Giveaway is now closed, Julie W. is the winner! I’ve been a fan of Lucy Liu since her days on Ally McBeal, so when I was offered the chance to interview Lucy Liu recently with several other bloggers, I jumped at it. She’s starring in Kung Fu Panda 3, which recently opened.
When Liu walked into the room and sat down with us, I was immediately struck by her grace and warmth. She was very down to earth and very intelligent. She’s a new mom to baby Rockwell (he is 4 months old now) and we talked about new motherhood, her son’s naming inspiration and acting in Kung Fu Panda 3.
On New Motherhood:
There is no one size fits all with babies. They don’t come with instruction manuals and you have to sometimes roll with the changes. Liu gets this. When asked about new motherhood, Liu said this:
“What’s surprising to me is the rapid growth, how fast things will change day-to-day and how visually that changes as well. They look different, their activity level, their sense of who you are. It’s very fast. It’s not like they don’t know what’s going on and they can’t see you. They recognize you. They know your voice. They know what you smell like. It’s such a wonderfulfeeling of getting to know somebody, really. And that’s what it is for me. You’re developing a relationship and understanding what the different squeaks are. And it’s just so nice. I love that. I think there’s a communication going on way before words come out. “
On Where the Inspiration for her Son’s Name Came From:
Liu said, “A lot of people ask me if it was based on Norman Rockwell. And it wasn’t, actually. My mother used to work for Rockefeller University in the science department and that just always echoed in my head a lot. But you can’t really name a baby Rockefeller. I really love the idea of having that initial name and then kind of welding it together with something else. And Rockwell, I think, was the right way to go with it. His middle name was my brother’s middle name, which was my grandmother’s brother’s middle name. So, my brother was named after my great uncle, and so I took that. I wanted sort of the idea of heritage. I brought his middle name because in Chinese you keep the center part, there’s like three kanjis. The last name, the surname, is the most important, so that comes first, and then the middle name is the one that’s carried on. Then the third part of the name is your name. So, I wanted to keep the same center name as my brother and carry it on. So, that’s how it came about. It’s a bit complicated, but that’s it”.
On Acting in an Animated Film like the Kung Fu Panda Franchise:
What I really wanted to know is how she keeps her acting fresh when doing animation work. Most of the time, an actor isn’t even in the same room with the actor playing opposite them. I asked, “How does you keep those connections with your other castmates?”
Liu answered: “We just did a bunch of things just for camera, like doing the lines, and I just sounded like a crazy person just on my own. I was like, “Yes! There he is!” You know, there was no connection to anything. And I think that the more important thing is, as an actor, you really have to connect no matter what. I mean, you could be working with an actor who is just out to lunch. So, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re always there, it just means that you have to be proactive and you have to be present no matter what, and who is in the room or who isn’t in the room. And that’s the wonderful thing about my particular business is that you constantly have to use your imagination, sometimes whether you want to or not. And in this particular case, they encourage you to. And it’s always fantastic to see how the end result is, because it’s much bigger than your imagination can be. I just find that that humanity that they (actors) bring to these animated characters is really pretty special and unusual, and makes you laugh because it’s true. And truth sometimes is funnier than anything else.”
KUNG FU PANDA 3, produced by DreamWorks Animation is in theaters January 29, 2016
Check out the Kung Fu Panda 3 trailer
Enjoy these exclusive Kung Fu Panda coloring pages, connect the dots and other fun printables!
Enjoy these exclusive Kung Fu Panda coloring pages, connect the dots and other fun printables!
Party Pack Activities (print these out and have a fun Kung Fu Panda 3 party!)
KUNG FU PANDA 3 Summary:
In 2016, one of the most successful animated franchises in the world returns with its biggest comedy adventure yet, KUNG FU PANDA 3. When Po’s long-lost panda father suddenly reappears, the reunited duo travels to a secret panda paradise to meet scores of hilarious new panda characters. But when the supernatural villain Kai begins to sweep across China defeating all the kung fu masters, Po must do the impossible — learn to train a village full of his fun-loving, clumsy brethren to become the ultimate band of Kung Fu Pandas!
Starring: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, James Hong, Randall Duk Kim, Bryan Cranston, J. K. Simmons, Kate Hudson
Directed By: Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni
Produced By: Melissa Cobb
