
Over the Shoulder spoke to the fascinating actor and director MJ Lee about her role in the short film Mr Strappy and her experience in the show.
When did you discover your passion for acting?
It’s interesting because even though I always loved performance, it never was an option because it was not considered a ”real job” in my home. Especially as a first-generation immigrant, the culture I came from there was no one who looked like me doing it.
I genuinely didn’t understand that it was even a viable road. So, I completed my degree and became a professional dancer by accident when I auditioned at the Vancouver Scholarship Dance Program on a whim.
I just copied as best as I could and then a panel of people behind a table call you in one at a time to give you feedback.
The director handed me a contract and I immediately cried because I knew this is what I’m supposed to do with my life.
After a few years of intensive training, I moved to London and like a lot of dancers I took acting classes as it can help your performance.
These acting workshops at first were difficult for me as I had got so used to using my body as my way of expressing myself. I had to keep saying to myself,” Stop moving, MJ!”
I became obsessed with acting and basically lived at the actor’s studio. My colleagues made jokes that I was there more often than my acting coach was.
Eventually, I came to a crossroads where I was like,” Okay, I am going to have to prioritize one because when something only has 50 percent of your effort, it only gets 50 percent of the result.”
It became very clear that acting and directing is what is right for me now.
I think what I love about acting is it really is about finding the truth. I never feel more honest than when I’m really locked into a character and speaking authentically.
Do you prefer doing short or feature films?
I like both, it’s like saying do you prefer lunch or snacks? A great attribute about a short is that it’s quite quick, an in and out deal, but you still have a lot of fun. With a feature it’s great because you can delve into the character and you get to see much more of what happened to them.

What drew you to the character Kat in Mr Strappy?
I think the project itself was really appealing to me. I’m passionate about equity. The fact that there are countries where they don’t have same sex, homosexuality, or queer relationships legalized is still baffling to me.
For me, there are the three P’s, which are people, project, pay and I need two out of three to do the job. This project was appealing because it helps serve and normalize any kind of relationship, whether it’s homosexual or transgender. I feel a social responsibility to ensure that I’m always pushing forward representation for the global majority.
The role of Kat helps show that relationships are relationships. It does not matter what size or colour or gender or whatever you are. At the end of the day, they’re hard, they’re difficult, and people have difficulty communicating.
It’s not how we’re different, it’s how we’re the same. Any project that brings that to light, in whatever medium it is, is an important story to tell.
What was your process or technique for getting into the role of Kat?
I call my acting coach every week. I chatted through the role with him, and we realised that Kat’s someone who anyone can relate to, so if I fixated on that I would be okay.
It’s displaced because she’s a human being and the comedy comes from the fact that Mr Strappy is a dildo. To get into her, I just had to look at my own relationships, it didn’t even need to be a romantic relationship.
I could relate to her because relationships, especially when it’s someone you love and you feel the stakes yourself, you can be too scared to say, “I don’t want to lose you.” I think that’s something we all can relate to.

What was it like working with the director Adolfo Vico?
He’s great. He’s so funny. I really like working with newer directors because you get to be part of their experience with working on set, working on films, and developing their voice.
You could see he was very passionate about it. He put so much into it, he’s a very thoughtful guy. He’s very deliberate. He has a reason for doing things because he is genuine.

What was the most challenging scene to film?
Probably the last one.
It’s about making sure I’m getting there, getting to that point where I’m breaking every time. It’s challenging, there’s a threshold. It could take nine or ten takes.
What you don’t want is when you break, is to cry crocodile tears.
I really wanted to get there myself by connecting to the character, but it does reach a point of exhaustion. Fortunately, the Cinematographer (Ben Saffer) was brilliant. He was so communicative, and he and I had, andI knew where to go.
Was there a particular line of dialogue that was your favourite to say?
There are two points in the film, the first was when I say, “Mr. Strappy’s gone!” I don’t know what it is about that, but the crew kept laughing.
There’s a bit in the fridge, I mean blink and you’ll miss it but it’s where I’m searching in the fridge. I asked the crew can I grab a cucumber or an innuendo?
There were no lines in it, but that for me that was a moment that really made me laugh. Fortunately, they kept it in.
Do you prefer playing comedic characters than dramatic?
I can’t choose.
There are lots of different people who they find their thing and love to do it. Samuel L Jackson has created a career for being Samuel L. Jackson.
There are two types of actors, humans and aliens. Humans are like Tom Hanks, Jennifer Lawrence and people who are relatable, and then you have the aliens such as Joaquin Phoenix, Daniel Day Lewis who disappear into their roles. Each is commendable and just as important. I would self-assess myself to be probably more of a human, but I don’t want to be a one trick pony.
For me, drama and comedy are two sides of the same coin.
I really need both in my life.

*Patterns (MJ plays a conspiracy theorist Rosie)
Are there any upcoming films you want to talk about?
There’s a film that just got released; it’s called Where Are You Really from? That one is about the immigrant experience and changing your accent to fit in with your environment. Great one to work on.
There’s a couple coming up that I’m still researching for. They’ll be shooting soon and I’m going to be doing an art installation film too.
I’m shooting a second series of a show called Patterns next month. It’s on Amazon Prime. I’m reprising my role of Rosie, she’s a conspiracy theorist and she’s bat-shit crazy.
Thank you, MJ, for telling Over the shoulder about your career and giving us some insights into the craft of acting. Good luck in the future and we can’t wait to see how where your talents carry you.
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