We’re all familiar with dramas about dysfunctional families. If there was one about my family, it would probably get canceled before a full season was even made. Anyways, a new one coming out that everyone’s excited for is Streams Flow from a River, about a demographic I’ve seen lots of but never in media: The Chinese-Canadian demographic. When this particular kind of family gets trapped indoors during a crazy snowstorm in their home in a small rural area of Alberta, they have to face one of the biggest difficulties and solve one of the biggest issues: Mending a problem that lead to a string of events that set everyone apart a decade ago. They all have their problems and they all got to solve this together as well as some other issues on their own.
The issues at hand include pain, domestic abuse, and the struggles of surviving, among more stuff. It’s also something that younger and older generations can understand together, as well as families everywhere not just the immigrants who live in Alberta or even very rural spots. This sounded like such an exciting show to discuss with the talent, and I was lucky to talk to Liam Ma, who played the parent’s young son, Henry. Henry has serious issues involving shame due to how he was raised involving culture, and how he wanted to look for love in a way that he felt suited him better. Liam enjoyed his time on set and had a lot of fun with it. I spoke to Liam and he gave a lot of details about his on-set family and the show. We talked about some other things too.
HNMAG: So about Streams Flow from a River, it sounds like an intense concept. Have you ever had such a dramatic role before?
Liam Ma: No, but I guess I conceptualized it in my mind. This is like the perfect role in that Henry is so in line with who I am. That was such a privilege but it’s such an epic drama. It traverses time in many generations and perspectives. It touches on so much, the nuances and the details in the way that Chris put into it. He breathed so much life into these characters and these stories.
HNMAG: So you had a great experience on set working with the other actors?
Liam Ma: It was such a special set and to this day, it was one of the best sets I was on. Again, production credit to Chris, and the team put together. Our crew was East Asian and we felt there was this very vulnerable space that we were about to step into. I think that gave way to the vulnerability of the story we were to tell. We all kind of knew that we were part of something really special. Everyone had worked in the industry a lot longer than I did, and there was so much to learn in terms of process. We had our group warmups and stupid funky stretches that we would do to start the day, but it really set the day for the tone we had on set. Our DOP got COVID on Day 12 of 15 of shooting and he was directing remotely. Even amidst that, there was so much levity and also just a mutual trust and understanding of the story we were putting forward.
HNMAG: You found lots of comfort in this story. Do you feel it helped you with any struggles you have had in life?
Liam Ma: I think for Henry, he’s so central because he’s the one who moves out, gets away and ultimately comes back. There’s no story where he doesn’t come back but I think what is so special about this character and this role is that I was exploring a lot of similar questions at the time and sometimes I think life gives you things you need at the right time. It was questions of identity, questions of trying to find my own place then defining what that looks like and how to navigate a world and a family.
Liam described it as a child’s unwritten obligation to family and what it means, looks like, their responsibility. He said as a 2nd generation immigrant that feels like a burden rests on your shoulders, that was the case for both him and Henry when coming back to a family and attempting to bridge things. So many questions and while Liam didn’t find all the answers, he felt accompanied by that character and had a friend to lean on while exploring feelings.
HNMAG: Have you ever gone through similar issues in the past?
Liam Ma: Yeah, he’s the enigma in the family. I joke sometimes that I think I’m adapted, I was always thinking I had perfect vision while everyone else in the family all has glasses. Now my vision’s terrible so, I guess I do fit in some ways but I always felt like some kind of a wild card in my family. I was very different than my older brother growing up and starting to break away from the family and experience more of the world in question. I questioned religion, different practices, identity and sexuality. Henry grapples with all of that, and the cultural context is present in streams and we see that. When I first met with Chris we sat down and shared very similar stories. Through that, as much as I think it’s this total ensemble of characters, because it’s Chris writing it, I think it’s his perspective that has breathed things into Henry being the younger son and a second generation immigrant. There’s so many parallels to his life, and also mine. That was so crazy to me that someone has had some similar experiences and so I think that’s the power of film to be able to feel the specificity.
HNMAG: Sounds like Henry is more complex than everyone else or are they on the same level regarding their issues?
Liam Ma: The whole family is so complex and all so expressed so differently. I think for Henry, he internalizes so much and I think that was so important because I think that a lot of his presence to the family onscreen is unspoken. Even knowing that the complexities, and the history of these relationships and all that it means to him. From there it’s how it influences him and navigates the life of his family. It was so important to bring that to his world and to show that in the nuances and details.
HNMAG: What do you hope audiences will take away from this story?
