Rising Star Emmy Liu-Wang On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry

An Interview With Elana Cohen

If you find what you love, don’t give up. Persistence is everything. Hitting a rough patch is always gonna be discouraging, but the longer you stay working at something you love, the bigger the rewards end up to be.

As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Emmy Liu-Wang.

Emmy is best known for starring in “Raven’s Home” on Disney Channel opposite Raven-Symoné, and also has a musical theater background and appeared in the Broadway Center Stage production of “The Music Man” at The Kennedy Center.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

Hi!! I am so happy to be doing this interview series! I grew up in New York with my mom, dad, little brother, and grandpa. Even though I didn’t really become an actor until I was 10 years old, I had a habit of imitating my family members shortly after I learned to talk, around when I was 2 years old. My family found it very entertaining. I also grew up in a musical family. My parents are music teachers/cellists and my grandparents are singers, so it’s safe to say that I definitely grew up with the arts around me. As a kid, I loved playing music, swimming, and going on vacation with my family.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

I found that I had a passion for the arts at a very young age. For me, growing up in a musical family meant that I was lucky enough to be constantly surrounded by music. My late grandma was a singer and an incredible woman who loved what she did. Unfortunately, she didn’t get to pursue her passion as much as she wanted to and instead focused on taking care of her family. My grandma and I have always shared the same passion and I am in this business in the hopes that I can try to continue what my grandma started.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your entertainment career?

There is one particular story from filming “The Slumber Party” that I will always remember. My castmates and I have this scene where our characters are in an onion eating competition. I was actually kinda excited to try the raw onions for the first time, but the taste got super overwhelming really quick. I was looking at the people around me and I was like “How are you guys doing this??” And one of the extras turned to me and said “You know there’s a spit bucket under the table right?” I was like YES I can finally stop swallowing these things! And JUST when I was about to spit the onions out, the cameras pulled into a super close shot of my face, so at this point, I couldn’t even spit them out. I continued to eat the raw onions for pretty much the whole day. It’s safe to say that the tears you see in that scene are definitely real.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I think the funniest/most embarrassing mistake I made was at an audition I did a few years ago. Before the audition, there was a form I had to fill out with some information, including my home address. At the time, I had absolutely no idea what my address was so I just left that part blank. Next, I had to go into a room with at least nine other kids auditioning, where we all took turns to sing. I sang my song and I felt really great about my performance. But the moment I thought I could relax, the person auditioning me said, “Hey Emmy I think you forgot to fill out your address here, can you tell me what it is?” I FROZE on the spot, I really had no idea what to do. I said “Uhhh can I get back to you on that?” At this point everyone in the room is looking at me. The woman auditioning me said, “Well, we kinda need it now.” I looked her dead in the eye and said “10th avenue.” Nothing else. Then I sat down. My mom and dad died of laughter when I told them and my friends still tease me about it to this day. I guess the lesson I learned from this was, always get your basic information straight.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

Well, I am lucky enough to be currently playing two very different roles in the Disney universe, Ivy Chen on seasons 5 and 6 of the Disney Channel show “Raven’s Home”, and Paige Yang in the Disney original movie, “The Slumber Party”. I see Ivy as the super smart, loyal, competitive, sarcastic, kinda nerdy, and caring person who would do anything for her friends. I feel that she shows young kids that it’s not always embarrassing to be the nerdy one and it’s cool to be hardworking and to want to do well in school! Paige, on the other hand, is like the girl I wanna be when I grow up! She is the cool, confident, natural born leader that never hesitates to fight for her friends and herself. She’s the kind of girl that I think empowers kids to take action and fend for themselves. New episodes of Raven’s Home season 6 are airing now on Disney Channel and Disney Plus. The Slumber Party will be premiering on Disney Channel on July 27 & streaming on Disney Plus the next day!

Most young people your age don’t have to balance work and school. Can you tell us how you manage to balance your schoolwork, auditions, and time on set?

Being a child actor definitely means that you have to live a double life. A lot of my time on set is really running back and forth between set and the classroom trying to get all the school time I need for the day. Since I am still 16 years old, I always have teachers on set with me to help me with my schoolwork. When I’m working, I find that shifting my focus helps me to do my best at both. For example, on a heavy day on set, I’ll put most or all of my focus on filming for the day and vice versa. After work and school, having relaxing time is also very important to me in being able to balance everything.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Absolutely. I would never have gotten anywhere close to where I am without the love and support of my family. They were completely supportive when ten year old me with absolutely no acting background told them I wanted to be an actor. I watched my parents put everything into helping me improve myself and do what made me happy purely because it made me happy, which is not something that a lot of people would do. They taught me the work ethic and morals that I have today that I would not survive in this business without. My mom and dad have been my guidance, shoulders for me to cry on, my biggest cheerleaders, and I can’t imagine what I would be without them.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?

1. Work hard for what you want. When you are auditioning, you can’t control anything except yourself. And because of that, continuously working on yourself and polishing your craft is the best way to keep going.
2. Know that it is not always about you. I have spent so much time feeling sad or insecure about myself over a job that I didn’t get, just to find out along the line that rejection is almost never personal. There are a lot of factors that come with the casting process, and at least half of them never have anything to do with you or your talent!
3. Be patient and wait for your time. In my life in general, I constantly feel ups and downs. But it is important to remember during the downs that your time will come, you just have to have faith in yourself!
4. If you find what you love, don’t give up. Persistence is everything. Hitting a rough patch is always gonna be discouraging, but the longer you stay working at something you love, the bigger the rewards end up to be.
5. Always, always love yourself!!! You are the only person you are going to spend the rest of your life with, so be nice to yourself! You deserve it!

How do you think you can use social media as a platform to be a positive influence to your fans, and for society at large?

Well, to me, social media is one of my biggest sources of entertainment. When I’m on social media, I post some of my acting clips, videos of myself singing, pictures of me that I like, and me doing the things I love to do. I’m hoping that my work could get a smile or a laugh out of someone, that would make me happy!

If you had the ability to choose to work on any TV show or film, or work alongside any co-star, or with any director, what or who would that be, and why? You never know who might see this article, especially if we tag them. :-)

Some day, I would love to play Mulan in a musical adaption, because I’ve always loved Mulan and I love to sing! I think it would also be cool to be able to play a superhero someday. As for my dream co-star, there are so many names that come to mind with that, but I think I would have to say Michelle Yeoh! She is truly one of my biggest inspirations and I might actually die of happiness if I ever got to work with her.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I am on Instagram and TikTok @emmy_liuwang and I hope to meet more friends there!

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

“Courtesy of Disney; interview completed in June/early July, 2023”