Posted on Jul 14, 2022
Phillipa Soo on playing a Broadway Asian American Cinderella who rejects the prince
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Early in her career, actor Phillipa Soo was advised to change her name. Soo’s father is Chinese, her mother is white, and Soo was told her name “sound[ed] too Asian,” she recalled. At the same time, industry professionals also said, “You don’t really look Chinese.”
Soo didn't change her name, and she’s gone on to play a variety of roles where her background was an asset, from Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway musical “Hamilton” (which was filmed and released on Disney+) to the Chinese moon goddess Chang’e in the Netflix film “Over the Moon.”
Now Soo is playing Cinderella in the classic musical “Into the Woods,” whose new Broadway revival has a more diverse spin and is running at the St. James Theatre until Aug. 21.
Cinderella has historically been played by white actors, and getting to be the rare Asian American actor to play that role “has been incredibly affirming,” Soo told NBC Asian America from her dressing room at the St. James two hours before she had to be onstage. “And it feels very right.”
Soo didn't change her name, and she’s gone on to play a variety of roles where her background was an asset, from Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway musical “Hamilton” (which was filmed and released on Disney+) to the Chinese moon goddess Chang’e in the Netflix film “Over the Moon.”
Now Soo is playing Cinderella in the classic musical “Into the Woods,” whose new Broadway revival has a more diverse spin and is running at the St. James Theatre until Aug. 21.
Cinderella has historically been played by white actors, and getting to be the rare Asian American actor to play that role “has been incredibly affirming,” Soo told NBC Asian America from her dressing room at the St. James two hours before she had to be onstage. “And it feels very right.”
Phillipa Soo on playing a Broadway Asian American Cinderella who rejects the prince
Posted from nbcnews.com
Acting
Actor/Actress
Racism
New York City
Theater
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."For instance, Soo was in “Hamilton” years before it became a cultural phenomenon. The role of Eliza Hamilton was crafted around Soo’s performance, and she used her experience as a biracial person to inform Eliza’s experience of “feeling out of place, not feeling like she’s being treated equally in the eyes of her contemporaries,” Soo said. Eliza’s way of trying to find agency as a woman in a male-dominated world mirrored Soo’s experience of “trying to find my way and my own identity through the world.”
In short, when it comes to acting, “I’m a tools-not-rules kind of person,” Soo said.
She added: “I identify as an Asian American woman and a mixed-race person. I hope my unique experiences and my identity can shine a light on the characters I portray and the stories I tell.”
..."For instance, Soo was in “Hamilton” years before it became a cultural phenomenon. The role of Eliza Hamilton was crafted around Soo’s performance, and she used her experience as a biracial person to inform Eliza’s experience of “feeling out of place, not feeling like she’s being treated equally in the eyes of her contemporaries,” Soo said. Eliza’s way of trying to find agency as a woman in a male-dominated world mirrored Soo’s experience of “trying to find my way and my own identity through the world.”
In short, when it comes to acting, “I’m a tools-not-rules kind of person,” Soo said.
She added: “I identify as an Asian American woman and a mixed-race person. I hope my unique experiences and my identity can shine a light on the characters I portray and the stories I tell.”
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