fact, she promotes it, shehighlights it.
So I think for anyone, if you'relooking for an agent, a find
that relationship where you knowthat you can work together to
(21:27):
elevate because your success isher success as well as well as
making sure that you know howyou want to put yourself forward
for castings.
I do want my acting roles, pureacting roles, as well, as if
there are action roles, I'mhappy to do that.
But also, yes, I want to alsodo some dance roles.
But you have to be clear ofwhat she wants and I believe
(21:48):
that with my agent right now, Iam very lucky that she
appreciates all of those thingsand we're on the same page.
So we've got the same goal andthe same path.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Okay, so you've got really one agent and you're
fully aligned, but you don'thave different agents for your
different sort of skills, oneagent that is able to understand
you under this umbrella ofskills that you have.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yes, and the next stage is a manager.
I did have a manager prior, but, of course, when I moved here,
I stuck to just the one agentnow, but I will be looking for a
manager here.
You know so because in US thisis normal as well, so that you
are also.
They're also helping youcultivate your branding, how you
promote yourself, and givingyou advice, and I think that's
(22:30):
so important.
You know that.
You know that.
You know in different countriesthings operate differently from
headshots to how you showyourself on in your spotlight
page, or actors access castingnetworks, which are all these
places where you do, whereyou're seen by casting agents.
So it's important that you'vegot a good agent or manager to
(22:51):
be able to help you understandthe inner workings and what
works, what doesn't.
I think that's so important andI went through 250 agencies and
managers to find the one thatthat was right for me.
Wow, that's a lot of research.
It's a lot of research.
I went through the whole SAGlist of agents and managers and
(23:12):
I even looked at their ethos.
I looked at their website forthose that did have websites,
but I'm just one of those peoplethat I like to do my research.
I like to know who I'm workingwith and if they're going to
help me with my career as well,and then my win is their win,
and I'm going to put 200% intoanything that.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
I do.
This is so important because,obviously, this is the Loud
Whisper Takeover podcast andthis Loud Whisper, this
intuition, this feeling alignedit's a theme that's very
important and a lot of thepeople that I'm inviting as
guests.
I feel there is this theme of Isearched for the person perfect
to work with and being justaligned with the opportunity,
(23:53):
the collaborator, and I thinkthose are very important
reminders for us as artists.
Going back to your work as anaction actress and you fighting
in front of the camera, what doyou feel is empowering about it?
What attracted you to thesekind of roles, outside of the
fact that you know you had thephysical abilities?
What is this part of yourselfthat you express?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
You just feel you know great, that you're using
your skill set and because Ilove these characters.
I love strong characters,whether it's within fighting,
being a villain or being a goodcop.
I think this with acting givesyou the freedom to be anyone you
want to be and you can create,you can evolve those characters
and when you're adding theaction element to it, that's
(24:38):
another layer that you're doing.
You're doing the movements thatwe still have to tell a story
through the physicality of it.
So I think that's why Iabsolutely love to being an
action actress, because I get tomarry the two together.
I think you know, if you justhave the action, you're not
telling the story, you're notgiving the intensity, the energy
and the relationship betweenthe person that you're fighting
(24:59):
with.
Then it just becomes a regularfight.
I think people want to see astory and I think getting that
autonomy as well as an actionactress, it's so liberating and
empowering as an action actress,you're obviously in touch with
the stunt coordinator or thechoreographer.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Can you explain us a little bit more how you work
with a stunt stunt coordinatoror a fight choreographer and
also what your relationship iswith the director?
Like, how are thesecollaborations happening on set?
Speaker 2 (25:30):
so with stunt coordinators.
I've been very lucky to workwith really good stunt
coordinators who, of course,situation dictates.
Whether you're handling weapons, whether you're doing unarmed
combat, whether you're onfirearms, you do get the
training prior and, of course,understand the situation, what
you're going to be doing.
(25:51):
If you are lucky to haverehearsals and pre-biz, then
great.
But sometimes you're in asituation where you have to
think on the spot and with thetraining they'll get you to
create something and they'llmake sure that everyone is safe.
If you're working with peoplemultiple people around you make
sure that everyone is safe.
If you're working with people,multiple people around you and
this is including essays, um,you know, um extras or
supporting artists you have tomake sure that it's not only
(26:13):
your fight partner that you'rekeeping safe, but also other
people.
So I think the stuntcoordinators they really do they
they have to also trust you.
