We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mai Yang. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mai below.

Mai, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I graduated from the USC acting program. Along the way I’ve also studied with acting coaches outside of school as well as taught myself by reading books and studying great actors’ work.

I don’t think there was any way that’d sped up my learning process. All of the mistakes I’ve made and misconceptions I’ve had were necessary for me to get where I am now. I had to go through all of them.

I think the most essential skill for acting or learning to act is observing. I’ve learned so much from observing. I observe my acting classmates when they perform. I observe professional actors on stage and screen. And I observe everyday people in life, which has always been a huge inspiration for my acting.

One of the biggest obstacles is definitely the pressure of making a living as an artist. “Starving artists” is not a joke. The real world is cruel, so it’s really important to practice resilience. Another huge obstacle is, when the business side of the acting career gets overwhelming, it could be hard to focus on the craft itself. Sometimes, if you find yourself in the wrong crowd, you might even get misled and forget why you started. In this industry, too many people try to get on the “fast lane”. It takes grit, real understanding and love for this art form to not get lost.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Mai Yang. I came from Hunan, China. When I was 3, I fell in love with dancing and started studying traditional Chinese dance at a local art center. I danced competitively for nearly a decade. I always loved performing. Then I discovered my passion in acting after I watched a live theater performance for the first time when I was in middle school. I knew immediately that I had to do something about it, but under the high pressures of the academic education system and traditional values against an artistic career back home, I didn’t have much chance to explore my new found passion–until I finished high school in 2018, after countless days of sneaking into a community drama club after school, I couldn’t put it off anymore and decided to come to Los Angeles on my own to seek professional acting training and an acting career.

I studied acting at USC, where I received my Bachelor’s degree in Theater in May 2022. While in school, I tried out as many kinds of acting genres, styles and techniques as possible. I studied with different professors with different approaches in acting. The more I know about acting, the more I’m curious about it. But at first, with so many different voices and advice in my head, I struggled to find my own voice and even felt unsure if I can ever fully understand this art form. Thankfully, I’m persistent and my passion for acting only gets stronger over time. After many confused and frustrated days and nights experimenting, I’ve come to feel more assured and confident as an actor.

It’s been one year since I graduated. During this year I have acted in more than a dozen independent films, many of which were selected into well-known film festivals and won awards. For example, a thriller film called In the Spotlight has won 10 awards in 6 different film festivals including “Best Indie Short” at the Festigious International Film Festival. Another film of mine, Happy Curly, has been selected into the Oscar-qualifying LA Shorts International Film Festival. Meanwhile, I also acted in a web series that has reached 5 million views and counting. Multiple media outlets, including Fox News, have gotten interested and made reports about my story as an international Asian actress in Hollywood.

When asked what kind of acting I prefer doing, I used to answer with “drama” instead of “comedy”. Having failed many times trying to be “funny” on camera before, however, now I’m really getting into comedy. I’ve become more comfortable in my own skin, voice, my own way of seeing the world and how I am as a person. And I bring these elements into the characters I play. I’m becoming more “me” in front of the camera and that helps bring out the comedy in acting. If I were to answer the same question now, I would say that I love comedic acting as much as dramatic acting. I feel more well-rounded and truthful as an actor.

As an Asian female actress, I’m lucky that there are way more opportunities for Asian talents in Hollywood than ever before. The latest Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh is one of my greatest inspirations. I’m one of the “little boys and girls who look like her” she mentioned in her Oscar speech. There indeed is more hope and possibilities now. It’s amazing that I would dare to dream, and I will dream that I can be just any kind of character I can embody instead of always the best friend of the lead or the nerdy Asian girl. And it won’t be like any other girls that have come before me. I’ll be my own version. Original, raw, unapologetic and one of a kind. I aim to embrace my personality entirely and let it shine through the stories I tell.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an actor is that I’m constantly in touch with my emotions. Acting asks for vulnerability. It asks us to get in touch with our deepest and truest feelings. Our fears, evil thoughts, what we love, our most unfiltered and honest opinions. I like how this lifestyle keeps me sharp, sensitive and compassionate. Being an actor has made me more inclined to step into other people’s shoes. It made me appreciate the importance of the least significant things in life. Humans are emotional creatures. We like going to theaters because we like to feel something. We like to feel alive. I feel blessed that I can contribute to making that happen.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

As an actor I needed to unlearn thinking that I can play all kinds of projects and roles. Coming out of a training program where we played all kinds of far-fetched characters for practice, I used to think I’m trained to play any character that’s out there. I would apply to anything that’s remotely relevant. However, I’ve now learned that, as much as versatility is praised and very much achievable, there’s not one actor who’s right for every role. Every role suits certain actors better than others. Either those actors look more like the character, or they feel more like it, they have similar life experience or their approach is what the project is going for…even if you are just as decent an actor, it’s likely the more “suitable” actors would be chosen over you, and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean you’re not versatile and it definitely doesn’t mean you’re not a good actor. It’s just like a 5 star Michelin chef can’t be the best at making every single dish in the world. The key is to stay true to what you are, what you care about and what kind of stories you really want to tell. And then you, the actor and the right role will find each other and something wonderful will be created-this is the goal, not trying to get every single acting job available.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @iamyangmai
• IMDB page: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm13752890?ref_=nm_nv_usr_profile

Image Credits
Peter Konerko