In-Dept Interview with Osric Chau of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn

Interview for the Examiner.com here: http://www.examiner.com/article/in-depth-with-osric-chau-of-halo-4-forward-unto-dawn

***Or below.****Tell me a little about yourself.I had the opportunity to chat with Osric Chau, a promising 26-year old actor living out all of his passions. He's played parts alongside John Cusack, Russel Crowe, Lucy Liu, and Victoria Justice in projects such as 2012, Supernatural, and the upcoming films  Fun Size and Man with the Iron Fists. He also has his hand in filmmaking, with a couple of great-looking short films created with his friends, and has aspirations of one day becoming a producer. Osric more recently provided the voice of Vincent in  Sleeping Dogs and played JJ Chen in Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.My name is Osric- I’m from Vancouver, BC; I started acting when I was about 8, but I didn’t take it seriously until I was 21. My career started on the upswing when I moved to Beijing, China on a whim at the beginning of 2010. I started learning a new language, worked on my first Chinese film speaking that language and it was just really good for my personal development in terms of living on my own in a completely new, foreign country that I didn’t know anyone previously, and now I have a lot of friends and a big network.Was that your first gig?My first gig- I think I was 16, actually. And it was for a show called Cold Squad. I know that because it’s on my IMDB page, but honestly, I can’t remember very much (laughs). I was a very bad actor starting out. My mom was taking me [to auditions]; she was giving me these lines to read, and I would do it, but I remember very vividly that I had no idea what I was doing. That was my first gig, but my first one where I actually consciously [thought], ‘this is acting,’ was for this very tiny role on a show called Dragon Boys: my first substantial character where I knew what I was doing, full-on lines and stunts- it was shot in China in 2007. I went to Beijing to train in martial arts, and by the end of the trip, I got hired for the supporting lead role on a miniseries for Spike TV for my stunt and martial arts abilities. It was a great experience.How did you end up voice acting for Sleeping Dogs?I honestly think they used every single Asian actor out there (laughs). I recognized everybody! They needed people that could speak Chinese, Mandarin, Cantonese, and English, and do the accents. I got a call and was like, ‘OK, sure; I’m in LA, anyways.’ And it just worked out- it was a lot of fun.Do you play video games in your downtime?Yes, I do. Probably too much.There is no such thing as playing too many video games.All right, let’s talk about game addicts (laughs). So, I have compulsions and obsessions with gaming. And this started at a very young age- I think the first game I was ever addicted to was probably Harvest Moon.I love that game! What was the first one that you played?The Super Nintendo version. [It] was so simple: the farming, getting married- I love that. You know how you can keep going in the hot springs and revitalize? So, I did everything in a night (laughs). It’s that kind of obsession where I would play to that extent with every game. There was Final Fantasy, specifically Final Fantasy 7 and Tactics. When you save on the memory card, they give you that time at the top- I rolled it over several times so it clocks off at 99 hours, then it rolls over. And it’s just because, one: I love the story; I love the game. Two: I just had to max out every possible route. World of Warcraft- that took two years of my life… that I’ll never have back. And then I think the worst possible thing was, I once spent a week straight playing games. As in, no sleep, no school, nothing but playing games. I took a bathroom break every… maybe once a day? I had a very understanding girlfriend; for some reason, she put up with me, she kept the food coming. But I played it a week straight. Why? Because that week was double experience week! And I’m ashamed to say that I did the entire week. The ones that really suck are the ones with all the achievements, that say ‘play for 100 hours and you’ll get this achievement.’ I played that 100 hours. Or I’d leave it on. I’d have to get every single achievement. So… yes, I do play games.What was the best part of working on Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn?The training. We did a week of training prior to the shoot, and training was both physical and for our characters. For this project, they gave us a week to really explore not only our characters but the whole Halo universe. Most of us were pretty new to Halo, and so they had these experts that were just sitting there and everyday would go into this room and we’d start reading random Halo stuff and asking questions. We’d be in the room for a few hours writing these character sheets: ‘What kind of character are you? Where are you from? What planet you’re from, what’s your political views on this?’ We’d read all these fictional politics. It was quite surreal, but it was really cool. We all came up with these backstories for our characters, and at the same time, we’re going through group camp, essentially. Drill training, weapons training, obstacle courses, and just general formalities in terms of how you dress. We’re cadets for the whole week and it was a lot of fun. Mentally, it was kind of draining because people are yelling at you the entire time because it was super military. But it was still my favorite time.I know you like performing your own stunts- did you get to perform any in Forward Unto Dawn?Uh, yes!! There weren’t any crazy stunts for my character, but I try to make as many of the stunt days as I can, just to watch. They had a few ratchet stuff, a bunch of explosions, we got shot in the face with mortars a few times, and a few stunts I can’t talk about yet until it comes out. Those are the fun days for me because you do stuff that you can only do once or twice, tops, because it just takes forever or it’s very physically demanding. And that’s the stuff that most interests me. Also, you never know what’s going to happen. Yes; everything is very safe and you know what should happen, but you don’t really know what’s going to happen. How does it feel to get shot in the face with a bunch of fake gravel? You have an idea, but until you feel it, you have no idea (laughs). It’s going to sting a little bit; we can describe it as much as we can but…You don’t really know what it’s going to be like until it happens.Yeah, and I love that adrenaline.Do you have a project with your favorite stunts that you got to perform?Kung Fu Killer- the one I did in China. For that one, I wish I was not so new, because I kind of took it for granted; I didn't really appreciate it. But back then, I could do everything and they would give me more to do just because I had the ability to do it, and I didn’t think much of it. But if I were to do that again, I would definitely take more of an active role in suggesting things rather than just, ‘all right, what do you want me to do?’ And just do it. Supernatural: done a lot of fun stunts- they kind of use me as a rag doll, throwing me around, falling, and that stuff is fun. My first day, I was running away from Sam, who’s this big guy… it’s just that exhilarating rush of running as fast as you can. And for a first scene, that’s the best possible scenario, because these people worked together for 8 years, so you’re walking into a  very tight circle of friends. And just to be able to physically exert yourself and just [say], ‘ok, that felt good,’ you’re feeling something. So, that was a great first day.What project are you most excited about having released?*Fun Size and Season 8 of Supernatural. I just like the character arc for Supernatural. Fun Size was one of the most enjoyable filming experiences I’ve ever had. We went to Cleveland for 3 months. No one knew anything about Cleveland back then. We all had our idea: ‘Drew Carey is from Cleveland. There’s a Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame,’ and that’s all I could Google up in my 5 minutes of Googling it (laughs). But it turned out to be this lovely little place- I mean, it’s actually quite large- and they had all these great spots; great restaurants, great people, Cedar Point, which is an amazing amusement park - I can’t believe I’ve never heard of it, but I went several times. And it was just a great summer to have been part of.Fun Size hits theaters on October 26, 2012, and Halo 4: Foward Unto Dawn will launch its worldwide premiere of its 5-episode series on  Machinima Prime and  Halo Waypoint on October 5, 2012. Keep up with Osric Chau on Twitter at  twitter.com/OsricChau.