So you are being hired becauseyou are skilled and
knowledgeable in all of thosethings.
So I always love working withdifferent fight choreographers,
stunt coordinators, because theyhave always something to offer.
Different fight coordinatorswill have different ways of
(26:35):
punching.
Even a simple punch could bedifferent.
So adaptability, I think, isvery key as an action actress or
stunt person and safety as well.
I think I'm very lucky thatI've worked with stunt
coordinators where I am doingfalls on concrete or I'm, you
know, getting jerked back andyou know to make sure that I'm
(26:57):
okay and the fact that you'revery much aware of what is
happening situationally inadvance so that, yep, you can
give the best performance theycould possibly give for that
scene.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
And what about directors?
At what stage do they come in?
Do you meet them on set?
Do the directors of the moviesalready come to rehearsals?
What is your relationship withthem?
Do you feel you receive a lotof directions of the director,
or are you just and only sort ofworking with the stunt
coordinators?
How does that work?
On bigger productions.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yes, if you're hired as a fight performer or a stunt,
you're working closely with thestunt coordinators, the fight
choreographing team or a secondunit director.
You do get an idea of what thedirector wants and, of course,
they feed it to you in terms ofthe scenario, what character you
have to be, what kind of fightstyle that you're going to be
(27:51):
doing, what they want.
So you do get the direction,but mostly you'll be working
closely with the stuntcoordinator or second unit
director or the fightchoreographer.
But then when I'm doing action,acting for the films I have
been doing recently, thedirector was very much feeding
me okay, this is the characterthat I want, but he gave me
freedom to be able tochoreograph my own fights, for
(28:13):
instance.
And sometimes, when you'reworking on independent films or,
if you're working on, you know,feature films whereby
distribution is going to go fast, you have to be able to think
on the spot.
In that sense, I think I had tocreate a fight scene within
five minutes and then, okay,we're ready to shoot now, so
we're going to go now.
So it's one of those thingswhere you have to think on the
spot.
(28:33):
Okay, I'm this character and Ihave to deliver this final fight
scene where I'm up against asix foot four guy.
So how do I create this fightwithin five minutes, and also
for someone who's not asexperienced, who's also more of
an actor than an action actor.
So as long as you know whatyou're doing and as long as
there's communication, thenyou're able to deliver.
(28:55):
I think that's the main thing.
And, of course, as long as youhave the skill set and the
knowledge to be able to workfast.
But that comes with experience.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
I want to bounce back about rehearsals here and the
amount of rehearsals, because abit earlier on you said
sometimes we have to just createsomething on the spot and then
you said, oh yeah, when we haverehearsals or when they give you
five minutes to createsomething.
So first of all, I think myfirst question is when there's
little time or no time torehearse, is that due to budget
(29:27):
or is that due to creativeprocess?
You know, is that a choice ofthe creative process or is that
just literally?
Look, there is no budget, wecan't have rehearsals, so we're
going to have to do with thosefive minutes here.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
It could be both, but it could be.
I've worked on situations whereit's just because they trust us
, because we're from a certainacademy whereby they know we're
trained to be able to create ourown fights.
If we're background fighting,then you're just creating your
own bits and mostly the stuntcoordinator knew that we were
from that academy.
Like with the British ActionAcademy, they know that we are
(30:02):
reliable to create our ownthings if they need us to and if
there are specific scenes whereyou're in front of camera and
you need to make sure that allof those hits and everything
work for camera, and, of course,when everything is happening
around you at the same time, ofcourse you have time to be able
to rehearse that.
So I've had that luxury and, ofcourse, doing the luxury of
pre-visits for other things,where you literally create the
(30:24):
fight scene from beginning toend, being able to film it prior
to when you're actually goingon set and then, of course,
recently being in a situationwhere, yeah, I had to create it
within five minutes, and that isdue to that was due to timing,
because they had to filmeverything in one place because
of the location.
It's sometimes because due tothe fact that you only have one
(30:45):
day to film in this one locationwhere everything is happening
in that one place.
It could be due to budget.
Yes, I've had times where itwas due to budget.
And then there are times where,even with the budget, you know
you have the previs andeverything.
Not all of the fight scene isused.
And you know because of time,because you know when you're
doing hair and makeup and youknow those things kind of factor
(31:06):
in technical things happeningon set.
Anything can happen on set andthat kind of whittles down your
time.
