By APA Staff
If the Minotaur ever reappeared onstage, his name might be Kelvin Han Yee. That's because Han Yee acts like he's a bull in a china shop: a veritable presence, with smoke coming out of his ears when he talks. Metaphorically speaking, of course...
For some in the acting biz, gigs can be few and far between. Not Kelvin Han Yee, whose resume includes -- take a deep breath -- Nash Bridges, The Bold and the Beautiful, 24, Hawaii, True Crime, Patch Adams, Copycat, So I married an Axe Murderer, Sweet November, to name a few. And I haven't even mentioned his theater credentials. (Quickly now: American Conservatory Theater, Eureka Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, East West Players, to get you started.) The Island, directed by the master of blow-em-up Michael Bay, is slated to be his next project. -- Chi Tung
Interview with Kelvin Han Yee
April 3, 2005
Interviewed by Ada Tseng
Transcribed by Ada Tseng
APA: Can you start by introducing yourself?
Kelvin Han Yee: My name is Kelvin Han Yee, and I play Theo in Solve for X. Theo is a multimillionaire captain of industry. He's a tea mogul. He creates tea drinks in a bottle and created the market for the tea drink in the Pacific Rim. He could be compared to Theseus in Greek mythology. He's sort of the king, a high-status person, the head of the family, and his status comes into danger.
APA: How long have you been in the industry?
KHY: I've been an actor for over a quarter of a century. I started at the Asian American Theater Company in San Francisco. My career has been in theater, but I'm doing a lot of film and television work right now in Los Angeles.
APA: What have you been working on?
KHY: I'll be on Curb your Enthusiasm in a couple of weeks, and I just landed a recurring part in The Young and the Restless. I'm Dr. Joon on The Young and the Restless. And I'll be in a Scarlett Johansson/ Ewan McGregor movie called The Island, coming out in July, directed by Michael Bay.
APA: So what attracted you to Solve for X?
KHY: Judy is sort of the main attraction for me doing this project. She, I think, is the most important Asian-American voice in our theater right now. I think that she, more than any other writer, is taking Asian-American play-writing to the next level. It is not only her themes that I'm drawn to, but the way she uses language. The language she uses, it's got a poetic quality. Theater arts starts with language. It starts with storytelling, it started with moms telling stories to kids to put them to sleep. It starts with words. Film is a different thing because it starts with images, with pictures. So, it is this rich language which is the vehicle that's taking our writing as Asian-American theater artists into the next level. It's the most exciting theater writing that's out there right now, and I think, for that reason, it's the most important.
I also think that Lodestone is the most important theater in Asian-American theater right now, because of what they do. They do cutting-edge work. They're brave enough to do work like this which is a little alternative, so that's the reason why I'm here. Like I said, I've been doing this for 25 years, and my choice is to put myself in the most exciting plays artistically that I can. I'm certainly not doing this for the money. It's the other film/television stuff that pays the rent. But it's the hour-and-a-half that I spend onstage here that goes by much too quickly. This work just makes me really excited.
APA: You talk about language of the show and the fast pace...
KHY: It's fast, it's quick. I think that fact-paced polysyllabic language represents what an action film is visually. In theater, the things that Judy is doing with language, it's like you're watching an action film but hearing it in words. It's exciting to me, the changes that happen quickly and what you can express in words, and how articulate you can be, very quickly. It's very very exciting to me, and for people that aren't used to it, or don't go to a lot of theater, it's sexy. I think a lot of people can connect to it. It's not Asian-specific. It's very broad in its scope.
APA: How did you go about getting into the head of your character?
KHY: I'm channeling my father, who is dead. I wear this on stage every night. [points to a ring he wears on his finger] My parents died, and I went into their safety deposit box, and found this. This is my name, in a Chinese chop. They never had a chance to give it to me when they were alive, but they died and I found this. So I channel my father. I channel his scowl quite a bit in the play. I channel his energy, his presence, his dignity, his lack of dignity at times, and I wear this talisman onstage with me all the time. So, that's part of the way I get into my character.
APA: What was it like working with Jeff as a director? What was the set dynamic like?
KHY: It's about as good as it can get. Jeff and I, we both directed Texas, another wonderful play of Judy's. I directed it up in San Francisco, and Jeff directed it down here, and strangely enough we have a lot of the same tastes. So, a lot of the times we'd find ourselves finishing each other's sentences, or jumping ahead in an idea that we're both generating in our heads at the same time, a stage picture that needs to happen, where a scene needs to go. Jeff and I, I think, have a short hand, and we're very much on the same page and onto the next page at the same time. So it's really as good as it gets. Judy's there to support us, she allows us to play with her work. The producers at Lodestone are generous and create a platform for which we performing artists can take off. It's a very supportive, very loving group. An amazing dynamic group.
Published: Tuesday, April 12, 2005