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Following Her Heart Actress Jodi Long continues to pave the way for the future generations of Asian Americans� BY MARGARET RHEE

Hollywood is home to several dynasties (Fonda, Coppola, Douglas, etc.). The Long family has produced a dynasty as well--a rare Asian American one. Several decades before Better Luck Tomorrow, there was Broadway�s Flower Drum Song, a musical about Asian Americans in vaudeville, recently revived by David Henry Hwang in 2003. It was in the first Flower Drum Song where Jodi Long`s father, a Chinese Scottish tap dancer, made his Broadway debut. Her mother was a Japanese American showgirl; both were performers on the vaudeville circuit, as well as dancing their hearts away on �The Ed Sullivan Show.�

In her remarkable (and, yes, ongoing) career, Jodi Long has conquered the actor�s triple crown of stage, TV, and film. A sampling of her long list of credentials include playing Margaret Cho�s mother on �All American Girl;� Madame Liang in Hwang�s recent FDS; Eiko in the renowned East West Players production, A Wind Cries Mary; a Korean mother in Rob Schneider�s The Hot Chick; to her one-woman show, Surfing DNA. More recently, he can be seen regularly on NBC�s �Mismatch� as Claire, the meddling office manager. ChopBlock was fortunate enough to talk to actress Jodi Long about her career, parents, and the promising state of Asian American entertainment.

Although Long lived in a non-traditional Asian American household, artistic inspiration was neither overtly given nor expected. Her mother wanted her to be an English teacher, but Long�s childhood plan was to be a lawyer. But that changed in high school, when she did a scene from Splendor In The Grass as a junior. �I played Natalie Wood�s part and had such a good time,� she recalls. That was enough to convince Long to forgo her law school plans and attend Purchase College Professional Conservatory in New York. Long established herself as a versatile actress, though at times, found herself boxed into certain roles: Asian news reporters and Korean mothers. Despite the lack of diverse roles, Long deals with it consciously. �I don�t have a problem with accents,� she admits, �but when it�s not warranted and they just want to do it because it�s funny--I don�t think that�s funny.�

Today, roles for Asian Americans are still sparse, Long says. �Unfortunately the only person who has broken out is Lucy (Liu),� she observes, �but for the most part, there are still those roles. Like in Snow Falling on Cedars, the fact that they cast a woman from Japan (Youki Kudoh) and had to teach her how to speak English, they cast the passive doll-like quality.� While Long has been one of the luckier actresses to land roles that are ethnically non-specific or non-racist, she always finds solace in theater. �I have a longer time on stage,� she explains. �Hopefully by the end of it, you�ll see a woman on stage--not just an Asian woman.�

Long�s pioneering spirit and conscious decisions may be inherited. While many Asian American academics criticize the performers of yesteryear, her parents are a testament that, back then, APA performers were conscious and rebellious. �It�s a complicated issue and it depends how you look at it,� she offers. �I saw it as subversive. My dad comes out and speaks pigeon Chinese. It�s like, �Okay, I�m going to be the Chinky Chinese joke.� After seven minutes, my mother comes out, drop dead Western entertainer. He takes off his Chinese costume. What�s so cool about it is once they shed the skin of what�s expected of them and make fun of it, all of a sudden it turns, and then they start tap dancing. That was their control.�

Ultimately, it is in theatre where an actor has the most control over his/her performance. In addition, it is Asian American theatre that offers Asian American artists the opportunity for roles that are non-stereotypical. �It�s not so much the genre that draws me,� Long shares, �but mainly the parts are more interesting. I like it when I can utilize all parts of myself to inform a part. Not only my experience as a woman/human being but my experience as an Asian American woman as well.� She does acknowledge that things have evolved through the years. �There are more writers now, which is a good thing, and the writers I started out with like David Henry Hwang and Phillip Kan Gotanda have all grown up and matured as writers/artists.�

While actors may not have as much control in the Hollywood scheme of things, the writers do. �The reality of the situation is it is the writers with their point of view,� she says. �It�s a catch-22, make do with what you got.� With her lengthy resume filled with a plethora of TV, film, and stage, it seems Long has done just that and more. And is she living up to the legacy of her parents? �I am continuing to break barriers,� she declares, �and pave the way for young Asian American actors and actresses that my parents started to do long ago.� The younger generation has much to learn from the veteran actress. �You have to believe in yourself,� she offers. �Follow your heart and have a unique voice. Having something to say is really important.� Incredibly, Long is a rarity of someone who lives by her advice and, yes, continues to forge ahead, sharing her legacy with all of us in the process.

Above: Jodi Long in The Wind Cries Mary (Photo by Michael Lamont, courtesy East West Players).