So it could be so manydifferent factors but situation
dictates and you just have to beprepared for any situation that
happens.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
I have a question about your profile because, as
actors, we are the product.
Our physical outlook is theproduct.
You know, whether we want it ornot.
You know I am a woman.
I have a shaved head.
It's a part of my brand, Iguess as well well does your
physicality, the way that youlook, and and in that you know,
I mean the fact that you are awoman.
(31:40):
I believe you are petite.
Am I right in saying that youare petite?
Um, the fact that you're Asian,are there things that play in
your favor or are there thingsthat, on the contrary, make it
hard for you to get casted or toget jobs in the world of action
movies?
Speaker 2 (31:57):
I think my physicality sometimes.
Of course, if I had to be anAmazonian woman, I will not be
casted for that because purelybecause of my height, my
physicality and everything, butat the same time that doesn't
concern me, because I've been inauditions where I'm up against
hundreds of people and thenbecause of my firearm skills and
(32:18):
the fact that maybe I am EastAsian and there's not that many
East Asian people that do a lotof the fighting, that I got
hired.
But I would like to think Iscene where I look convinced,
I'm convincing and I, you know,unbelievable, and I do
(32:39):
everything technically sound howthe director or the fight
coordinator wants it, I believethat I'll get hired.
And if not, it wasn't for me.
But yes, there are times whereyou know I've been told oh,
maybe you should do more of thechild acting stuff.
You know the child double,which I can do because I'm small
and petite.
But I've been very lucky.
I've been with Secret Invasion,for instance.
(33:03):
I was auditioning with hundredsof people and then myself and
another actress with the onlytwo females amongst 30, other 35
other guys and we were playingSAS and secret service and it
was purely because of ourfirearm skills.
So in that sense, I think morethan anything I'm not thinking
(33:23):
about my look when I'm doingcertain roles.
Of course, depending on therole, I would adapt to it.
But if it is action, I wouldlike to think that I was brought
into audition for a reason.
So I have just as muchopportunity as anyone else in
the room.
I just have to believe in myskill and believe in my skill
set and give it my best shot.
And if I get hired, great.
(33:43):
If not, then on to the next.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
And a word of encouragement towards women in
this industry.
Do you think we have to createmore space and even claim more
space, more roles for femaleaction actresses, or do you
think that at the moment, thereare equal opportunities when it
comes to action roles for men asmuch as action roles for women?
Speaker 2 (34:08):
I think there's a huge demand, I think there is a
huge market for women in actionand, of course, I've just met a
very incredible stuntwomanrecently who's just got pregnant
.
Of course, as women, we have toface the reality that if you
want family and everything likethat, that might take you away
for a bit.
But in general, I think thereis so much space for women to
(34:31):
represent and I think there is aneed for women to, you know, to
be in this space where we canrepresent as action artists, as
stunt women, as strong womenwho's got so many skills to
share, just as much as men.
So I feel that there is such ahuge opportunity right now for
any woman.
(34:51):
So, you know, get on it.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
So let's talk about auditions, because obviously
when you go as an actress for ajob, we might have auditions, or
in person, and then you do some.
Uh, you know, you learn ascript, somebody gives you the
lines or your self-tape.
When you go for an action role,either as a pure as an action
actress or a person, that ispure just the movement aspect of
(35:17):
it for the film, what is theaudition process like?
Is it very different?
Is it self-tape first?
Is it?
What sort of things do they askyou to do in an audition?
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Yeah, so I've had two different styles I've had in
person.
I just literally had one theother day where it was for
fighting and to be a karatepersonnel, so, of course, all
day, and it was very quick andsweet, you know, doing a couple
of shadow boxing as well aspresenting a kata or a form, and
(35:48):
that's what they wanted to see.
And then I had another auditionwhereby they were like you are
basically an assassin, butyou're interrogating a person
and then an explosion happensand you have to enact a whole,
um, enact a whole action scenein a self-tape in this with this
background.
You know, mid-shot, they don'twant you to enact it.
(36:11):
And then I had one where theywere like can you please do this
whole?
You know I had one line butthen the rest of it was action.
You know where they wanted meto, um, you know, get strangled,
be thrown from my back and rollin to deliver another line, and
they wanted that in a location.
So you know the audition processis, it varies in so many
(36:32):
different ways.
Um, so it's exciting on so manylevels and it can be
challenging because you'rethinking, oh my gosh, I'm doing
all of this for, for a castingwhere you know, I might not even
hear back from this castingagent.
