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This is just the beginning for the rising star!
Rosalie Chiang has become an overnight sensation since the release of Pixar's latest flick, Turning Red, and you'll want to get to know this rising star!
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The 16-year-old actress has been receiving praise for her portrayal of Meilin "Mei" Lee, a Chinese-Canadian girl who discovers her ancestors share a mystical connection with the red panda species.
Here's what you should know about the young actress:
1. Turning Red is her first ever feature film.
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Prior to working on Turning Red, Rosalie only had a few credits on her acting résumé, which included a few short films and guest appearances on a TV series.
2. Rosalie has been working on Turning Red since she was 12.
3. She actually wasn't supposed to be the permanent voice of Mei Lee.
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Although Rosalie was hired as the "scratch" voice for Mei, the Pixar team continued the audition process to find an actor to record the role. But it turns out that the team was so impressed by Rosalie, it came to a point where she couldn't imagine anyone else in the role.
“When it was time to cast it for real, we listened to a bunch of audition tapes, and all of us were like, ‘Nobody came close.' The role of Mei and Rosalie had become way too intertwined. She had just infused herself into the role," producer Lindsey Collins said.
4. She has a lot in common with Turning Red director, Domee Shi.
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Rosalie and Domee had a very similar upbringing, where they were both encouraged to focus on their education while pursuing creative endeavors.
"During the break of one of my recording sessions, @DomeeShi and I were chitchatting about our dreams before Pixar. I was talking about how the acting business is such a ruthless, risky, and unforgiving, business, so I am really really lucky that I booked this once in a lifetime Pixar role. And that even though I’m still pursuing acting, I still study as much as I can, just in case it doesn’t work out. Domee responded by saying that she also had similar experiences. When she wanted to be an animator, her parents encouraged her to study academics too, just in case it doesn’t work out," Rosalie wrote on Instagram.
5. She never expected to actually work for Pixar when she started voice acting.
6. A lot of Turning Red was recorded at her parent's home in Northern California.
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Production on Turning Red began right before the pandemic and in order to keep things moving along during quarantine, Pixar shipped tons of high tech recording equipment to her house.
"We turned my dad’s room into this makeshift recording booth. It was really hot in there. My dad would give me a bowl of ice to cool it down," Chiang says.
7. For Rosalie, preparation for a VO role includes "excessive talking" and reciting tongue twisters.
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If Rosalie doesn't have a script before heading into the recording booth, she says there are two things she typically does.
"If I don’t receive the script beforehand, then I just excessively talk before the session and recite a few tongue twisters. If I do receive the script, then I’ll just practice my lines and try to figure out what’s going on in the scene," Rosalie wrote on her Instagram.
8. She's published two poetry collections.
9. Her acting inspirations are Steve Carell and Nancy Cartwright.
10. Rosalie is bilingual.
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In addition to English, Rosalie is also fluent in Mandarin.
English (US) ·