Christal Cooper
Fay Ann Lee’s
In Search of
Grace
"Do what you can to encourage
people to see this, and to recognize that filmmakers and actors and all kinds
of folks come in different complexions - and the complexion of the filmmaker
does not denote whether the film is good or not, the film denotes whether it's
good or not.
People who see this love it, so that
means people get it! Fay and I don't go
back, I'm not in the movie - but she's in it...and that's pretty much just as
good."
Whoopi
Goldberg
Once upon a time a beautiful baby
girl was born in Hong Kong, a British colony known for its expansive skyline,
culinary sophistication, vibrant night life and a town with the most Rolls
Royces per capita.
The girl was given the name Li Xiao
Li, which means “Little Darling.” Xiao Li dreamed of becoming an actress but
also dreamed of being accepted. The eight
year old girl was so excited to be invited to her wealthy best friend’s birthday
party, which was to take place in a penthouse apartment in Hong Kong.
“There were about eight girls and one girl was very jealous of my
friendship with the birthday girl. She
got all the girls together and said everyone should go up to the bedroom to
play except for me. Every girl did
exactly as told. I didn't say anything,
did not even complain though feeling very hurt, of course. When the
mother saw that I was alone, she asked what happened and I explained. The
mother corrected the situation immediately and brought me to the other
girls. They all got scolded and warned. But the damage was
done. I felt like a total outsider and shunned because I wasn't good
enough and not rich like all the other girls.”
That same rejected little girl is Fay
Ann Lee, the writer, producer, director, and star of the romantic comedy Falling
For Grace.
Lee’s screenplay is about Wall Street
Investor Grace Tang, who like Lee, is rejected by her peers at the early age of
eight. Because of this rejection, Grace
Tang doesn’t feel accepted and hopes she can find acceptance and to move out of
New York’s Chinatown by climbing the corporate ladder. She is invited to a prestigious Opera’s
Junior Committee Meet & Greet where she is mistaken for another Grace Tang,
an heiress from Hong Kong. With her new
identity, Grace is finally accepted into the Upper East Side socialite
world. Along the way, Grace meets and
falls in love with Andrew Barrington, Jr., a very wealthy and eligible
bachelor. Whirlwind romance ensues and,
in the end, Grace’s and Andrew’s worlds collide through humor, romance,
heartbreak, and forgiveness.
Lee, is a
lot like her alter ego Grace, searching for acceptance – in other words, she’s
always been that little eight-year-old girl left out from the birthday
celebration.
Lee was
born and raised in Hong Kong: her father was in the hotel business and her
mother worked for the American Consulate; as a result, the little girl found
herself alone.
“My brothers were much older than I.
I played by
myself a lot which forced me to use my imagination – which is how I developed my acting
instincts.”
Her most pleasant memories consist of
movies, acting, and drama. The first
movie she ever watched was the 1976 famous-remake King Kong
starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange.
"I remember thinking how ridiculous it was that the ape was so huge. It was complete fantasy. The relationship between King Kong and Jessica Lange is what got me into romantic comedies."
Lee watched other movies and American programs on television which helped her to learn English at an early age. She also tried to emulate American English by watching television shows such as Mary Tyler Moore and All In The Family.
By the time Lee was in junior high her older brothers were in America. During her first year of high school Lee’s parents informed her that they, too, would go to America.
“My parents were expecting China to take over Hong Kong in 1997, and weren’t certain what might happen. They decided to get their greencards when
they had the opportunity so that the whole family could be together in one
country.”
Lee and her parents moved to a suburb
of Houston, Texas, where she attended a public high school, and experienced
culture shock.
“I visualized Disneyland, television shows like “Happy Days,” “Laverne
and Shirley,” “One Day At A
Time,” “Mary Tyler Moore Show”
– all of the comedies that I watched growing up in “Hong Kong.” Everyone seemed so happy on T.V.; but it wasn’t
like that at school. I felt like an
outsider and I did face racism at school.
I wasn’t very happy.”
She sought
her escape in tennis, which taught her valuable life lessons.
“It was tennis that taught me how to complete, to depend on myself, and
how hard work really does pay off.”
Lee still
had greast passion for acting, but upon graduating from high school, she made
the decision to attend the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and
majored in finance. She did this for
numerous reasons: to be the good
Chiniese girl and make her parents happy, and to be pratcical: What if acting doesn’t ever pan out?
“Ironically, it was at Wharton where I first pursued my acting, with the
Wharton Follies, a well-known business school acting troop that spoofs Broadway
musicals.”
It was also
at Wharton that she met her future husband and Lauren Bessette both of whom
moved to New York City to furthur their careers in finance.
