Film director Roseanne Liang tells Guyon about her huge new Hollywood project, why she's obsessed with Terminator 2, and what movies tell us about humanity.
Watch the video version of the episode here
Roseanne Liang is a New Zealand film director going global. She's gained cult status for dystopian web series Creamerie, and WWII creature-feature Shadow in the Cloud.
But the action movie aficionado first made her name with a very personal story - her own love story with her Pākeha husband. My Wedding and Other Secrets became something of a cultural touchstone for the experience of many Asian New Zealanders.
As she talks with Guyon Espiner about her life so far, Liang is preparing to call action on her next movie - a high-octane Hollywood action flick starring Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry.
"Oh god! I can't tell you that much about it. It is a closely guarded Warner Brothers studio movie. It's a spy versus spy, thriller, action fun movie, which is been described as a Bond versus Bourne mash-up. It's my cup of tea."
"It was a confluence of really some really amazing events. When a short action movie that I made called Do No Harm screened in Sundance and SXSW that year, I signed with one of the biggest agencies in America called WME. Then my former agent left WME to become Halle 's business partner. She always remembered me, and when this project came across their desk, they reached out to me. I talked to both of these incredible women And we decided that we'd step out and make this this movie together.
It's a big studio movie, La Femme Nikita meets Mission Impossible. It's very much a modern movie about gender equality, women and feminism, but also just a great, muscular action movie that happens to star two of the most incredible female action stars of our time."
Doctor or Director?
"There's a Sliding Doors-type moment around the late 90s, where I'm about to commit to seven years of undergrad at medical school. Then I got seduced by the dark side of the arts and gave up my place in medical school. I haven't looked back since then. And honestly, I think about the other version of me who's a doctor right now, and I'm quite happy with this particular reality for me."
Parental Guidance
"I was very geared towards receiving good grades and yes, some of that work ethic was instilled in me by my parents. But I was also a bit of a self-flagellator as well. I really wanted to do a good job. My two sisters were very, you know, "scary," like very impressive. They were both Dux of St Cuthberts before me. …