Nancy Kwan

I'm doing fine. How are you doing?

Yes.

I speak Cantonese.

Where did you come from?

From Malaysia.

No, I wanted to be a ballet dancer. I was going to the Royal Ballet, very serious about being a ballet dancer. I was back in Hong Kong for summer holidays. And they were testing. making screen tests for some of my favorite Chinese actresses for the world of Suzy Wong in Hong Kong. So I went up to the studio to watch my favorite actress at work.

And I was standing there, and somebody says to me, you want to do a screen test? I said, no, I'm a ballet dancer. I have nothing to do with it. I'm just here watching my favorite actresses. They said, why don't you do a screen test? I said, well, what's that? They said, well, just sit in the chair. So I said, okay. So I sat in the chair, and he asked me questions, how old I am.

And every time he asked me something, I burst out laughing like an idiot. I mean, I laughed the whole way through. And then when I got home, I said to my father, I said, I don't know, but this guy wanted me to do a screen test. And I just giggled all the way. He said, well, never mind. You're a ballet dancer. Forget it. A few weeks later...

I get a... My father gets a letter from Ray Stark, the producer of The World of 221. I'm sorry.

Uh... You know, one of those, you know.

Like a piece of paper. And a contract. They said, would you like to go to Hollywood for six months? And I even get paid for it. I said, I've also been a student, so I've never been paid. I said, oh, I would love it. I would love it. I've never been to America. And that's how I started. Right. And so that was in Hong Kong.

Well, no, that was much later.

Like, you know, both of us.

Well, first time, I came in the early 60s, where the studio system was just phasing out.

Yes.

What were you doing?

Oh, I don't do drugs either.

Yeah, no, the studio system was phasing out and independent films were coming in. Really, that was an exciting, very exciting time.

And... Kind of sounds like...

It does repeat itself.

And independent films were coming in. And so, I mean, I was just caught in that. But Ray Stark had me under contract. So I did... quite a few films, you know, for seven years, actually. Yes. Under contract. Yeah. And different films. And at that time, you know, with Asian actors, before then, Asian actors did not get the good roles, really the roles that could advance the career.

It's much better now. It's getting better.

This is... All right, I will.

Yeah. Terry Grant. That's right. That's right.

Yes. Right?

Glenn Ford. I worked with quite a few of them. Yeah.

Of course. My good friend. Your good friend, Mr. Bruce Lee, yeah. Bruce also came from Hong Kong. And Bruce went to La Salle, which is a Catholic school. And I went to Maryknoll, which is a kind of a Catholic school, a convent. But Bruce used to hang around Maryknoll just to look at the girls.

He was the Cha-Cha King of Hong Kong at one time, Bruce.

Cha-Cha King.

Very cool, very nice, good friend. And he was the one who told me, he said, actually, I worked with him on The Wrecking Crew with Dean Martin and Sharon Tate. And we had, Sharon Tate and I had a fight scene, martial arts. So Bruce was called in to show us what to do. And that's how I met him.

And when I got to know him, Bruce said to me, you know, Nancy, I'm going back to Hong Kong to become a big martial arts star. That's what I'm going to do. And I believed him.

Yeah, I mean, he was so determined.

And he had such energy and conviction that he was the best. And he was. Yeah.

And he introduced martial arts, you know.

Yes, yes, he did.

Well, I was under contract, so I was lucky. I was, one time, Ray Stark put me in a film where I played an English girl with English parents. So all the actors in England were complaining. They said, what is this Chinese girl or the Asian playing an English girl?

No.

I did the film, got reviews, got reviews.

The Wild Affair, it was called.

A long while.

Well, I know with Asian actors, and I have a lot of good Asian friends who are actors, very good actors, that never got a chance to really show their talent.

Keep trying.

All right, okay.

I think you're right. Both. Both.

Yes, that's right. Exactly right. OK. Yes.

Have you seen the films?

I don't think it's main problem. I think audience have changed, you know, the thought. I mean, in the old days, okay, I mean, my days, in the 60s.

Yeah. That's mean.

No, but they, I mean, my favorite director was David Lean, who did great films, Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia. They don't do that kind of films anymore. They really don't. And I wish they would come back to that. And maybe they will, because everything goes around. That's life, isn't it?

No, it's not a reason. I think it's just a phase. Maybe one day we'll go back to it.

I wish I knew. I mean, they're trying their best to do films. And films are not... I mean, television's taken over. And, you know, people don't go to movies in a movie house anymore. They don't.

You know, and so that's another reason, too.

I think it was, I mean, this too shall pass. And how do you know? Maybe some great directors, producers will come up with some great ideas. And we'll start again, another time, on another level.

Or films. I loved it. I didn't think it was bad.

No, it wasn't perfect.

But I thought they did very interesting films during my time, anyway. And I got a chance to play non-Asian roles. I mean, I played an American Indian in a Western, you know, and I played an English girl, as I said, or a circus performer with no nationality. So at least I had a chance to do that. Unfortunately, for Asian actors, they're not there yet. You know, I wish we would have more...

Asian directors, writers, producers, writing for Asians, making films for Asians with great roles for them to play. There's so many talented Asian actors out there.

Actors were no longer under contract. They were, you know, getting their agents together, being handled by lawyers, making their own deals. So it was a whole...

big change in that time and i don't know if it's good or bad but i think it's just another phase in life that we go through and hope you know maybe maybe things will come back again better better movies right more interesting movies okay so the the last thing um i want to ask you was like you're kind of you were born and raised in the east and you've been

I think there will always be political clashes. That's what makes the world interesting.

And you never know what comes up. Oh. Okay. No.

I didn't say it was end of civilization or silver lining. I just think it's going through changes. Like life. You're going through changes, aren't you?

And what do you smoke and what kind of drugs?

I think it will always be so. I mean, I really, even like you talk about the East, You know, you come from Malaysia. I come from Hong Kong. And there's Thailand, and there's all these Southeast Asian countries. Not everyone gets on all the time. They don't get along. But we learn to live with each other. And I think it's like the West.

I mean, we will go through phases and political things, bad or good. But we learn from it, hopefully. And from those lessons, you know, Something good will come out of it, I hope. I mean, I like to look at the good side of things. I really am not a negative person, so... Okay, I think you might be in the wrong era, then, because this is...

Well, you're going to have the yin and yang, you know, so both.

I hope so, too. I mean, I like to think of the positive, so.

Thank you.