We recently connected with Regina Ting Chen and have shared our conversation below.

Regina Ting, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

As a kid, I wasn’t allowed to pursue drama or partake in theatre so I would put on little talent shows for my family on holidays. I used science fair boards as set decor and my mom’s clothes as wardrobe. I’d force my siblings to perform the sketches and dances with me, ha! They were never on time to practice! At the time, I had no idea I wanted to be an actor, I was just basically doing all the things that made me one purely because I loved storytelling.

My grandma who raised me was an immigrant who used to always be afraid to get out of the house once she got to America. Her English wasn’t great and she was very fearful. So I’d come home from school and tell her stories about my day, sometimes embellishing some of it so that she could live vicariously through me. All I wanted was to make her laugh. I was pretty good at it. She passed in 2020, the most devastating event in my life. But I’m so glad I was able to make her laugh all these years.

Finally, after college, I was scouted to model locally and eventually sign with an agency that turned me to take Meisner acting classes. It was so difficult, and I definitely cried too many times throughout my training and still through hardships today, but I love it with all my heart.

A few years passed and I actually had stepped away from acting, taken a real corporate job as a manager, and convinced myself I could take a break and get back to it in 10 years. One month into the corporate job and I was SO LOST with my life purpose. I missed acting so much. All the aspects of it – self-discovery, training, repetition, character development, the people, etc. That was when I knew that acting was going to be for life for me. I never doubted its place in my life ever again.

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

As a kid, I loved putting on talent shows for my family during holidays. I wasn’t allowed to join the drama classes so that was my way of expressing my creativity. I’d use science fair boards as curtains and steal my mom’s clothing for wardrobe. My siblings weren’t happy about me forcing them to do my sketches and choreography, but they participated nonetheless.

My grandparents raised me for most of my childhood. All my good and bad habits were directly derived from theirs. But my grandma was my favorite person. She was an immigrant who did not speak good English. She was always afraid to leave the house so when I’d come back home from school, I’d tell her stories about my day, often times embellishing them. I just wanted her to live vicariously through me, and I honestly just wanted to make her laugh every day, even if the stories weren’t totally true. I think that was the beginning of my love for storytelling.

I pursued a degree in Spanish with a Business Admin certificate in college. It wasn’t until after I graduated that I was scouted locally to model and then signed with an agency that encouraged me to take acting classes. I chose to study Meisner and thus began my acting journey. Being in Texas, I tended to book commercials as there were a lot of those, and short indie projects when given the opportunity.

Growing up, I was a rule follower and very disciplined, but my mind was always so curious about people. I truly believe that innate trait guided me to where I am today. I am relentless and always have been. Everything good that I have in my life took work. I wish I could say it got easier, but it hasn’t. The only thing that got easier is accepting the fact that I have the skills to work my way up to anything I want to do. Even if it is going to be difficult from start to finish. I’m not afraid, maybe that’s stupidity but it’s the only way to keep at anything for the long haul – especially acting!

In 2016, I participated in the CBS Diversity Drama Initiative. I was a finalist out of 10,000 submissions and was flown out to LA with the other participants to spend a week with CBS. They opened my mind to what it was like to work with actual big projects with huge budgets. I could not believe what I was seeing. Huge cameras, large crew, everyone has a job, the sets felt so real, it was wild and exciting! I also met my mentor there who encouraged me to move to Atlanta for these types of opportunities as she had seen success in that herself. A year later, I moved and it’s been the best decision of my life for my career.

I’m always under the impression that there is more to learn so I remain grounded and in search to consume the wonders and darkness of life all around me. This keeps every day of my life so interesting!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My dad had two strokes back to back within 3 months, including a brain hemorrhage. His brain no longer worked the same as it did before, he cannot gather full thoughts and is completely immobile. He has pieces of memories still stored away but no connection between the memories to make sense of them. When my dad had the second stroke, I had just moved out to Los Angeles to try out the market. I then moved back home within 1 month to help my mom and sister take care of my dad. My mom had declined rehab so he was at home struggling to make any type of recovery or find comfort. My mom and sister weren’t sleeping at all; long days and nights of screaming, tantrums, caretaking, you name it. I wanted to help.

At the time, I was so angry inside that I had to step away from my acting career even though I love my family and always want to help. It had me so conflicted and twisted inside. But now looking back, I needed to walk away and take care of LIFE. Life will always throw you curveballs when you least expect it. It’s okay to pause, take care of things, and then resume. In fact, I think I came back more enriched having gone through my life experiences with my family. I also began to see a therapist having to work through some of the memories from finding my dad on the ground screaming in agony from the brain hemorrhage to rolling him into a CT machine and hearing through the glass window, “Help me, Ting! Help! It hurts! Help me Ting!” and literally not being able to do a damn thing to save him. The hemorrhage was destroying his brain every millisecond that passed. As I write this, I still can’t help but tear up remembering him calling to me and me not being able to do a single thing. But seeing a therapist helped me work through some of the guilt and blame that a caregiver or caretaker goes through. I encourage anybody of any career – if you are suddenly a caregiver or have been for a while, please make sure to take the space and support you need to restore balance to your mental health because it matters.

After 6 months, My dad was finally situated in a lovely skilled nursing facility where we have the support he needs and everyone can get back to their lives, while taking time to visit him!

By taking the time for life, I was able to come back to acting with a maturity that will only allow me to be a better storyteller and fighter for this career in my life.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being an actor, I get to tell stories as different characters from my life perspective. I get to bring to the table all that is me that works for each human I portray. They’re all versions of me. And how unique is it to get to experience these versions time and time again? I feel so lucky to be able to be an adult who “plays” for her job. Though that term can be tricky because “play” actually means the work and training that never end and are a daily grind. A grind I will forever love to do!

I also decided to dive into acrylic painting some years back. I had an itch to try it and finally worked up the nerve to buy paint in the colors of the rainbow, a canvas, and some brushes. I love lions and wildlife so I started with that. Eventually, friends wanted me to paint their pets which ultimately started my side hustle of acrylic pet paintings. I don’t advertise as I don’t want to overwhelm myself with orders and lose the love for the art if it became a “job job”. Every year I’ll get a couple of orders and that makes me so happy!

I am thrilled that my creativity either as a painter or an actor resonates with both people I know and don’t know!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.reginatingchen.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/reginatingchen
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/tingspetpaintings

Image Credits
Bryce France Anna Ritch