I might be lucky to hear backand get the role, but it just
goes to show that you know, youjust have to love your craft
(36:54):
because there's so manydifferent scenarios that you're
going to to get, and in fact,with the uh, the one I had to do
, you know, in in this location,um, yeah, it's, you know, I I
actually did um book the job,but it's just um, yeah, it's so
many different factors, you know, you just have to be so aware
(37:14):
and and this is another thing, Ithink, in this day and age, you
have to know how to self-tapein different ways.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
That was a self-tape, the one that they asked you to
roll over and where your hairwas pulled and you had to be in
a location.
That was a self-tape, or thatwas actually.
You had to go to the castingand you were in a location.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
I was in a location for that where I had to roll the
other one where I had to be anassassin and the explosion
happened and I had to fightsomeone on the space and it was
like four different scenarios inthat one casting the element of
interrogation, then you knowthe fight, and then explosion
happening, then a fight, anotherfight scene happening, and
you're doing this to yourself,but you had to do it to a camera
(37:58):
so that it makes it believablethat you're fighting someone,
and then in the end you gothrough a door and you're being
arrested.
So many different elements inone self-tape.
As an actress and, of course,as a movement action artist.
It's a very exciting self-tape.
But at the same time it's avery exciting self-tape but at
(38:18):
the same time it can be verychallenging because of course,
you would love the luxury ofbeing able to fight someone else
, but if it's a self-tape and Ihad limited time, I literally
had four castings that day, so Iliterally was doing it within
like the 30, 40 minutes.
Actually, I was timing myselfand I had to do it in two takes
and get it right and rememberthat whole scenario, you know.
So it's challenging, but thisis what we do.
(38:38):
This is what we live for, andif you know so, you have to have
thick skin like dragon skindoing this job.
I think let's talk aboutinjuries.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
We are moving, we are movement artists, we are
athlete artists.
Injuries can happen, and thatcan happen in dance, that can
happen in fights, that canhappen in choreographed fights.
I believe you had an injurythat was quite impactful and it
was a challenge that you had toovercome.
Would you mind telling us alittle bit more about what
(39:09):
happened and how you overcamethat challenge with positivity?
Speaker 2 (39:13):
so I've had multiple injuries in the past, the
biggest one being an ACL tear onmy right knee.
And this was via dance and Islipped on the carpet because it
was very slippery and then Idislocated my knee and full ACL
tear and I had a hamstringreconstruction surgery.
But that was probably thebiggest injury I ever had
(39:34):
because prior to that I had alot of dislocations on my left
shoulder from swimming andcompeting.
But I think it's so easy to sayand it's easy to say this when
you're not injured and whenyou're healthy, is that, oh yeah
, no, everything will be fine.
But of course, when you'resomeone who relies solely, your
whole career is your physicalityand that's your job it of
(39:57):
course it's mentally,emotionally, very difficult and
debilitating.
And I think at the time atfirst, when that happens because
you know, I didn't know whatthe injury was about and I was
told that I had to find out thecareer I was told that it's
going to take me nine months toa year to recover from that
injury.
So I had to give up all mydance jobs.
(40:19):
I was on a theater job at thetime.
I was a lead actress for thetheater production, but I had to
walk in that.
So even after that injury, thenext day in the rehearsal I was
told please can you show me thatyou can walk without your
crutches, because otherwise I'mgoing to have to replace you.
So I think the reality of thisindustry is that you are very
(40:42):
much replaceable.
Expendable with the realitythat hit me and of course, I had
my cry.
I was, you know, absolutelydevastated because I thought
this is the end of my career.
I'm not going to be able to domy martial arts, I'm not going
to be able to do my martial arts, I'm not going to be able to be
an action artist.
I'm going to have to do purelynon-physical things which I felt
defined me.
(41:02):
But I think those are theopportunities.
I think when you are someonewho loves your sport, you love
action, you love all of thesephysical things, you think those
things are what define you asan artist.
Without those things you don'texist anymore.
But I think that gave me theopportunity to think okay, what
can I do whilst my recovery ishappening, to build myself more,
(41:26):
not only as an artist but as aperson?
Because I think those thingscan be so emotionally
debilitating that you can gospiral down in a negative space.
So I think in those things,those are the opportunities.
You think that this happened fora reason for you to either slow
down at the time was probablyto tell me to slow down and to
(41:48):
really work on my acting, towork on my business, to work on
the person that I am.
