Rosanne Ma is known primarily as a New York stage actress. She has been with the Pan Asian Repertory
Company for several years, performing in Joy Luck Club, Rashomon, and The Empress of China. She challenged our perceptions of Asian women in our society as screen legend Anna Mae Wong in Pan Asian Rep's China Doll. Rosanne was part of the first American theater group to be invited to the Havana Theater Festival. She last appeared in Off Broadway's longest running comedy Jewtopia.
I wanted to add the director's statement as I think it's an important explanation behind the story of Asian immigration in America.
I wanted to give audiences an insight into another era, where the themes reflect off of today's issues of immigration and race. We have done this by going
back to a year that most Americans know very little about. It was a twilight time between the great wars and the new America of two car families and rock 'n roll; a lost time. A time when we paused for a few brief moments before
everything would change forever. A country that was built by all the races for the benefit of one was going to change; but, not without a fight...
Also, I always wanted to make a film about newspaper people when the newspapers were at the zenith of their power. The men and women that worked in the newspaper business are now a lost breed. I wanted to bring their spirit to life. As for the characters, the newspaper business is in their blood and they are driven by truth or the suppression of it. Even the bad guys in this film have a single-minded, if twisted, devotion to their journalism.
Most importantly, the Asian American actors are given a chance to be real people with real problems in a modern society. They are complex Americans,capable of being good, bad and indifferent. Just like all of us. One of the actors
thanked me for giving him a role where he didn't have to karate chop anybody. Ghosts of the Heartland transports the audience to another time and place. The film is a trip into the depths of the McCarthy era. The departments
really did their job. This movie looks, sounds and feels like 1952
Get to know a little bit more about Rosanne Ma.
ASIANCE: What is your background? Where were you born? Grew up? School?
ASIANCE: I was born and reared in Stockton, CA. BFA Theatre, Univ of CA Santa Barbara, MFA Theatre, Univ of TN Knoxville with the Clarence Brown Theatre.
ASIANCE: Tell us about your character in Ghosts of the Heartland and how you got cast.
ASIANCE: My character: Liz is a foil to Roland, the film's main character. Unlike Roland, her priorities have always been with family and her Chinese heritage. I was referred to Allen through a director affiliated with a theatre I have worked with.
ASIANCE: Who is your favorite actress? Favorite Asian American?
ASIANCE: Favorite actresses: Kate Winslet's films I watch merely because she's in them, her emotions are helplessly transparent... Favorite Asian American Actress: Tina Chen for her unpredictability.
ASIANCE: Anyone’s career that you would like to emulate?
ASIANCE: Ideal career: I admire Tina Chen for being able to take on multiple roles in the industry: as an actress, director and producer...I admire how Angelina Jolie uses her fame towards goodwill. I believe in the power of filmmaking to have a grand impact on the world socially and politically...In my ideal world, I'd be a part of that.
ASIANCE: Is there a type of role that you are just dying to play?
ASIANCE: Savored roles: I'd love to sing in a musical, or be in a horror film with guts and gore or be in a James Bond movie and play James Bond.
ASIANCE: How did you get cast in Anna May Wong? Did you do much research for the role?
ASIANCE: Anna May Wong in China Doll: I was offered China Doll by Tisa Chang whom I've worked with numerous times before. Research: I was able to get a hold of a good number of Anna May's obscure early films via Ebay. Yale's library has an archive of handwritten letters from Anna May, unprotected documents which you can hold in your hand.
ASIANCE: What is coming up next for you?
ASIANCE: Next project: I just finished “Metronome,” a short which I am now preparing for festival submissions.
ASIANCE: Do you have a husband, boyfriend, children? How do you balance your career and family?
ASIANCE: I am married. My personal life doesn't rob my career life and vice versa, they fortunately support each other!
ASIANCE: Any beauty routines?
ASIANCE: Beauty routines: Sunscreen and lotsa love.
