Around The Islands
Feature Profile
Kelly Hu: Chaos
by Dean Hayashida
"Chaos."
No. That's not the title of a new action movie, but the scene at the grand opening of a swanky new boutique one Friday night.
It was like stepping into another world. In one corner, a DJ named Steve ("Kid Millionaire") Aoki spins pop music in between sets of live music featuring Josh Radin, Schulyer Fisk & Rachael Yamagata, from a stage at the back of the store. Caterers glide across the floor baring trays of sushi. Everywhere were slender, impeccably coiffed model-types, wearing designer clothes for that touch of L.A. in the Ala Moana Shopping Center.
Enter Kelly Hu-yes, that Kelly Hu-the actress. She is by far the most recognizable person at Miss Sixty/Energie, but also the most down-to-earth person in the crowded store. She moves about enthusiastically, flashing a vibrant smile as she shakes hands and poses for pictures. She's a woman in her element-and clearly having a great time.
She is home for the holidays, which, for Hu, also means hosting events like this one to benefit her favorite charity, Reef Check Hawaii.
For most people, Kelly Hu is recognizable from her many television and movie roles. Early in her career, she appeared briefly in such television shows as "Growing Pains," and "The Sentinel" before moving on to larger roles in such shows as "Marshal Law (with Sammo Hung) and "Nash Bridges." On the big screen, she has been a sexy sorceress battling evil side by side with The Rock in, "The Scorpion King," an evil mutant (with an itch she dare not scratch!) in "X2: X-Men United."
Back to the party… Despite the swirl of activity she is caught up in at Miss Sixty/Energie, Ms. Hu graciously agrees to spend a few minutes telling Transition! about her life and work. We're in for quite a surprise. It turns out that whatever we might have thought about the life of a Hollywood actress, the reality for Hu is that she's a professional with a job to do: nothing more, nothing less.
How hard a job could movie star possibly be?
"Very hard!" Says Kelly Hu. "This [acting] is not a job for people who want to cruise through life or who don't want to get up early. The people who make it in this industry are willing to work and study." She says. "They understand that this is a business-as much a business as it is an art. It's not just about posing for pictures or just looking good on camera. It really becomes a job. Now that I'm working on this new show for ABC ("In Case of Emergency"), we put in no less than 12 hours a day. I'll go to the set-I'm usually one of the first people on set-and I'm in make up and hair for maybe an hour and a half… And wardrobe of course." In case you're wondering, "first on the set" can mean 5 am.
And the day doesn't end there…
"Even on the weekends, I'm coming out and doing stuff like this [making celebrity appearances], which is also part of my job-because I'm using my celebrity [status] to call attention to a cause. I can easily say that I put in a 14 to 16-hour workday." And that's all week, folks.
"I remember when I was a kid. I couldn't wait to graduate from school because I thought [pouting theatrically], I'm just gonna graduate and I'm never gonna do homework ever again! And, I'm never gonna read and I'm never gonna do any of this! I think that a lot of kids think that, 'oh yeah, if you're an actor you don't have to do any of that… wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG…!" No kidding, she actually said "wrong" four times. "I've NEVER done so much studying and research and homework."
Homework?
"Even after a 12-hour day on the set, I still have to go home and memorize my dialogue for the next day. It doesn't end when I leave the set!" Although her formal education-an eclectic mix of acting, architecture and languages-ended years ago, she still diligently perfects her craft. "About a year and a half ago, I formed an improv [improvisational] group. It's just a bunch of actors… we get together and we just kind of workout."
According to Kelly, acting encompasses her in a way that few professions could. "When you're an actor, your entire life is about acting, because everything that you use as an actor is about things that you've experienced in life. So, you cannot run away. You can't avoid problems or confrontations. As an actor, you go for it. You hit it head on. You experience it and then you use it in your work later."
Kelly went to Maemae Elementary School before entering Kamehameha Schools in seventh grade. Although she is quick to say that Hawai'i will always be her home no matter where she lives, she acknowledges that she-always a hard charger-sometimes felt like a "fish out of water" growing up local.
"People were very much about, you know, not wanting to stick out, and then you're accepted and everybody likes you. I was all about trying to be the individual and trying to get noticed… because of that, I didn't really fit well with a lot of the kids I went to school with. I was trying to be this leader, but no one was following." She laughs and then explains that this tendency to try and stand out may have backfired and made her 'just weird.' Still, she says that even this gave her character and helped strengthen her resolve.
Not surprisingly, Kelly's advice to Hawaii teens has to do with sticking to their guns and believing in themselves.
"I think a lot of success is about taking chances. What I would encourage kids to do is to put themselves out there. Don't be afraid of what people think. Don't be afraid of failing, because in the long run, nobody cares if you made an ass out of yourself. One day, you're going to move on and grow from it. I think that often times, especially here in Hawaii, people are super worried about what other people are going to think. If we could just not worry so much-of course, taking care and consideration of other peoples' feelings and things like that-but I would encourage kids more than anything to lose that fear."
Good advice? Try it, and see.
