By Emily Von Butlar
Executive Features Editor
Senior and aspiring actress Grace Lu makes her way to Hollywood.
Lu’s first introduction to the acting industry was at Anime Expo in Los Angeles where she tried out for an open audition at Bang Zoom’s booth in 2016. Bang Zoom is a vendor for audio and video post-production services. As one of the finalists for the audition, Lu was contacted by CEO of Bang Zoom, Eric Sherman, from whom she was introduced into the world of voice acting. According to Lu, she has always loved musical theatre, reading books, and watching movies.
“I was, and still am, driven by my love for storytelling and getting to live in other stories and thinking about things I probably never thought about in my life,” Lu said.
The casting director at Bang Zoom, Mami Okada, gave Lu her first job as Astra on “Super Wings.” Lu is currently working with The Osbrink Agency, who she was introduced to through an industry referral.
“It was always something that was a little like a dream,” Lu said. “I never even considered acting as a possibility, and it wasn’t until I was deep into it that I realized this is something I could do for a living. I could make something so fun a reality.”
She hopes to continue being an actress throughout college as it is something that brings her great joy, according to Lu. Although Lu, while in Advanced Drama, was never in any Drama and Tech extracurriculars at Costa, she still hopes to be a part of the activities Costa has to offer before she graduates. She would love to work with actresses Zendaya and Gemma Chan, as she looks up to them.
“I just love the way [Gemma Chan] and other Asian actors are creating this trend of being Asian in Hollywood which is something I never knew was possible,” Lu said. “Hopefully someday, being a person of color in Hollywood will just be something that is normal and celebrated.”
According to Lu, getting into acting was very challenging as a lot of the research she does is by herself. She tries out for every audition that she gets, every audition is another opportunity for storytelling, according to Lu. She has auditioned for over 300 characters since her launch into the acting industry in 2017.
“I think in my future I am going to continue to train, learn and fall in love with everything that acting is while still pursuing an academic career,” Lu said.
According to Lu, pursuing acting while still being a high school student is the hardest part because there is limited time. However, she is still learning to manage time as senior year is very challenging, but she has worked toward balancing the two aspects of her life: acting and school, according to Lu.
“I never even knew it was possible for someone like me [who is Asian],” Lu said. “Getting to do these things that I love in the arts, getting to tell stories like the ones I [grew up with] wishing I could be a part of. Doing it all while being Asian is truly the best part about it.”
Despite Lu’s current position as an Asian actress, she never believed being an actress was something that she could truly pursue, according to Lu. Growing up, she would not see a lot of Asian actors and actresses in Hollywood, but the show “Avatar the Last Airbender” really resonated with her as every character was a person of color.
“I think currently my greatest motivation is trying to be happy,” Lu said. “Right now acting is making me very happy and getting to explore and be people that aren’t me and getting to tell stories, getting to do the craft.”
Lu looks up to the actors of this generation as she is continuously inspired by Rachel Zegler and Andrew Barth Feldman, to continue being the most authentic version of herself, according to Lu. As being Asian-American in Hollywood is still a challenge, Lu looks up to fellow Senior Peyton Lee as she showed Lu that her dreams of becoming an actress are possible, according to Lu. She just finished filming a guest star role on a Nickelodeon show that will be released in the next couple of months.
“Being represented, I hope, will [one day] be something that you don’t have to dream about,” Lu said.
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