From The Whale to The Menu to Showing Up, actress Hong Chau earns praise for her versatility

Hong Chau, who was born in a Vietnamese refugee camp in Thailand and grew up in New Orleans, talks about her acting method, and her surprise at her success

The Whale director Darren Aronofsky and co-star Brendan Fraser, and The Menu director Mark Mylod, praise Chau’s acting ability and versatility

Reading Time:5 minutes

Hong Chau’s recent roles in The Menu, The Whale (above) and Showing Up have earned the American actress praise for her versatility. “I guess I just start dreaming up a character,” the 43-year-old, born to Vietnamese parents in a refugee camp in Thailand, says of her acting method. Photo: A24 via AP

Published: 4:15am, 5 Jan 2023Updated: 1:32am, 25 Jan 2023

Update: On January 25, it was revealed that Hong Chau was in the running for Best Supporting Actress in the 2023 Academy Awards for her role in The Whale. This interview, written before the announcement, goes into detail about her experiences making the film.

The seemingly limitless range of Hong Chau is on display in three 2022 films, in roles so different that they hardly seem the work of one actress.

In Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, she plays best friend and nurse to Brendan Fraser’s obese shut-in professor, his most regular visitor and assertive carer. She desperately, unsentimentally prods him to get healthier, to care about himself.

In Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up, Chau plays the idle landlord and artist colleague of Michelle Williams’ ceramics sculptor. She’s the mellower, more successful envy of Williams’ character, and yet kind of a regular companion.

In Mark Mylod’s haute-cuisine black comedy The Menu, Chau plays the militant hostess at an exclusive restaurant who delivers some of the film’s most deliciously scathing lines. In the ear of one customer she whispers: “You’ll eat less than you desire and more than you deserve.”

Her performances – each a dazzling highlight in harmony within an ensemble – vary so much in appearance and manner that you can’t help wondering: who, exactly, is Hong Chau? Is she, herself, like any of these characters? Or none of them?

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x