Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Chan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Michael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
I actually have a couple!
I was introduced to Star Trek when I was a baby. My Mom was a fan of the show because she liked William Shatner, so we watched together. Me, I was drawn to Sulu because he looked like me. Hilariously, I was also drawn to Spock because he was intelligent and I somehow thought he was Asian, too! Trek continued to be a large part of my life growing up, and as each new series came along, I had more and more characters to look up to, like Harry Kim and Hoshi Sato. I wanted to be a Starfleet Officer so badly and thought that if these Asians could boldly go where no one has gone before, so could I.
Admittedly, when I began my journey as an actor, I didn’t have any major goals. I had a passion for the craft and for working with others to create art, so I was happy to train and book whatever roles I could, you know? However, that all changed when it was announced that Star Trek: Discovery would be filming in Toronto. I remember e-mailing my agent immediately after reading about it and telling them that I finally had a real major goal – to book a role in Disco! That started me down one of the most challenging paths in my career.
It took me over 2 years to get my first audition for Star Trek. In that period of time, I trained more than I ever did and worked with my agents at Hero Artists to create a submission package that would get me in the room. Of course, my first audition for Disco didn’t book me a part. Nor my second. Nor my third. There were so many tears, especially when I would come close, but still not book. I even started wondering at one point if I would book at all, and if it were not for the continued support and encouragement of my wife, I don’t know if I would have been able to keep pushing forward.
Then, in early 2021, the call from my agent finally came – I had booked a recurring role as the FHQ Ops Officer on Star Trek: Discovery! All the hard work and perseverance paid off! My childhood dream of becoming a Starfleet Officer had come true! On top of that, my Mom was able to see me wearing Star Trek Gold, the same uniform colour as her beloved Captain Kirk, before she lost her battle with cancer. Accomplishing such a personal goal is incredible, but seeing the pride and joy on Mom’s face before she passed on? That’s the most meaningful part of all this.
After booking on Star Trek, my next goal was also quite personal. I grew up with YTV. Shows like Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Breaker High, Student Bodies, and ReBoot were staples of my television diet. I was also a huge fan of PJ Fresh Phil Guerrero, who hosted The Zone between shows. Needless to say, I wanted to be a PJ myself and even sent in a submission package to YTV right after graduating from film school. I never heard back. My second YTV-related dream, though, was to be on a show that aired on their channel. That formed the basis for my goal of booking on a kids show.
Fast forward to 2022. I remember the day my agent sent me an audition for a new show called Popularity Papers. A large part of acting is authenticity. Actors play characters, but it’s the truth they imbue their characters with that truly resonates. When I read the breakdown for Alex Chang, I was blown away. Never had I felt more connected to a character before, and the reason was because he was essentially me. Chinese, a dad, nerdy, queer, and so much more. I always do my homework when I prepare for roles, but this time, I was so excited that I bought the first volume of the book series by Amy Ignatow that the show is based on and read it. I fell in love with Popularity Papers.
Time kind of flew by. My wife and I had a newborn son to take care of. I was auditioning and working. I had moved on from wondering if I’d hear back about my Popularity Papers tape. As with anything I audition for, I couldn’t linger on it because I needed to stay focused on what was in front of me. Then, out of nowhere, I got a callback for Alex! In fact, it was also a chemistry read – my first ever! I was surprised and so, so excited! I remember my heart was beating so fast when I got online for the read and how embarrassed I was that my son had literally just thrown up all over my sweater minutes prior. Things went really well, though, and then it was just a matter of waiting.
When the call came from my agent that I booked Alex Chang, it set in motion one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. Yes, I fulfilled a childhood dream of being on YTV and I felt incredibly lucky to be able to bring so much of myself into a character. What I didn’t see coming was all the amazing people I’d become friends with. The dedication to authenticity and diversity from production. Being able to represent both my Asian and queer communities in meaningful ways. Most importantly, now that the show is on the air, seeing the positive impact it and my work has had on kids. Popularity Papers isn’t about being popular. It’s about being true to yourself and showing compassion and empathy towards others. These are things that have been so important to me not just from the beginning of my acting career, but through my entire life. I, like my Mom, have always strived to make this world a better place for all. To be able to do that with my art truly means everything to me.
Michael, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Growing up, becoming an actor was never something I thought to do. In fact, working in the arts never appealed to me. Instead, I wanted to be a doctor. A cardiologist, to be exact, because my Mom had a heart condition and seeing what doctors did for her and others was really inspiring. I know it seems stereotypical of an Asian kid to want to be a doctor, but there was never any pressure from my parents. It was all me.