Lee worked briefly as a financial
analyst for an investment bank In Los Anglees where it wasn’t uncommon for her
to stay up 36 hours straight to work on proposals; while all along she knew
this wasn’t what she wanted as a career.
“One of the bank's political consultants kept calling me "Baby"
because I was the youngest woman in the department and probably because it was
easier than learning my name. I was too scared to complain, but I knew I had
to get out.”
Two years later, Lee quit and moved to
New York City to be closer to her boyfriend, now husband, and to pursue a
career in theater. Her first profesional
job was in the famous musical Miss Saigon on Broadway. Since then she’s acted in numerous roles for
the stage, television, and the big screen.
“I think acting is something one feels, one needs to do but I can’t
explain why. I honestly can’t tell you
why I have to do it but it feels very natural to me.”
Lee loved her new life in New York
City and had interesting encounters with America’s prince, John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Jr.: she went to one of her favorite
restaurants and witnessed JFK, Jr. arguing with a girlfriend; she saw him at
the bank she patronized; and she was invited to attend a prestigious tennis
club and found him there. Even though there were many instances where they were
in close proximity they never actually met.
“I was too nervous to introduce myself to him and I didn’t wan tto be an
annoyance. Also, I think my
self-esteem always needed work, and I didn’t think I was good enough to meet
him.”
This lack of self worth made Lee ask
herself, “Could someone like JFK, Jr.
ever become involved with someone not of his established class, someone like
me?”
Or, rather,
would the movie insustry be able to accept an Asian woman the same way they
would accept a caucasion, an African Americna, or a Hi-spanic woman as a protagonist
in a romantic comedy?
Lee found herself discouraged when
she would read script after script depicting Asians as lowly servants,
gangsters, or prostitutes. “Someone
needed to write something that reflected an authentic characterization of Asian
Americans.” To answer both dilemmas, Lee enrolled in
a screenwriter workshop.
“Writing is arduous. And writing a screenplay doesn't just take
work, it takes understanding of the principles of a screenplay, what proper
structure is, what makes drama, and all the
different elements that construct an interesting story for motion
picture. Now that I've been through this process, I admire writers that
can keep churning ideas out.”
Lee wrote the bulk of her screenplay
in writing class or a night in her home office.
She christened the play In Search of John Jr, and the male protagonist John.
“I named my screenplay
that not because I wanted that character to be JFK Jr., but rather I wanted
that character to represent the rich and
famous in New York society, to illustrate what it might be like to have that
kind of a “perfect iconic princely life.”
Of course, how the public saw his life probably had nothing to do with
his reality.”
“The more I worked on the story, the more I realized this was really
about the protagonist, Grace, discovering who she really is and what is really
important in both their lives.”
After In Search of John Jr placed in top writing competitions
such as The Academy’s Nicholl Fellowship, a program sponsored by the Academy
of Motion Arts and Sciences, Lee decided to turn the screenplay into a
film. She knew the odds were against
her: she was an Asian American woman,
not famous, not wealthy, with no big stars supporting her. Despite this, Lee pressed on to turn In
Search of John Jr. into a feature film.
“Making a movie is a very difficult thing especially when it comes to
raising money. I'm not famous so with me, I have nothing to offer
investors other than a good script, my best effort and hopefully an enjoyable
movie that will make their money back. I can't offer them hobnobbing with
stars and red carpet parties and things like that. I truly am an underdog in the movie
business.”
Since Lee didn’t have the funds for the full-length
movie she decided to film just the trailer, to give film investors a taste of
the final film.
“I did this with the
help of a true friend who owned a 16 mm camera.
It took about 5 days and probably filmed 10 to 15 short scenes and then
cut them into a 2 minute trailer.”
It took her four years to raise the funds to film In
Search of John Jr. in its entirety.
During those four years she supported herself by acting full time in regional
plays, television guest starring roles, and corporate industrials.
On July 16, 1999 Lee was fast
asleep in her bed and dreamed about a plane crash. When she woke up she turned on the television
to learn that JFK Jr., his plane, and his passengers (wife Carolyn and
sister-in-law Lauren Bessette) were missing.
“I’m sure my dream of a plane crash was a mere coincidence, but it was so
disturbing on so many levels. I knew
Lauren from Wharton. We were not close
friends, more acquaintances. The last
time we spoke was at a mutual friends’s party.
We had actually talked about possibly getting a group of people to play
mah jong because she had lived in Hong Kong and learned how to play.”
Due to the tragedy and out of
respect, Lee changed the names of the lead male character and the screenplay: John was now Andrew, and In Search of
John, Jr. was now East Broadway, which is also the name
of one of the largest streets in New York’s Chinatown.
