It’s impressive to see how well actresses and actors can go from no roles at all to a wide variety. I remember last summer when I was taking up roles by a storm. It was really something impressive. I also like to talk with other actors about their experiences and how they’ve really excelled in their careers. When I do get such an opportunity, I learn so much about them and have fun chatting as well. Recently, I spoke to Annie Chen who’s doing so well with her roles, it’s incredible.
What has she done? For starters, She is currently taking the role of a series regular in Lego Friends, as a character named Liann who is very quirky and has some sassiness to her. Not only that, but she’s managed to get pretty far after her very first role as Lily on Designated Survivor where Paulo Costanzo gave her advice on how to relax and get her lines done especially when they were tricky. But her journey wasn’t all that easy, it was hard before the first role and even sometime after that, Annie had a life-changing injury and eventually had to get hip surgery 9 days after her operation, she had a Zoom callback and eventually booked her first series regular role. It goes to show, if you have determination, you can really get anything done at all. I was determined to find out more about Annie’s journey and get this interview done. Now I’m determined to share all the details with you. I hope you like this article, you might learn a lot.
HNMAG: So I hear you recently got a role on Lego Friends: The Next Chapter. Have you ever taken on a role this authentic for you?
Annie Chen: Prior to… I would say Yeah, I’ve definitely played roles that are authentic to my heritage. This one was the first role I’ve played where she was part of the main cast and not a side character. That was really cool.
Annie explained that in Lego Friends, they created a whole new line of characters. The new line features a lot more diversity and representation.
HNMAG: Do you get any chances to improvise and incorporate yourself a lot more into Liann?
Annie Chen: Absolutely, I just did a session yesterday and it’s really awesome when you start seeing the quirks and the little ism’s that you’ve put into the character show up in the writing. It’s written per episode so I don’t know where the script is going except for maybe a week before going to record anything. There are different things that I put that are very true to me, like a little bit quirkier, a bit nerdier, and she goes “EEE!” when she gets excited. It’s so awesome when you see the writers start to incorporate that into the episodes.
HNMAG: Do you voice other characters on the show, like minor roles?
Annie Chen: yes I have voiced some other side characters on this show that’s the fun thing about voiceover you get to play multiple roles on the same project which is very different than on-camera.
HNMAG: Your very first recurring role was Lily in Designated Survivor. Besides mastering dialogue, was there anything else Paulo Costanzo taught you that you apply to yourself today?
Annie Chen: Honestly, yeah. In one instance, I was the button at the end of a scene with all the series regulars, and that was a lot of pressure because if you mess up, you have to retake the scene and EVERYONE has to redo their lines. I had a hard time getting my lines out for that scene. During the break, Paulo pulled me aside and said “Listen, I understand this is a high-pressure set and there’s not a lot of room for mistakes but you just do what you gotta do and ask for what you need.” Basically, he was encouraging me to self-advocate. I feel that’s an important message for so many performers – advocate for yourself. There’s so much happening on set, if you’re not advocating for yourself and asking for what you need, it often gets forgotten.
Annie said the pep talk helped her calm down, and she managed to ace it on her first take after the break. She also told me Kiefer Sutherland was great to work with and she learned a lot watching him play.
HNMAG: What else did you learn that day?
Annie Chen: Get out of your head, it’s not as important or big as you think it is. I was freaking out that day, I was calling my agent, and I was doing yoga in the waiting room. All I needed to do was to ask for what I needed to deliver and not be afraid to do so. When you’re coming in as a day player, it can sometimes feel like you don’t have a voice, but that’s not true.
HNMAG: And was it exciting acting with so many big names on your first production?
Annie Chen: Definitely, and I learned a lot just from watching them. It was for a big network, and Kiefer Sutherland was an executive producer on that show, the majority of my scenes were with him so I definitely felt the pressure every time I was on set but the cast were all very friendly.
HNMAG: Did the role get you a lot of recognition and awards?
Annie Chen: Not awards, but it definitely helped with opening more doors. That’s how I signed with my on-camera agent in Vancouver which led me to my voice-over agent which then led me to now working on multiple animation projects.
HNMAG: You’ve done a lot more great roles. What has your favourite one been through all these years?
Annie Chen: I would say Liann is definitely one of my favourite She is just so funny and the whole process with my voice director Nicole Oliver has been a very rewarding experience. I’ve definitely put in a lot of comedic moments for this character. My other favourite role would be Frenchy in Grease: The Musical. We had actors like Janel Parish (Pretty Little Liars), and Katie Findlay (How to Get Away with Murder) which was really awesome because I had just finished binging that show at the time.
I’m starting to see a trend: The roles I often play are comedic relief and a bit of a hot mess but in the best way possible. As for other favourite roles, Schitt’s Creek was awesome, I was in Season 5’s finale where we did a cabaret number. Cabaret is one of my favourite musicals and to rehearse it with the cast was just a dream come true. Noah Reid and I actually went to high school together. He was quite a few years above me so we didn’t have that much contact, but it was still nice to have a little reunion. That’s definitely one of my favourite projects and the cast was all so welcoming. It’s a really chill set, and with a show that has so many awards and recognition, you’d think it would be a high-pressure set. But it was so relaxed and friendly. We were all there to make art and have a good time. I’d say those are the top roles so far at least the ones I can talk about.
