DIVERSITY SPOTLIGHT: SAM WANG
Sam Wang brought his $1500 one-man, action-movie spoof Skyduck: A Chinese Spy Comedy to Belvoir’s 25A season in 2019.
Sam Wang studied film and law at UTS before training as an actor at Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School. His previous theatre credits include The Chairs and The Mooncake and the Kūmara. In 2019, he appears in television movie Runaway Millionaires and film The Script of Life.
- What made you want to be an actor?
SW: By accident! When applying for uni, I picked a film and law degree as a joke for my third choice — thinking it’ll never come to that — and then ended up in it. I had no idea how to find actors for our first-year film projects so just acted in them and I was hooked.
I then convinced my parents that taking acting classes would help my law career… it didn’t!
2. Who were your role models growing up?
SW: Michael Jordan, Jackie Chan, Jim Carrey and Rowan Atkinson. Also, can I say The Mighty Ducks and the Jamaican bobsled team in Cool Runnings? There was an Asian kid in The Mighty Ducks who was an ex-figure skater turned ice hockey player. As an adult, you’re like “well, that’s very different skillsets”, but when you’re a kid, it’s like “he can do that jumpy-spinny thing! Of course he plays ice hockey!”
I think that’s why I ended up in the arts. It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about playing with MOFO style. (Disclaimer: in a way that wouldn’t work in any other real-life situation.)
3. What made you want to write your play and what was your inspiration?
SW: Since reading the book See No Evil by Robert Baer which was loosely adapted into the film Syriana, I’ve become fascinated with the role and influence of intelligence agencies on domestic and international politics (and vice versa). I really wanted to write something on that subject, but since I’m not a real spy — promise — and couldn’t ‘openly’ plagiarise someone else’s memoir, a historically accurate drama wasn’t really viable. So I went with the next best option — a historical parody where truth was optional… just like contemporary politics!
4. Can you explain a bit of the process of how you got your play at Belvoir?
SW: We pitched Skyduck for 25A in the first year and didn’t get in. I was ready to scrap the idea but at Belvoir’s launch party [for 25A in 2018] I met Christine [Woodhouse], one of the festival directors at Crack X, who convinced me to pitch to their festival in Newcastle. We did, got in, and that forced us to actually make the show. It had a great run; we got some great footage. And then, with a very convincing letter from Pierce [Wilcox], the other festival director, we were able to submit a much more competitive pitch to Belvoir this second time around and were lucky enough to get in.
5. What is your dream role and why?
SW: Probably a character like Abed in a show like Community. I just really like Community… like really, really, really like.
6. What do you think about the current state of diversity in Australian theatre, TV and film? And how can we make it better?
SW: It’s hard to be objective but it definitely feels like some really, really positive things are happening. I think what’s really encouraging is that tastes are slowly shifting. Audiences are more and more exposed to stories that are diverse and some of them are developing a taste for it.
Is it enough to justify from a purely economic standpoint, a business case for investing in more diverse stories right now? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s still a business risk. Of course, you won’t get a hit show simply by ticking off as many ‘diversity’ boxes as you can… but if your competition can, and they do it well, then they’ll be changing the game and you’ll be playing catch up.
I think this is already happening. It’s just a question of how far can it go and whose voices are still being excluded.
7. Where do you think you will be in 10 years?
SW: Hopefully still pursuing a career in this industry… fingers crossed.
8. What advice do you have for upcoming actors?
SW: My favourite advice is that everyone’s running their own race, followed closely by stupidity is a very special quality… But then again, if you’re pursuing a career in acting, you probably have an abundance of it. Good job! And keep going!
Interview by Joy Hopwood. Joy is an actor, writer and producer. She was a regular presenter on Play School and had guest roles on TV shows including Home and Away, Good News Week and many more. She now writes and produces her own feature films: The Casting Game, The Script of Life and Rhapsody of Love (currently in production). She is the founder of the annual Joy House Film Festival, supporting diversity and short films of joy.