Lee described New York’s Chinatown as
“a fascinating subculture of
Manhattan” and the “perfect
backdrop” in telling Grace’s story.
“A Chinese immigrant
can literally plant him/herself in Chinatown and live the rest of his/her life
within a one square mile radius without ever needing to speak English.”
Because of this fact it was integral to the story that
the actors playing Grace’s family were not only Asian but could speak fluent
Cantonese with no accent.
“I lucked out with a
great cast – Clem Cheung (“Ba”) and Elizabeth Sung (“Ma”) are both originally
from Hong Kong. Ken Leung (“Ming”), who
played my brother in the movie, grew up
in New York’s Chinatown and spoke Cantonese with his parents. They were the perfect family for Grace.”
During the making of the film, Lee met two individuals who became her
mentors: Jim Taylor, the Academy Award
Winning Writer for the movie Sideways, and producer Graham Place,
best known for his Men In Black films.
“They are godsends. They
took me under their wing and gave me constant advice and recommendations. They not only made the movie better but gave
me much more confidence in my own ability.”
The film, shot at four different times between 2004
and 2006, was shot in its entirety in New York City. The very first scene of the film (where Grace
is rejected as a child) was shot last in February 2006. That scene was the most emotional part of
filming to Lee.
“We finally did
it. It was really quite emotional for me
because making this film was a complete roller coaster ride with great highs
and horrendous lows. For a while, I had
no idea whether this movie would turn out okay, whether or not I could even
finish raising all the money I needed to finish...so when the movie was in the
can, as they say, it was emotional in the best of ways and I was extremely
exhausted!”
East Broadway debuted at
the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival and it was a sleeper hit.
“The word of mouth was
tremendous and not only was it sold out all six screenings, at the last
screening, people were standing in the back of the room. The movie has since been seen all over the
world.”
When distributors finally got involved, the
title was once again changed to Falling
for Grace, a more commercial romantic comedy title. The movie has since been seen all over the
world.
Lee continues to write, produce,
direct, act and sing, and loving every minute of it. You can purchase Falling for Grace on
amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Falling-Grace-Gale-Harold/dp/B002ZDOY8O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1399919655&sr=8-2&keywords=Falling+For+Grace)
or watch it on Hulu.
Photo Description and
Copyright Information
Photo 1
Falling for Grace movie poster
Fair Use Under The United
States Copyright law
Photo 2
Fay Ann lee at the New York
City Falling
For Grace Opening Party at Asia Society with Whoopie Goldberg doing
opening remarks.
Copyright granted by Fay Ann
Lee
Photo 3
Fay Ann Lee at age 7.
Copyright granted by Fay
Ann lee
Photo 4
Logo for Falling
For Grace
Fair Use under the United
States Copyright Law.
Photo 5
Production still from Falling
For Grace.
Copyright granted by Fay
Ann Lee
Photo 6
King Kong Movie Poster, 1976.
Fair Use Under the United
States Copyright Law
Photo 7
Screen shot of the Mary
Tyler Moore title.
Public Domain
Photo 8
Fay Ann Lee at the U.S.
Open
Copyright granted by Fay
Ann Lee.
Photo 9
Fay Ann Lee in Miss
Saigon, Chicago.
Copyright granted by Fay
Ann Lee.
Photo 10
Fay Ann Lee in Miss
Saigon with the men of Miss Saigon.
Copyright granted by Fay
Ann Lee
Photo 11
JFK Jr in 1998.
Public Domain
Photo 12
Production still from Falling
For Grace
Copyight granted by Fay
Ann Lee
Photo 13
Fay Ann Lee during the
filming of Falling For Grace
Copyright granted by Fay
Ann Lee
Photo 14
Production still from Falling
For Grace
Photo 15
Piper
PA-32R-301 Saratoga II TC (model 1999) same model as JFK Jr’s plane.
Public Domain
Photo 16
East Broadway movie poster.
Copyright granted by Fay
Ann Lee
Photo 17
Production still from Falling
For Grace
Copyright granted by Fay
Ann Lee
Photo 18
Sideways movie poster
Fair Use Under the United
States Copyright Law
Photo 19
Men In Black movie poster.
Fair Use Under the United
States Copyright Law
Photo 20
Fay Ann Lee
Copyright granted by Fay Ann Lee
Photo 21
Fay in
China when invited to screen the film and address students at Tsing Hua
University - a leading U in Beijing.
Copyright granted by Fay
Ann Lee
Photo 22
Fay Ann Lee with former
New York City Mayor David Dinkins and Clem Cheung (played Ba) at the Asian
American Arts Alliance Gala where Lee received an award for Outstanding Asian
American Artist.
Copyright granted by Fay
Ann Lee.
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