[2021.06.04] HANNA CHAN FINDS REHEARSAL WITH THE CHILD STAR THE MOST DIFFICULT

Hanna Chan originally auditioned for the daughter in adulthood but the director encouraged her to try the mother role
courtesy of singtao.com

Hanna Chan in the 4th First Feature Film Initiative award winning film ELISA'S DAY (WAI OI) played a 15 year old Mama. In the film she had to work with children between the ages of zero and three, which she lamented was very hard!

"For the first time I worked with children on a movie, it was really super hard! Two or three year old children especially were harder to come in contact with, even if they played with her all day they would still stick to Mama. During the shoot Mama instead would not be present, because as soon as they saw Mama they would rely on her. If Mama would be present but could not go over they would be out of focus. With just me and not seeing Mama they would be easier to handle, but when Mama would not be around they would always yell. Sometimes I really was crying for help and didn't know what to do! The hardest was not only how to comfort them but also calm them cool to shoot the scene right away."

The industry generally feels children and animals are the hardest to shoot. Hanna said that while modeling she has worked with a dog on a commercial. In recent years she has worked with a cat, and she agreed that children and animals have been super hard to deal with! However when the desired result was achieved, she would feel even happier and have more sense of satisfaction. Playing 15 year old Mama, Hanna admitted that she did not originally auditioned for this Mama role but Daisy, the daughter in adulthood.

"Although Daisy isn't the main protagonist, she is just as important. To me it is a huge challenge. The director never decided on who would play the Mama role, for half a year the production didn't start. Later the director asked me if I would like to try the Mama role? At the time I had no confidence and felt that I might not be able to succeed in playing the role. Perhaps I was set on playing Daisy, when I read the script I already knew the Mama role was super hard to play. With a lot I was afraid that I would mess things up. Later I thought for a very long time, the director encouraged me and said that I was suitable. Ultimately the director wrote the script, understood the characters the most and had his own ideas. In the end since he thought I could, I didn't think too much and just gave it a try."