Camille Mana V.2

By BinYun Zheng for AIA - December 2007

Actress Camille Mana was best known for her role as Lisa in UPN's hit series One on One. Now with two films (College and Smart People) coming out in the spring and a new title as a producer, the multi-talented Camille continues to challenge stereotypes of Asian American in media on and off the screen. AIA editor BinYun Zheng recently got a chance to get to know the new Camille a little better.

It's been a year and half since you did your first interview with AIA. How has your life changed since then?

Camille: Well, I am very grateful that I think my career is sort of approaching a new space and I'm finding my footing in the industry with a lot of elements that seemed foreign at first. Things like getting recognized or being more careful about my privacy, as well as having greater opportunities for better projects and better roles. My family and friends have also gotten a bit more acclimated to all these things- some better and some worse.

Your big screen debut Smart People will be in theaters this spring, and premieres at Sundance next month. Is there a story behind how you got involved with that?

Camille: Well, I had come off of One on One, which due to the CW merger, went off the air unexpectedly after five seasons. I was frustrated at first, and spent the summer producing a short film called Equal Opportunity and filming another project titled The Samurai of Strongsville, Ohio, which was sort of a blood-sweat-and-tears-for no-money sort of gig. I got very caught up with both of these experiences, which were intrinsically the opposite of what I was doing on my old sitcom.

I think because my energy was being spent elsewhere, when that role in Smart People came up, I was grounded and present and thus, able to do my best work in auditioning for it. I read for it same as most of the other young Asian girls in town did, I didn't have any ins with anyone involved. In fact, I was very blessed because Deborah Aquila, who cast the film, is one of the biggest and most critical casting directors in Hollywood. Thus, I was told and honored that someone of her stature gave me my first feature film role!

What was it like working with famous celebrities like Dennis Quaid?

Camille: It was pretty intimidating! Flying out to Pittsburgh, I didn't know what to expect. I had overlapping shooting with Thomas Haden Church and Ellen Page (both of whom I respect very much) for one day. Nine out of my eleven scenes were with Dennis Quaid, and in all of them, I was the driving force opposing him in each scene so I did not know what to expect. He was extremely gracious and supportive, and I could not have had a more incredible experience. Even meeting the head producer Michael London, who had made The Illusionist and Sideways, I was pinching myself every morning!

Every time I got nervous, I would remind myself to stay grounded in the work, because it was the work that got me the job - and I was confident in that. Thankfully, that ended up being enough. I have had other experiences where set drama has been an issue, and luckily, there was none of that here!

All of this had come to fruition in part because of that CW merger, which no one had seen coming less than a year before, it just seemed like my dreams were coming true in such a short span of time.

Your other spring film College is set on a college campus, too. Is that a coincidence or do you have an affinity for college themes?

Camille: I think it has more to do with me being a young actress still. I have played college students before - my last three big roles were sophomores and my fourth one was a high school student. Hopefully, I will be venturing into grown-up land soon, playing assistants, young professionals and the like. Or maybe a graduate student. This may suggest something about the roles that are available to young Asian-American actresses: their roles all happen to be set in academia? But then again, my role in College was not written with a person-of-color in mind, so the argument could be made either way.

Photo by Natasha Lee.

Besides Smart People and College, you also starred in an indie film The Samurai of Strongsville, Ohio. I heard that for your role in this film, you had to study the Japanese sword-fighting art of Kendo, how intense was that?

Camille: It was pretty grueling because this is a no-budget project. We did not have much time for training and our resources were limited. The most difficult part was that these scenes were more like heart-breaking scenes than action scenes, which was really taxing on me. I can honestly say that I worked harder on this project than any other I've ever done, including the plays. At least, it was the project in which I've most physically, mentally, and emotionally expended myself in such a short span of time. The experience was very rewarding.

How much can you relate to the characters you play in these films?

Camille: I think that in every performance, an actor brings a large part of himself to the role. If he doesn't, then he is in trouble.

Missy (one of Camile's characters) is extremely driven and bright and yet also quite passive-aggressive. There's a somewhat "sinister" streak to her, something the producers and writer commented to me after viewing the dailies. While I've always been very driven and have achieved a fair amount in my life, I would like to think that the darker side was more invention than just bringing myself. But maybe I'm deluding myself.

Heather (another of Camille's charcters) is the loyal and sweet, lovesick, sidekick. I can definitely relate to being all those things - except that in real life, I was never the sidekick. I'm the star of my own life, and who isn't!

