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

Alright, Tyler thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I first decided to become an actor after watching Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Not only was I inspired by the amazing story but after seeing Pom Klementieff as Mantis, I had an epiphany that acting was something attainable for me. Previously, I had only ever seen Asians in roles where they were some techy sidekick or a martial arts god, all with close ties to their Asian origins.

As an Asian American, who feels more American, I just didn’t resonate with these archetypes. I didn’t feel like being pigeonholed into a category where my only worth was the fact that I was Asian. In comes Pom, playing a character whose relationship to the other characters moved the story forward, a character with a developed arc. A character who was not written just for the sole fact of being Asian.

Seeing Pom as Mantis really opened my eyes to the possibilities and made me realize that acting was a great avenue if I wanted to tell awesome, fantastical stories and live within them.

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 pursuing a career in acting and concept art for movies because I truly believe that movies are magic and I want to help create magic.

Movies have this amazing ability to reignite our passions and make us feel seen, personally whenever I watch movies I never really feel alone. I’m mainly interested in stories that help people feel less alone while also inspiring them.

I think my love for making character concept art helps to drive my passion for acting and vice versa. Both of my passions supplement one another in the sense that I’m constantly creating characters and dissecting stories, I’m just looking at each with a different perspective depending on which hat I have on. All in all, this allows me to become a more well-rounded story teller.

I enjoy acting a tad bit more because it allows me to physically step into the story I’m trying to tell and lets me live the story. Being on set is also just the best feeling, being in an environment with people from multiple departments who are all very committed to telling a great story is very magical.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

While I think it’s important to create stories that celebrate Asian culture, I’d like to get to a point where it doesn’t feel like the only time we see Asians in film is when the characters are based off of stereotypes or deeply rooted in their culture. I want characters whose journeys can be felt more universally.

Aside from pushing for a broader range of Asian roles, I’d like to focus on telling stories that help people feel less alone. One of the great things about movies are their ability to bring people together. I feel that loneliness is a universal feeling so by creating stories that revolve around it, the audience is able to easily empathize with the characters and also learn to be more empathetic towards one another. Just another reason to love film! :)

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect has got to be spreading fun and igniting passion. When people view my work, I’d like them to walk away from it thinking “Wow, that was fun!”.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.me/tylerphan
• Instagram: Actor: @t.jphan Art: @relytart
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@relytart

Image Credits
Kenneth Dolin Photography, Yvette Gonzalez, Annie Fang, Nick Garcia