Q&A with Tamlyn Tomita from the 25th Anniversary Retrospective Screening of The Joy Luck Club

Beloved by audiences around the world, The Joy Luck Club (dir. Wayne Wang) has provoked heated debates about race, gender, and representation. Twenty-five years after its release, and on the heels of the recent success of Crazy Rich Asians, actress Tamlyn Tomita joined UBC Assistant Professor JP Catungal (Social Justice Institute) in conversation. Ms. Tomita shares her favourite memories from production (and the ones she can’t share), which scene was improvised, what she learned from the mothers in the film, and why you need to know yourself first before you can tell other people’s stories.

The Joy Luck Club retrospective screening was presented by the Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies Program and the Department of Theatre & Film, with support from the Faculty of Arts and alumni UBC.

Recorded January 16, 2019, at Frederic Wood Theatre in Vancouver, BC. This recording was produced by the University of British Columbia. We are pleased to be able to share it with you, our alumni and subscribers.