CMU School of Drama


Sunday, November 27, 2011

Jennifer Lim on Her Role in David Henry Hwang’s ‘Chinglish’

NYTimes.com: The playbill for the new Broadway comedy “Chinglish” identifies the actress who plays Xi Yan as Jennifer Lim. But on her passport, Ms. Lim’s given name is Zhenhua, whose meaning can be translated as “authentically Chinese.”That very quality helped Ms. Lim win the role of the imperious Chinese government bureaucrat who becomes the unexpected ally of a hapless American businessman in David Henry Hwang’s play, her Broadway debut. Born in Hong Kong and trilingual in English, Mandarin and Cantonese, Ms. Lim, 32, saw in the character of Xi Yan traits that strongly reminded her of her own family and background and was quick to incorporate them into the performance.

1 comment:

ZoeW said...

I wish I could see this production. It sounds so cool.

Lim sounds like an amazing actress. She seems like the kind of person who will not just take whatever work she can find but actively goes out and tries to find work that she really values and when she does “She ma(kes) herself irreplaceable”. That is a really valuable skill. Lim has a unique perspective because of her cultural background but I think that that can only aid her work.