HNMAG: What’s the best advice you’ve learned that you would give any upcoming actors?
Annie Chen: I would say – keep going. When you’re in that zone, where you’re not getting auditions or feel like you’re going nowhere, it is such a hard place to sustain. But you never know what’s going to come next. For about 3-4 years I couldn’t even get an audition for voiceover. Then when I finally started auditioning I didn’t book for the first 9 or 10 months. It got to a point where I almost quit but shortly after I booked my first series regular and then it snowballed from there. Resilience is number 1, and hone your craft. Be prepared for when those opportunities come because they will and there isn’t enough time to “get it together” you have to already be ready.
HNMAG: What would be your dream role in a series?
Annie Chen: I would love to do some sketch comedy. That’s not necessarily any role, I love playing multiple roles. I love comedy. I’ve been watching a lot of Key and Peele – they are comedic geniuses. I’ve hit a lot of things on my bucket list, I would love to be on a second city, SNL kind of comedy sketch show where I just get to play a bunch of different characters.
HNMAG: You’re primarily working in English, but have you had any Taiwanese-speaking roles?
Annie Chen: Yeah, for sure. I worked on an audiobook called “Throwaway Daughters” with Penguin Random House where I had to switch back and forth between Mandarin and English. Mandarin is actually my first language. When I immigrated to Canada at age six I only knew how to say “yes” and “no” in English.
HNMAG: Let’s also get into more about your role in voice-over. How did you start out in that?
Annie Chen: I was doing on-camera work first and then musical theatre, I have always been a really animated person with very big emotions. I started taking A LOT of classes, seeing who was working in the field, and reaching out to them individually for coffee. That’s another thing I encourage: Find who your idols are in the industry and see if you can get some 1 on 1 time with them. Eventually, I started auditioning and kept at it until I booked.
HNMAG: And how do you figure out which style of voice to use when it comes to the character?
Annie Chen: That’s such a great question. I think it depends on the world where the character exists. The voice I choose as well as the delivery has to match the tone of the show. From there, some things I am curious about are what kind of laugh might this character have, and where might their voice resonate in their vocal chamber. For example, are they nasally, light, and airy – which would then sit in my head more, or is it a deep chest and belly sound? Physically how might they move? Where do they mainly place their weight? These are some of the basic questions I would ask myself when I craft a voice. Sometimes I have “listening days” where I walk around the city and listen to other people talk and I collect characters. Haha, it sounds so creepy when I say it out loud but you can discover so much about a person just by the way they speak and the tone of their voice.
Annie also explained that playing video game characters is really cool because you get to play characters that are really grounded with high stakes. While animation is her main source of voice work, she would love to get into video games. Who knows? We might hear her do a video game character within a couple of years. It could happen.
HNMAG: Are there any kind of warmups or methods you do to prepare your voice for a recording session?
Annie Chen: I often will do a vocal warmup with lip trills. Lip trilling is a really nice gentle way to get your vocal cords active and kind of wake them up a little bit. Yawns relax your larynx (the flappy thing in the back of your throat), and I stretch out my tongue (laughs) which can seem really odd, but your tongue is a big factor in how you produce sounds and clarity. If your tongue is really tense and tight you’ll have limited sound production. On days when I’ve got a scratchy throat, I like to steam my vocal cords and drink tons of water and throat coat tea. I also do a nice stretch of my entire body.
HNMAG: Speaking of the body, you had a life-changing injury but managed to recover from it. Did you have any moments of realization during the healing?
Annie Chen: In January 2021, when I woke up I was partially paralyzed. It was traumatizing and horrific, I couldn’t stand, walk or sit. Essentially my on-camera and dance career came to a halt. I learned in that whole process that my career isn’t everything. I hold my achievements very closely to my heart. I’m constantly trying to see how much further I can push, but during those moments when EVERYTHING is stripped from you, and you’re left with just yourself – you realize that those achievements don’t matter as much as you thought they did. I have to believe that I am worthy as is. That’s what I realized when I was stagnant.
HNMAG: Why did you choose to relocate to Vancouver after being in Toronto for years? Did you feel it could bring more work?
Annie Chen: Honestly, no. I moved to Vancouver because honestly I needed a fresh start and Vancouver is just so beautiful. In terms of work, there hasn’t been much of a change. There’s just as much of a thriving industry here, but I did want to be closer to LA and fly back and forth for projects.
Wow, does she do so much or what?! Voice acting, on-camera work, theatre, it’s like she keeps going and going, nothing can stop her no matter what. Not even that injury could stop her for too long. It just goes to show what I said earlier about determination. I hope this article has encouraged and determined you to strive for higher goals and keep on keeping on. That’s how things get done, and it should work. Anything can happen.