Kollab ATL Chats With Julee Cerda About Smart People, “Twokens,” and Acting

Kollaboration Atlanta’s Qui Ho interviews actress Julree Cerda about her upcoming role in the play “Smart People,” premiering in Atlanta on July 12 at the True Colors Theatre Company

The quest for love, achievement and identity is universal, but what role does race play in the story of our lives? On the eve of Obama’s first election, four Harvard intellectuals find themselves entangled in a complex web of social and sexual politics. A whirlwind of crackling dialogue and tricky questions are thrown at us by the fearless and funny Lydia Diamond (Stick Fly) in this provocative and funny play
The quest for love, achievement and identity is universal, but what role does race play in the
story of our lives? On the eve of Obama’s first election, four Harvard intellectuals find
themselves entangled in a complex web of social and sexual politics. A whirlwind of
crackling dialogue and tricky questions are thrown at us by the fearless and funny Lydia
Diamond (Stick Fly) in this provocative and funny play

Julee Cerda is an American actress born in Seoul, South Korea. She was raised in New York but spent part of her childhood in her father’s home country, the Dominican Republic. Julee comes to Atlanta from New York City playing Ginny Yang, a well­ respected tenured Harvard Psychology professor, in Smart People. Her most recent theater credits include: The Bloodline of Shadrick Grace (FringeNYC) and Mad Dog Blues (Michael Chekhov Theater Company). On screen, Julee has recently appeared in House of Cards, Orange Is the NewBlack, and will be seen in Morten Tyldum’s upcoming film, Passengers.

Qui: How did the role in “Smart People” come about?

Julee: My agent asked me if I wanted to put myself on tape for the role of Ginny and having known the play and the role, I agreed to. I didn’t think anything would come of it and even went on a lengthy vacation to visit my husband’s family in England. That’s of course when I get a call saying the director wanted to meet so we ended up arranging a call over Skype.

Qui: Do you feel you face challenges in the industry due to race?

Julee: All the time. Roles for Asian Americans are few and far between and when a script calls for one, it usually requires you to play a stereotype. And while roles for Latinos are more available, I usually don’t get called in for those parts because I don’t “look” Latina enough. It’s a frustrating predicament to be in…especially if you’re an actress of mixed race. But I’m grateful playwrights like Lydia R. Diamond has created a role like Ginny who, like me, defines herself as a “twoken…proudly representing not one, but two under represented­populations”.

Qui: What’s your definition of “smart”?

Julee: Aware, insightful, thought­through. Although thanks to my husband, I’ve now adopted the British meaning which is neat and stylish as in “that outfit looks smart.”

Qui: What would you picture yourself doing if you weren’t acting?

Julee: I’d like to think I’d be doing is something creative like screenwriting or playwriting or filmmaking. But if it weren’t arts­related, I’ve always had this fantasy of being a carpenter and building houses. I don’t know why. I just like the idea of creating things by hand.

Qui: In a previous interview, you stated “Don’t let fear rule you. Dare to try. Dare to fail.” I believe in being confident leads to success. How would you suggest one getting over the fear of failure?

Julee: Take an improv class. It’s scary as hell but incredibly exhilarating! And it’s refreshing to know your peers are in the same sinking boat as you are.

Qui: The Shakespeare Tavern is a gem here in Atlanta. Any spots you’re looking forward to visiting during your Atlanta residency?

Julee: I’m actually just looking forward to getting to know the neighborhoods of Atlanta a bit more. I hear East Atlanta, Little 5 Points, Virginia Highlands, Poncey­Highlands, Edgewood are all worth checking out. And I’m also really looking forward to trying out some delicious southern comfort food so suggestions welcome!

Qui: Who is someone in your life who can always make you laugh?

Julee: My 18 month ­old daughter, Emmett. She’s full of surprises and always up to something cheeky. For instance, she’ll come over to me to give me a hug and I’ll think “aw, how sweet!” and then I’ll suddenly realize my iPhone is missing from my pocket and she’s running away giggling.

Qui: I am a huge fan of House of Cards having grown up in D.C. area. What’s it like on set of House of Cards?

Julee: Amazing! The cast and crew are one of the nicest, most relaxed, and warmest people I’ve ever met on set which is funny because it’s such a stiff and chilling show.

Qui: Your go­to place for Korean cuisine & Dominican Republic cuisine in New York?

Julee: Definitely Flushing, Queens for some authentic Korean dining and Washington Heights for Dominican food. You have to go where the people are.

Qui: One sentence. What do you hope to be able to say 5 years from now?

Julee: “Siri, do my hair and makeup.”

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Cover image via juleecerda.com

The Fu Launches New Puppet Web Series ‘The FuZees’

Kollaboration Atlanta alums Jacob and Josh Fu, also known as The Fu, are no rookies when it comes to creating original songs and sketches for YouTube. However, the brothers are entering uncharted territory with their newly launched kids web series, The FuZees.

Similar to Sesame Streets, The FuZees is a weekly puppet web series that teaches children, ages 3-5, about social and behavioral issues through music, art and dance. Each episode is about 10 minutes long and features puppet avatars of the Fu brothers, who tackle the episode’s highlighted issue or theme with the help of a YouTube guest.

The pilot, which aired last Saturday, Nov. 8, featured Jen (From Head to Toe) as its first guest and focused on the issue of identity.

According to The Fu, the idea for the show stemmed from the brothers’ 2011 cover of “Man or Muppet,” an Academy Award-winning song from the musical film The Muppets. The Fu had built homemade puppets for the cover music video and since then had a kids puppet show on the back of their minds. But, they had no idea where to start.

“We had a desire and love for puppets in general but we had no background in what it would take to actually control and make the puppets,” Josh told New Media Rockstars (NMR). “We basically learned from scratch what we needed to do.”

It wasn’t until earlier this year that the brothers were able to find the right production team and puppeteers to help them bring their vision to life. They were also able to film the entire series at the YouTube Space L.A. for free, thanks to their 100,000 plus subscribers on their main channel, The Fu Music.

“We chose YouTube to be the place to put the show because we’ve been on it for a while,” said Josh. “We love the community aspect and the interactive aspect and we really wanted to take advantage of that.”

The Fu also said they decided to release The FuZees exclusively on YouTube because they wanted to create a show that was classy and solid in terms of music, set design, scripts and guests since there’s very few high-quality children’s content tailored for YouTube that is not taken from television.

“We’re really open to seeing what’s going to work with kids and we’ll definitely test stuff out,” Jacob told NMR. “We want to be able to introduce them to what the world of YouTube will look like as they get older.”

You can learn more about the making of The FuZees by watching the behind-the-scenes videos below!

The first season of The FuZees will have 16 episodes and will air every week on Saturday mornings. Follow the show on Facebook and twitter

Bernard Park Wins “K-Pop Star” Season 3

Kollaboration Atlanta Alum Bernard Park was recently named the winner of the third season of Korea’s K-Pop Star, a survival style singing reality show that has found immense popularity both in Korea and internationally.

Continue reading “Bernard Park Wins “K-Pop Star” Season 3″