At the University of Toronto, I majored in Human Biology and Sociology. I loved it. I also loved the university life. I was in the tabletop gaming club, I tried archery for a while, and I wrote articles for The Mike. However, something changed in me in my second year. I had some friends who were working on student video games for their programs, and since I was known for ‘doing stupid voices’, they asked if I could voice some characters. Working with them sparked something in me. It made me start questioning my chosen majors and pushed me to look into things like voice work and on-camera acting. I guess you could say I got bit by the acting bug.
In the end, I did get my Bachelor’s Degree in Human Biology. I figured if I were to make a major change in direction, I would need a backup plan. In fact, I had more than one backup plan. I also took the LSAT just in case and got my real estate license to work as a Realtor with my Dad. With everything in place and a job, I enrolled at the Toronto Film School in the CBC Building, which is where the next chapter of my life began.
Outside of acting, I have several other artistic pursuits. I love podcasting. I currently have a horror podcast called The Hellbound Podcast that I co-host with Alex Blackburn, who is an incredibly talented film creative from England. I am also part of Live Long and Podcast, which is a series of podcasts produced by Dave Mader and part of the United Federation of Podcasts network. Cosplay has a huge place in my heart. Prior to enrolling in film school, I was an award-winning competitive cosplayer at Fan Expo (formerly CNAnime) and Anime North. Nowadays, I love seeing other people’s cosplay creations and still occasionally cosplay myself. Finally, I love puns and dad jokes. I got my sense of humour from my Dad, who can play with words in both English and Cantonese. He was a competitive classical Chinese poetry reader in Hong Kong in his youth, so there is always a smoothness to his delivery that just has me laughing until my stomach is hurting! I’ve taken my love of telling dad jokes to TikTok, where I now make over 14,000 followers groan! Haha!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Rejection is a huge part of being an actor. We hear ‘no’ all the time. After all, we don’t book every role, right? For Asian actors, and BIPOC actors in general, ‘no’ can sometimes come with some extra layers. I have many stories I can share from my career in that regard, but there is one that always stood out for me – How I lost my name. When I started out in this industry, I was billed as Michael Chee-Wah Chan. Chee-Wah is my middle name, which is a combination of my parents’ names. I wanted to honour both my cultural heritage and my parents when I worked, so I had my full name as my stage name. What I never expected was the sheer amount of ‘no’ I would get from it. My middle name was mocked. Purposely mispronounced. Assumptions were made about my ability to speak English or speak English with a standard North American accent. It was a lot to take, and by the time I went to join the union, I had a huge talk with both my agent and the administrator handling my first Apprentice credit about what to do about my name. The answer? “Either come up with a totally different stage name or just go by Michael Chan. It’s somewhat generic, but it’s not threatening. Just become the best Michael Chan there is.” Think about that. A little over a decade ago, I was told my middle name was ‘threatening’. As much as it hurt me, I took their advice and became just Michael Chan. I persisted, though. I strove and continue to strive to be the best darned Michael Chan there is. I have a career now as Michael Chan and I worked hard as Michael Chan with many other like-minded people to make sure no one else’s name is ever deemed ‘threatening’ in this industry again. I’m happy to say that we have seen much progress and that if I were just starting my career today, I wouldn’t have to lose my name. History can’t be erased, though, so I remain billed as Michael Chan. A little ray of sunshine exists in the form of social media, however, as my username is michaelcwchan everywhere, thus preserving my middle name in some form.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I’ve been asked many times throughout my 18 years as an actor what exactly it is about acting that not only moved me to change my career path, but keeps me going regardless of how difficult this journey is. Making a living purely as an actor is a rare feat after all, and the amount of time, energy, and money needed to maintain any semblance of a career is astronomical. For me, it’s all about living and breathing in a whole different world while working with other amazing, talented people to create absolute magic on the screen. It’s about being able to be genuine, be authentic, be me, while also being someone else somewhere else, and then seeing that someone else, that somewhere else, and everything in that somewhere else come to life. Finally, it’s about seeing that magic’s effect on others. Seeing the smiles, the frowns, the gasps, the tears, all of it. There’s nothing like it and very few things in my life bring me this much joy and fulfillment.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.michaelchan.ca
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelcwchan/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelcwchan/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelcwchan
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaelcwchan
Image Credits
My personal photo, the headshot of me in the black jacket, and the Star Trek editorial shot are all by Denise Grant. The TVO screenshot is from the show ‘Unsettled’. All other photos are from my camera.