We were lucky to catch up with Judy Lei recently and have shared our conversation below.

Judy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

In 2012, I started studying acting at The Barrow Group Theatre Company (TBG). At that time, Asian American actors were almost nonexistent on screen. We had Steven Yeun on THE WALKING DEAD, and that was about it. I wanted to be like him, so I did what most actors who are starting out did, I signed up for Actors Access, where they release casting calls for people to self-submit. I thought I would have the same opportunities as someone like Steven, but all that was available on Actors Access for an Asian American woman like me were roles filled with prostitutes, masseuses, or immigrants who spoke with an accent. I refused to submit myself for those roles and decided if I were to become an artist, I needed to write the roles I wanted to play.

I took a solo show writing class at TBG in 2014. It took many drafts, rejection, and self-doubt, but I kept telling myself that I am the author of my own story. After I finalized the script for my first solo show, I sought out MC Jin, one of the first Asian American rappers, and asked if he could be the director for my solo show. As he was pursuing standup comedy in 2016, I thought with his help, he could elevate the show with some humor. I waited for him right as he was leaving one of his comedy shows at The Gotham Club and handed him a yellow folder with my script. I included my contact information in the folder and asked for us to meet after he reads it. We met in Chinatown and he said he loved the script, as it was sad and funny at the same time. This was the first “yes” I received, and that kept me motivated.

Instead of going the traditional route in pitching my show to different theatre companies, I decided to produce the show independently. I rented out a studio space at TBG and sold tickets on my own. Because I was a struggling artist, one of my first gigs out of college was working at the box office for a film festival, so I knew a thing or two about setting up a ticketing system. I sold tickets using my acting website. I barely could afford any real marketing, so I asked my brother to snap a photo of me in/near my high school to add it onto the ticketing page. I picked four consecutive dates in August and shared it via Facebook and Instagram. Word got out, and all nights were sold out!!!

For the production itself, I kept it simple. I mimicked the standup style, where I had zero props and used only a bench and the NYC MTA map to tell the story. Looking back, it’s pretty wild how much I wanted to share my story via the solo show format and used whatever little tools I had to make it happen.

Putting together the first solo show gave me the confidence to forge forward with another solo show. I then turned the first solo show into a feature film! After that, I made another (short) film. If it wasn’t for all the setbacks I had with the first solo show, I would have never created more projects. There are, of course, many hardships and hurdles for all other projects that followed, but it was really the confidence I gained from the first one that really propelled me forward.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up as a fat kid in NYC’s Chinatown and never found a group of close friends. When I left the city to attend Smith College, an all women’s college in Northampton, MA, I thought I’d be able to finally find a group of friends and figure out a way to fit in. I was wrong. Growing up in a majority-minority community, where all my peers were either 98% Chinese (elementary + middle school) or 60% Black and 30% Latinx (high school), nothing shocked me more than going to a college that was majority White. I felt different and became hyper-aware of my racial identity. I retreated back to my loner self and struggled to fit in.

I became curious about my identity and started taking Asian American courses. I began organizing conferences and events to build up the Asian American community in the 5 College Consortium (Smith, Mount Holyoke, Amherst, UMass Amherst, and Hampshire). Through community organizing and self-designing my own Asian American Studies major, I was able to learn how much Asian Americans sacrificed to build this country and also discovered injustices done to the them along the way. I wanted to be a change-maker and work in the racial justice space back in Chinatown and the Lower East Side, where I grew up. I wanted to become a community organizer or public interest lawyer and give back to the community.

I quickly realized how hard community organizing can be; and one thing is for sure: Asian Americans did not have any power because we don’t have enough representation, in politics or in the media. Swimming in my state of burn-out (physically, mentally, emotionally), I dug deep and questioned what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and my childhood dream was always to become an actor; and so, I decided to go for it.

By becoming an actor, writer, and filmmaker, I am able to share stories most near-and-dear to my heart. So far, I’ve stayed super scrappy and independent. It’s definitely not an easy journey, as it costs a lot of money to make films. But, my dream is to keep making films because I still have so many stories to tell about the Asian American experience–especially about the working class experience.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Always have goals and systems, but always stay flexible. As a former perfectionist (or maybe I still strive to be???), I was quite rigid with deadlines or am very particular with how certain things are done. This type of working style backfired and got me in deep trouble, so I learned how to be more flexible, understanding, and accommodating. I also learned how to manage expectations from myself and others.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When you have a vision and goal, people around you will convince you to give up; and everyday, I wake up and tell myself NOT to give up. So far, I have done two solo shows, one feature film, and one short film. Every project, someone in my life, whether a friend or family member, will come around to ask me: “what’s the point of this project? No one will care. You’re wasting your time.” Since I am already fighting the demons of doubt within me, it really takes a lot of strength to ignore these nay-sayers.

In one particular instance, my mom told me my aunt said “life as an artist is going to be very hard” after watching my solo show; she also asked if I was “serious” about pursuing it as my career. I could have folded and lied. I could’ve told her that I will give up this dream, but I knew I couldn’t do that. At that moment, I told my mom that acting/writing IS something I’m serious about and that I’ll be doing it for the rest of my life. It really scared my mom. Although it scared me admitting this to her, I also felt a deep sense of relief as I’m getting closer and closer to who I want to become.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://heyjudylei.com
• Instagram: heyjudylei
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heyjudylei
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heyjudylei/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/heyjudylei

Image Credits

Kenneth Lei (for the picture with me in the gray tanktop and jacket)
Karin Anna Cheung (for the black and white picture with the MTA subway shower curtain + bench)