In today’s blog post, we asked actor Jennifer Soo about playing Laura Yip, one of film’s the central characters.
In what ways do you connect to Laura as a character?
Off the bat, I totally connected to her relationship to her father Peter. I also grew up somewhat sheltered and very close to my dad. It’s a very special bond. Laura also has a mischievous streak, which I had as a kid. In fact, my mom made me go to a private school for a couple of years in elementary to try to get me to behave, which worked pretty well, I must say. But I’ve still got a little of it :). Laura’s also extremely curious and has a huge heart. Not sure if I have those qualities myself, but it’s certainly something I admire in others and strive towards in my own life.
What do you anticipate to be your biggest challenge as an actor in preparing for this role?
Laura’s a high functioning autistic, so while some of the more typical traits of autism might be less pronounced, they’re definitely still present. It’s really important to me to create a three-dimensional, realistic portrayal of someone on the spectrum, and it’s also really important to me that the autism is only one aspect of Laura and not her entire character. So navigating all of that definitely terrifies me.
Without giving anything away, what aspects of the story or the character are you most excited about?
I’m really excited to see how all of the pieces come together, especially visually with the animation and found footage. I’m also really excited to see Jim, Elizabeth and Michelle bring their characters to life. Everyone’s got a lot to work with material-wise, and we have such a great group of actors on board. It’s really a treat.