Aileen Huynh

An open dialogue with Aileen

Tell me about yourself. What should the world know about Aileen Huynh? 

Well, I actually find it a bit difficult to talk about myself, which is probably why I ended up as an actor!

“Expressing myself through different characters is weirdly when I’m most comfortable with who I am. ”

I've learnt I wouldn't survive long in the world without some kind of creative pursuit.

I'm here to tell stories that are important to tell

and am in the search for audiences who connect with those stories - trust me, it's a never - ending pursuit! 

When you started out in acting, I went and supported you at a few theatre shows and since then you have crossed over into film. What challenges do you experience in each setting? How have you overcome it?

I find both mediums completely different, each with their own set of challenges. Theatre can be very exposing. Once the lights come up and you're on stage you really have to drive through step by step by yourself. You don't have someone editing it for you later or have the chance to do it over and over again like in film. Energy wise, you usually have to reach out a lot further for theatre, whereas in film it is much easier to be intimate. Not that theatre doesn't have intimate scenes, there are plenty! But the challenge is about sharing the intimacy on a larger scale. I noticed in my film experiences you have to be 'on' in small uncontrolled bursts between long periods of waiting time when crew are setting up the shot.

It's really easy to de-energise in these periods, and then suddenly they're shouting "actors on set" and you immediately have to be ready to go at 110%.

It's not unlikely that during a shot something may happen, you might fluff a line, the lighting or sound might be off, a bit of clothing is out of place, something in the background might not be right. There are a lot more technical factors in play in film and a lot more people involved which leaves room for a lot of unforeseen circumstances to arise.

I could go on and on! But those are a few examples. 

As an Asian actress in Australia, we do not see a lot of representation on screen - and I know you are a strong advocate for diversity. Why do you think Australia is slow to embrace diversity on screen? Why should they start to take notice of people of colour? 

If we think about Australia's history, from relationships with the First Nations people to the White Australia policy, we clearly didn't start well on the diversity front and I think it's why Australia has been slow in recognising and embracing it.

History is a powerful thing.

But the truth is, if we look at who makes up Australian society these days we simply can not continue to ignore the diverse make-up of it. As the diversity grows it just doesn't make sense to push a white agenda anymore, on a moral and on an economical level. Unfortunately though, many gate-keepers who have held the keys for a long time are making the progress a lot slower than it should be.

We've had a few situations where some people think because we push diversity and call out undertones of racism, that somehow means we are anti-everything else. We've also had people try to invalidate our experiences and how we feel. What type of conversation should we start having to handle experiences like these and close the gap? 

Usually situations arise on an individual level, due to how you experience something from a personal perspective. It's always great to have conversations with people who don't think like you and have different perspectives and talk and listen to each other, because you never know what will happen in the way you change or effect someone else. Most of the time it ends with people agreeing to disagree (or just disagreeing!), but sometimes it doesn't.

And that sometimes it is worth fighting for. A lot of the time we forget about the bigger picture too.

What's the bigger argument to it all, if we take our individual selves out of it? I recently had a conversation with another fellow actor who was talking about some recent auditions they had, they had made it to the last few but casting in the end "went diverse", there

was a sense of resentment there to losing out because of the diversity movement and something I am hearing more of lately.

My question is, what. is. the. bigger. picture? There is a huge importance in representing diversity but sometimes we become blind-sighted as individuals when we think just on our own individual path.

On the light side of things, with your busy schedule, what would we find Aileen doing in her spare time?

Spare time?! Ha, I'm one of those people who never gets bored - because my mind is constantly overthinking! I've recently been making a more conscious effort to make time for things outside my creative bubble - Bike riding, long walks and most recently I joined my local community garden. The gardening has been amazing, has been very soul-healing. Plus taking home a massive squash that you've seen grow ain't bad either!

What is a quote you live by?

“If you put your mind to it, you can do it.”

But do I live by it? I will admit there are tough days!

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