Liam Ma: What’s really exciting right now is that we’re in a time that there are immigrant stories and immigrants get to tell their own stories which is so important, it’s our story is one and hopefully in expanding gambit of stories like these. On one hand I am really excited for Chinese-Canadian audiences to be able to see a story about themselves, maybe for the first time.
Liam says Chinese-Canadians will be able to see themselves, reflected back, but in a positive matter. He hopes this show gets through a time where this is the norm and it’s an everyday story. The core of the story is that it touches humanity and focuses strictly on family. Some of the tougher subjects include abuse, pain, generational trauma, and there is so much for everybody to watch and relate to. However it’s layered in a context that has never been seen before. According to Liam, it feels like a really big warm embrace to have been a part of it or even watch it.
HNMAG: Now let’s talk about some other things you’ve been up to. I understand you’re currently developing a script about hyper-masculinity. Is it a tough subject to write about?
Liam Ma: It’s parallel to my own journey, so it has elements in it that are autobiographical. I think looking at the community as a whole, it’s something that’s long overdue in terms of trying to unpack that. Specifically in an Asian-Queer context, what does masculinity mean, how has it been storied to us often? I think it’s part of something that I want to restory the narratives of masculinity and what it looks like. There’s so much history that Asian males are told to see themselves and how to feel about themselves. I think media is used for good, but ultimately it tells us how to think of the world, each other, and for a long time, historically media representations and legislation has emasculated Asian men.
HNMAG: Where did you come up with the idea for the concept?
Liam Ma: This story I’ve revisited often in my life, and it’s certainly on the top of my mind lately. It’s a mix of details that are autobiographical. In terms of genre, I figured I’d go into something obvious and do a drama. The more that I wrote about my experience and hearing anecdotally about other stories, I think the absurdity of some of these experiences and life is so absurd it verges on comedy sometimes. It’s delicate, but I think it’s something that I’m forming and reforming all the time. There’s so much of me in it and even so I could play the main character but I’m also thinking what is it like to step out of it and allow the vision to be revised by other people.
HNMAG: And do you hope this will make it to something big and have a real impact?
Liam Ma: I hope so. When you talk about impact, it’s so challenging. You almost can’t think in terms of a final product, that’s true for a lot of things, especially acting. It has to be enough to serve what you’re looking for because you don’t know and you don’t have a lot of control over the impact. You don’t have a lot of say in once you release something into the world. It’s no longer yours, you give it away, and in terms of impact I can only hope it will touch one person. If it serves the process of making, it’s worth it.
HNMAG: Besides Acting, what else do you like to do?
Liam Ma: I went to school for engineering, so now I work in financial advisory and do disputes and litigation work. I think it is also incredibly ground and can come back to it knowing that I have that. So much time, acting doesn’t make sense in you lose a role for no fault of your own and go back to something tangible and concrete. I didn’t realize that I needed it, but it’s certainly a balance I appreciate. Outside of that, I run. I started running a couple years ago and started training for a marathon. I ran like 32 km out of the 42. Now I think I’d like to train for a half-marathon this summer, it’ll be exciting. It’s just finding a balance in life, and I think acting right now serves purpose but I love fashion and designing clothes. I’ve made my own clothes and I think that’s something for me right now. It’s so pure, and rarely do I share that because I go to it infrequently. I cook a lot too, but I think living a very simple life I’m very into.
HNMAG: Have you ever had to use those skills for a role?
Liam Ma: There are some auditions that are a lot of sci-fi genre stuff. It’s very intense in terms of jargon and that doesn’t necessarily trip me up because it could be attributed to all the research papers I read or wrote. Apart from that, school taught me to be able to work at home and to know my limits and to be able to push myself to extremes. It also taught me how to think very critically. That has helped. In terms of script analysis, and looking at words on pages, and deconstructing things, being able to strategize my career in general and being able to navigate the industry side of things as a professional. There’s been so many times I happened to qualify and now I’ve arrived in a place where you don’t have to be one or you could be a multitude of things. At least for now.
HNMAG: Is there any kind of specific role you’d like to do in the future?
Liam Ma: I think I could’ve waited for a long time for a role like this one to come. I’m so happy for that and so I would say no. I don’t think there’s a role in my mind that I would like to play. I know the kinds of stories that I want to be a part of, and I think I’ve been very intentional about the projects, the roles, and the teams behind the projects.
Here’s hoping we see Liam in more uplifting stories about representation and how Chinese-Canadians are represented in authentic storytelling. He may even be writing some of those stories himself. Let’s check out Liam in Streams Flow from a River which premieres tomorrow on Super Channel