Profile | Mei Mac, British-Chinese actress, on her advocacy for fellow East and Southeast Asians in UK and her role in comedy that tackles Asian stereotypes: ‘It put a fire in my belly’
- Actress Mei Mac talks about the ‘Mama Mei’ nickname she earned for standing up for fellow Britons of Asian heritage, and why representation matters
- She recalls the time she met Hayao Miyazaki, and her pride at being nominated for an Olivier Award for her role in a stage version of his My Neighbour Totoro
With a blossoming stage and screen career that’s already seen her appear in two acclaimed adaptations of Studio Ghibli animated films, actress Mei Mac has earned herself a nickname.
“People have started calling me ‘Mama Mei’,” she says when we speak over Zoom. “I had no idea what to do with it at the beginning … [but] I’m learning to embrace it.”
She puts it down to her “protective maternal instinct”, supporting other people of British East Asian and Southeast Asian heritage. “I do see it as a serious honour that people perceive me in this way, that I am some kind of a mama in the community!” she adds.
Born into a Hong Kong Chinese immigrant family in Birmingham, in central England, in 1992, Mac is fiercely passionate when it comes to representation.
Just take her latest role, the lead in Kimber Lee’s untitled f*** m*ss s**gon play, which transfers to London’s Young Vic in September after a run in Manchester.