To have purpose even withoutthose things.
Who am I?
Strip everything that I have,the skill set, my, my skill set,
who am I, in a nutshell, as aperson?
And it got me to work on thosethings.
And I think once you have thatdown, you begin to understand
(42:10):
this is not the end, this isjust the beginning of developing
yourself, and I believe thatthe greatest thing about
anything like this is thatyou're of developing yourself.
And I believe that the greatestthing about anything like this
is that you're not conditionedto be the same person that you
were 10 years ago to who you arenow.
You're constantly evolving.
So, having said that, I have hada recent injury myself on a job
, on a contracted job, and itwas a freak accident and it's a
(42:35):
show no-transcript moved here.
(42:57):
I'm just starting my career andI, you know, got all of these
bookings and everything, and nowthis has happened.
Why and you think, why is ithappening to me?
But from why is it happening tome?
I changed that mindset to okay,this has happened before.
I know that I can recover fasterthan anyone because nine months
(43:17):
was the time I was given andwithin one month I was back in
dancing and doing a stunt job,which is very unusual for an ACL
tear.
But that's only because I wasvery focused to get back in.
This is what I want to do.
I've got no other choice.
This is what I want to do as acareer.
So my mindset right now is I'mstill able to do a lot of the
(43:41):
jobs, thankfully, but of courseI won't be able to do crazy
stunts or anything like that.
But this has given me again theopportunity to think okay, what
do I want to do next until I'mable to fully function again
after post-surgery?
So now I'm having thisopportunity to speak with you
and again I'm able to say to youthat I'm going to evolve again.
(44:02):
I'm having to evolve again withthe situation that's happened
to me and I know as a fact thatI'm going to come back stronger
and I'm going to come back withdifferent things.
I've already planned what I'mgoing to be doing, while I'm
probably going to be, you know,one month without being able to
move physically.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
I absolutely love listening to your power, like
the fire you have in your belly,as transpires really in every
story that you're sharing.
Just to wrap up this interview,because you are very passionate
about empowering as well, likethe next generation, Is there
any top tip, word of wisdom,mantra that you can share with
(44:43):
action actors?
Action actresses that want tomake it in this industry,
whether it's in LA, in anothercountry, but just move forward
and keep on track with theirdreams.
What would be your words, youradvice to them?
Speaker 2 (44:58):
My advice always is a Japanese proverb which is
nanakorobi yaoki, which meansyou fall seven times, get up
eight, no matter how much,because this industry, it can
definitely emotionally strainyou in a lot of ways.
It's going to be mentallychallenging, but at the same
time, you always have to believein your skill.
(45:19):
You have to believe in yourselfand you're the only person you
can be your own cheerleader.
No one else is going to do thatfor you, it's you.
And I think once you are able tomentally prepare yourself,
mentally condition yourself tobe able to take any hit that
comes, you'll be able to comeback stronger and you'll be able
to take any hit that comes.
You'll be able to come backstronger and you'll be able to
fight through any kind ofobstacle that's going to come
(45:39):
your way, because there's goingto be a lot.
There's going to be a lot ofrejections, there's going to be
a lot of wins, there's going tobe a lot of highs and lows, but
that is the whole process ofthis journey.
There is no one direction.
Well, there is one direction,but you know it's to get to the
top of the mountain.
You are going to have to takedifferent ups and turns and
(46:01):
everything.
So you just have to keep going,never give up and believe in
yourself and fight for what youwant.
Speaker 1 (46:08):
Emiko, if people want to know more about you, follow
your journey, know more aboutall the magnificent things
you're up to, where can theyfind you?
Speaker 2 (46:15):
on social media they can find me on at emmycara jane
ishi on instagram or, if youwant to know more about the
dancing side at epica dance, oninstagram as well.
But, yes, no, please do reachout.
I'm always happy to answerquestions.
With what I know, there's somany different experts out there
(46:36):
as well.
Start networking, start talkingto different people, but if
there's anything that I cananswer, I'm always here to
answer any questions as well.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
Thank you so much, amiko.
I really hope that our pathsare going to cross and that we
will work together one day,because I feel, yeah, I really
absolutely love your vibe andyour energy and your outlook on
life.
So thank you so much for beingon this podcast today what a
journey you have as well.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
So, absolutely, we have to connect and, you know,
hopefully get a fight in.
You know I'll be honest.
Yes, thank you.
Thank you so much.
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