Sukie is the outsider in her world. She is really afraid of obstacles regardless of whether or not she can stand up to them and win. In my own life, I am still grabbling with my personal obstacles on my path to womanhood.

Overall, I think there is a sardonic or offbeat undertone to the girls I have played onscreen, and I learned that this is intrinsic to how I see the world as a human being.

Comedic Satire Equal Opportunity was your first film production. What's the story behind that? Why did you decide to produce such a project?

Camille: I was on (what I thought was) hiatus from One on One then. Equal Opportunity actually started as an exercise to teach myself how to produce. I thought it would be fun since it was a short commitment and a good learning experience. Later on, it turned out to have a much bigger impact on me with the people involved and the audiences. I am grateful it has come to that.

Is any part of the film based on their or your personal experiences?

Camille: Thank goodness, no! Based on the reactions we have gotten from our audiences throughout the U.S. and Canada, I think we can all relate to the encounters experienced by the characters in this film. We all encounter prejudices of some sort everyday, whether in the form of hard confrontations or in our stream-of-consciousness. For better or for worse, we just don't get to hear them so loud and proud as the characters in Equal Opportunity did.

Recently, you produced a pilot presentation based on the film. What kind of response did you get from the audiences and the industry?

Camille: Yes, The Good Ol' Boys. It was recently launched on NBC's digital platform DotComedy.com! The first three webisodes are online now. I have no idea how well the responses are yet, I should probably find out! Currently, I am in the pre-production stage for a feature film that is supposed to be release in the spring. It's my first feature-producing project, so I've just been trying to stay afloat and not too scattered!

Has any of your recent film roles or professional experiences made a life-changing impact on you and your life?

Camille: I never really knew this was in the cards, but yes. I think that I'm growing and changing from the roles and projects I have been involved in. It's kind of scary and really hard to explain. I don't mean in terms of money or status but the really important things like personal growth, self-realization, and finding my identity as a young woman. I can feel that the projects I have done are like mini eras in my life: you can see the marked changes you made in your sophomore year of high school and be able to attribute these changes to specific events or people you knew that year. There's a lot of poetry to be found in this growth. My acting coach always says, "Your art changes your life, and your life changes your art." I used to think that was a load of crap, but as I'm growing up, I find it's not that.

What's it like being an Asian American female producer? What are some of the issues you had to deal with?

Camille: I think that when people talk to me on the phone or email me (which is oftentimes the case) and then meet me in person, they always expect someone older or a Caucasian. When I went to the HBO/U.S. Comedy Arts Festival (Aspen Comedy Festival) to represent a film, people there assumed that I was someone's intern or assistant. Even when I was about to walk onto the red carpet, they took pictures of my publicist instead of me. This is probably because most of the people in Hollywood working in comedy are white male in their 30's and 50's. I think Charlyne Yi and I were probably the only two young Asian girls in the whole city. Asian comedic actresses are rare commodities in Hollywood.

What inspires you?

Camille: Aw, what doesn't? I love music. I am very passionate about a great deal of bands and love going to see them play live. Great films, a sunny day, traveling to a city I love, and being with close friends or loved ones: these are some of the stuffs I like. As I am growing up, I try to take more time to smell the roses, so to speak. I believe there is inspiration to be found in every little nook, if you're looking.

It seems like Equal Opportunity turns out to be a big success. It won the Best Film Award in NBC's First Annual Comedy Shortcuts Film Festival. Do you plan to produce more Asian-American-themed comedies in the future?

Camille: I just shot a small role in an Asian-American themed comedy named Why Am I Doing This? starring Lynn Chen and Sheetal Sheth among many others. As far as producing, I don't think any projects that I do will necessarily be Asian-themed, though there will always be diversity in my projects. That is definitely important to me.

What are some of your upcoming projects?

Camille: Miramax's Smart People (Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church) world premieres at Sundance Film Festival in January and opens wide in theaters in April. Lionsgate's College (Drake Bell) opens wide in theaters in April as well. The Good Ol' Boys can be seen on NBC's Dotcomedy.com. I am currently producing a feature called The Things We Carry. The Samurai of Strongsville, Ohio and Why Am I Doing This? will both be at the Asian-American festivals this coming year.

For more information on Camille and her upcoming films, please visit http://www.camillemana.com/flash_site_content.html.