A Conversation with Actress, Writer, Director Olivia Cheng Part 2

Asian American History 101

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 25! We’re back with Part 2 of our conversation with the very talented Olivia Cheng. Last week, in Part 1 of the conversation, we mainly focused on Olivia’s acting career. In this episode, we pivot to her work behind the camera as a writer, director, and producer.

Olivia shares how she was motivated to write and direct her short film Dinner with Dex, which starred her Warrior co-star Dianne Doan. We also talk about her feature directorial debut on the documentary I am Raquel Welch. The iconic actress was the subject of another installment of CW’s “I Am” series and aired in March on the channel. Don’t worry, you can still catch the inspiring documentary through streaming services that focus on network television like CW, Fubo, and Direct TV.

In the rest of the conversation, Olivia discusses how the Hollywood industry has changed over the years, her thoughts on Asian Pacific activism, her latest movie Lucky Star (that she also helped produce), and more. She even takes part in our rapid fire segment where we find out her thoughts on her command of Cantonese in Warrior, which of Ah Toy’s outfits was her favorite, and which recent role (between Ah Toy, Mei Lin, Master Gao, or Charlotte) was the most similar to her in real life.

If you’re interested in seeing more of Olivia’s work, then you can stream Marco Polo and Warrior on Netflix, See on AppleTV+, and you can rent or buy Lucky Star on Apple TV or Amazon services. You can, of course, follow her on Instagram @thatoliviacheng.

If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at [email protected].

*Above photo of Oliva Cheng by Noah Asanias