Nancy Kwan 2/6 | The Most Inspiring Asian Americans of All Time | Asian American Personalities

Asian American Profiles

SUZIE WONG REVISITED

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     I snap some photos as she talks. Kwan doesn't raise a fuss as I was afraid she might. (What actress wants candid photos taken without even a trip to the powder room?) She tries on sunglasses for effect. Her black and white ensemble dramatizes her black hair and fair skin, revealing either a strong fashion sense or a disciplined artistic sensibility. Her white silk blouse is held closed by three jeweled brooches.

     After answering questions for three hours, a visibly tired Kwan agrees to pose for full-length shots on now dark Westwood Boulevard. "How about one of me coming out of Ann Taylor?" she suggests as I scout around for suitable backgrounds. "It's my favorite store."

     As we walk to our cars Kwan seems surprised that I am done. "I thought you were going to ask me about being Eurasian," she says. I tell her that I've always considered her to be Asian, especially with her hair being so black.

     A few days later, after beginning the difficult process of trying to reduce Kwan down to words on a page, I decide the time has come for me to confront Suzie Wong. Popping the video into the VCR I sit down to be offended.

     The revulsion never came. Before long I find myself sympathetic to Holden's plight as a man of limited means who has given himself a year in Hong Kong to become an artist, and am captivated by young Nancy Kwan and her portrayal of an irrepressible Wanchai bar-belle with a dark secret. There are a few kisses and embraces and glimpses of Kwan's shapely thighs courtesy of a tight chongsam, but none of the vulgarity the imagination conjures up at the mention of Suzie Wong. The bargirls are portrayed more with charitable humor than lasciviousness. A rare comic chemistry between Holden and Kwan breathes life into what might have been an overly cute and sappy love story. As awful as it sounds, I can't dislike the film. I come away with an appreciation for Kwan's beauty, energy and talent. I can also understand how difficult it would be for her to match the commercial, if not aesthetic, triumph of her first role.

     Kwan expresses no regrets about the role. "This Asian woman was interviewing me and said 'Did you know you were responsible for this image of Asian women being prostitutes?'" Kwan said, 'Oh, you mean if I had played a nun or a saint and it became a very successful film, all Asian women would be seen as nuns?'" retorted Kwan. The logic isn't compelling, but her attitude is.

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"It was just a role that happened to be very successful and brought a lot of pleasure," she says. "I still get fan mail from it. Actually it put Asians on the map in Hollywood because the next picture I starred in was Flower Drum Song and it was the first all-Asian cast."

Kwan no longer goes to casting calls. "Why go? They know me anyway." Her ambition is to spend her time directing and producing. "I just finished a promo I just directed. I wrote the script with a friend. I'm not in it. I picked a girl to do the promo. It came out quite well." There is potential for low-budget features, she believes, because of new opportunities for getting into cable. PAGE 3