Happy Palace

Happy Palace appeared this year as the first-ever Dutch film about the stories of immigrant families behind Indo-Chinese restaurants, which are gradually dying out nationwide. The VNC spoke with lead actors Donna Tang and Tenzing Woing, the protagonists. We talk about the lives, dreams and struggles of the younger generation in the Netherlands with an Asian background.

Where were you born and raised?

Tang: I was born and raised in Amsterdam. My mother is from Hong Kong, my father is from China, but grew up in Suriname. At home, we speak Cantonese.

Woing: Same Amsterdammer here. I was born and raised in China Town, or the Red Light District. My father is from Chengdu, Sichuan, my mother from Lhasa, Tibet.

How did you come into contact with acting and the film industry?

Tang: I actually started with something completely different. I studied International Business and worked in business. Deep down, I had wanted to act for a long time. In 2018, I took the plunge and left for Hong Kong for a year to become an actor. I grew up with HK cinema and was also convinced that with my Asian background I would never be able to ‘make it’ here in the Netherlands.

However, when Covid struck I realized that I hadn’t even given Holland a chance yet. So I auditioned for Theaterschool and started a camera acting course about 4 years ago. I have acted in a few short films, but Happy Palace is my first major role in the Dutch film industry.

Woing: As a kid, I always really wanted to be on stage and act. But somehow it disappeared along with my parents’ restaurant business. After high school, I went to study business administration, but I hated it and started skipping classes. Then I went to China, Shanghai for a year to study Mandarin and culture. It sounds like a cliché but that felt like “going back to my roots. I met all kinds of Huayi (overseas Chinese) kids from all over the world and this experience opened my horizons.

When I returned to Amsterdam, I had a conversation with my father about what I really want to do in life. Both of my parents fully supported me in my choice of the Theaterschool, where I was accepted without any theater experience.

Happy Palace was originally a drama series and due to funding problems, it took Fixy, the production company, quite some time to turn it into a TV movie. How did you end up with the project? How were you cast?

Tang: Teachers and some friends in the theater world pointed me to the audition call for Happy Palace. I wanted to do the audition well, without thinking much about what it could be. The casting took place at the end of February last year. I went through three audition rounds: first a self-recording and then two more “in person” rounds.

Woing: At that time I was in the 3rd year of theater school, had no experience at all and no casting agency knew me. They found me through Aaron Wan, perhaps the most established Asian-Dutch actor, who is a dear mentor to me.

As the call for diversity and inclusion in recent years results in more Asian-led film productions in mainstream Hollywood film offerings, Happy Palace may be the first to appear on the Dutch screen. This is also going on in the theater world, as evidenced by ‘Happy in Holland’ (2023) and ‘The Banana Generation‘ (2022). Hoe positioneren jullie jezelf als acteur met een Aziatische achtergrond in de Nederlandse film-/tv- of zogenaamde showbizz-industrie?

Tang: So far, I don’t get many opportunities to audition. Asian actors are honestly at the bottom of the industry. What you normally see (in a Dutch film) is that the main cast is predominantly white. Sometimes you have someone with African, Moroccan or Turkish roots, but Asian actors you hardly ever see. We are still pretty excluded.

Woing: I agree with this. But I do have high hopes for this industry. I feel it is “boiling”; look where we are now with Happy Palace. Asian Dutch actors have tried a lot, step by step. I feel that right now there is a wind blowing somewhere that is pushing us forward, and I really believe that we, as the new generation, have a kind of responsibility right now to celebrate our roots and let them flourish. In theater school, teachers often said, “You are the future of Dutch actors.” As the only Asian in the class, I feel motivated to represent the community.

Tang: In addition to actors, there are filmmakers, producers and screenwriters with Asian backgrounds working in the industry. Yang Ting Yuen, co-writer of Happy Palace for example. Most of Happy Palace’s crew has an Asian background.

Returning to the film, the story critiques and punctures stereotypes about Chinese/Asian communities. This applies both to Lok Man, the brother, who has to face bullying at school as a child, and to Yung Ling, the sister, who courageously lives her own life. Many small details demonstrate the emancipation of being Asian, especially for today’s younger generation, in contemporary Dutch society where structural or systematic racism and discrimination are deeply rooted. How is this for you personally as adults?

Tang: I grew up with all kinds of people of color, Surinamese, Indian, Pakistani, Indonesian, etc. At a young age, I knew how to deal with other cultures and backgrounds and how to respect them.

My mother always said to me, “You have to stand up for yourself.” So that’s what I always did. I did experience racism, but it really made a difference that I always said something about it. It breaks my heart when I read an article or see in the news that young Asian kids are saying things along the lines of: “I would really like to have blue eyes and blond hair.” That is totally not my experience, not how I experienced my childhood. I am very proud to be Chinese.

Woing: The same is actually true for me, perhaps because we grew up in the city. Although it is typically Asian for parents to tell their children to “stay subdued,” my parents also taught me to fight back. It did cause many physical fractures at school. I always tried to prove myself and show that I could not be messed with. But such a constant survival mode caused me to have difficulty getting to my heart. Growing up, it was hard to be true to myself, which is what it takes to learn to act.

Do you recognize yourself in the increasing influence of the ‘Asian ‘awakening‘ in the Netherlands since the beginning of the Covid pandemic?

Woing: The funny thing is that when the first “Asian wave” came about, I was reluctant to participate. I thought it was weak when people told on TV how badly they were bullied. My attitude has always been that you just have to know where you come from, be proud of yourself. I never saw myself as a victim.

Tang: I never felt like a victim either. In the end, we just want to be seen as part of society, because we are all Dutch here. We are Dutch. Imagine a perfect world. I hope we can move toward an industry where a colored actor can play any role without being typecast as Chinese or black. They play a role in a movie, that’s it.

Woing: At the same time, you realize that people all have their own background or roots and you can’t judge other people’s experiences. But for me, “Asian awakening” means more awareness: “Hey, this is who we are, this is what we are capable of.” If you have the confidence where you come from, people can’t be around you.

I agree. In that sense, Happy Palace is well timed.

Woing: Happy Palalce is really already “a thing” and as a first step can now be seen a lot on Dutch TV channels. But I hope that in the future we can go a step further, dive deeper into the real problems (of structural racism) in Dutch society, and celebrate even more who we are.

Tang: On a personal level, through Happy Palace, it is also a project to tell the world that we, as Asian actors, do exist in the Netherlands. We are here, I am and doing this, ready for future opportunities.

Photo credits Happy Palace @ FIXY