TIME: 12:26 AM
Okay, I am all finished with my website. I actually finished it Friday, but it's not opened to the public just yet, because I still need to get my headshots re-touched a little here and there, so Matthew Sussman (http://www.matthewsussman.com/), the headshot photographer, and I are going to get that done possibly this Saturday. I haven't even shown anyone my headshots yet, because I want to wait until they are FINALLY done to show people. I know there are people who are just waiting to see them and I can't wait to show them, but I refuse to show them until they are COMPLETELY finished! I am very happy with my shots, and I have to say that after I saw them for the first time, after Matthew handed me the disk with all of them, I wanted to start dancing all the way from 14th St. to 34th St. on 5th Ave., because I was sooooo happy with them! I think I texted as many people as I can from my Blackberry expressing my excitement! I didn't. Instead, I just walked back up to mid-town, not giving a flip about the yellow taxi cabs passing me by or even the trains, with this big Cheshire-Cat smile on my face! And to tell you the truth, I was actually "too lazy" to walk to the next street over to Union Square, hop on the R, W, Q, or N train to ride it 34th Herald Square.
I know - try to figure that one out! *lol* You're too lazy to go to the next street over to board a train, but you're not too lazy to walk twenty blocks in Manhattan. :P
So, I look at the final touches to my website from the front page lay to the Bio and the Photo gallery, and I have to say that this is the first time in a long time I've actually taken great pride in my work. It's not the greatest layout on the web really, but in true Cristina-fashion (you'll hear me say that A LOT ---> "Cristina-fashion", "Cristina-isms", silly terms like that), I kept the lay close as I possibly can to my own personal taste with the purple, the "rock-star" fonts, etc., etc. I'm happy with the way it looks! I can't wait to open it up to people, too, because I want to show people what it is I can do and what I have been passionate about ever since I was a kid in (New) Jersey.
Speaking of being a kid, there is something I have been thinking of that has kind of followed me for a very long time. When I was little, I remember not having that infamous "role model" that most kids have when they are little. I looked up to Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, David Bowie for inspiration, because they are all different and are constantly changing their looks, their style, and you never know what you're gonna get from them. But I noticed that I didn't have that Asian-American superstar role model who inspired you to dream or to even go after them. It almost seemed like they didn't even exist. Well, lately, with my career on my mind, how I want to market myself, and whatnot, I have thought pretty heavily about that. There are A LOT of great Asian actors and Asian-American actors out there, and I guess slowly, but surely, they are making their marks in Hollywood and in New York. But most recently, I have discovered a woman by the name of Anna May Wong, and according to Wikipedia and other various websites, she is known as the "first Chinese-American international star".
I've heard of Dorothy Dandrige (who was the first African-American woman to have an Oscar nod) and Lupe Velez (aka the Mexican Spitfire), names such as that, but I had not a clue that there was an Asian-American film star during that era! And when I discovered her and Miyoshi Umeki (the first and by far only East Asian actor to have won an Oscar for her role in "Sayonara"), I thought to myself, "How come NOBODY ever told me about these two women?!"
Especially Anna May Wong!
All my life as an artist and even now as I do follow my acting aspirations, I think I always wanted to find that "ray of hope" that I DO have a chance in this industry. I know, it really does come from deep within, but still, you want that person you can personally look up to and say, "If she can do it, so can I!" And when Anna May Wong came to my attention, I am thinking, "This is the coolest thing in the world! This lady is awesome! I gotta find out more about her!!!!"
From what I read about Anna May Wong so far, she was born in Los Angeles on January 3rd, 1905. Her parents were second-generation Chinese Americans. And when she was a little girl, she was fascinated by films. She used to skip school and use her lunch money just to go see the movies, which didn't make her dad a happy camper (then again, I don't think that'd make any parent a happy camper), but she wanted to become a film star reguardless of what. When she was nine years old, she begged these film makers, who were shooting movies in her town, to put her in films, and when she was 11 years old, she came up with her infamous stage name, Anna May Wong.
She dropped out of school in 1921 to persue acting full-time, and by the time she was 19, she was a movie star. There's more about her that I need to learn, because I just want to see how she did it. How did she make a name for herself? How did she become an international star during an era when it was tough to be a film star of ethnicity? And not to mention, she's beautiful, very photogenic. Maybe I can learn a thing or two from Anna May Wong as far as her career path goes?
Hmmmm.....
Well, I better call it a night. I have an early start in the morning, so I best get some shut-eye. But I'm telling you, now that I have discovered Anna May Wong....I am really excited! Mind you, this is perhaps my most favorite part about being an actor: You're always, always, always learning something! At least now it is, now that I'm more focused than I used to be when I first started going to New York back in 2006 - I mean, 24 years old is a bit of a far cry from 28 years old. I swear, I hope that even when I'm 50, I still am learning something new in this business!
OH! One last note: Website will be OFFICIALLY opened to the public in October 2009.
That's enough candy for now!
Cristina
