for TIMID magazine

On weaving a character across time

Anxious anticipation filled me as I waited outside the Netflix building, the LA marathons a blur of activity in the background. Inside, Rosalind Chao and Zine Tseng were being photographed for their new Netflix series, 3 Body Problem, an adaptation of the Chinese science fiction novel The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu. Both actresses portray Ye Wenjie, an astrophysicist who dooms Earth and becomes pivotal to its fight for survival, at different points in her life.

“Your hands are very cold!” Tseng noted after our initial exchange, a hint of my earlier jitters and the lingering chill from the earlier wait. Amidst the chaos of lights and camera equipment, Chao tussled with nostalgia as she struggled to get a pair of earrings into her ear. "I got these when I was nine," she explained, her voice tinged with memory. It took a few tries, but with a confident smile, she finally got the earrings in.

Spotting the momentary struggle, the team almost apologized, offering to skip the earrings altogether out of concern that they might be causing a snag in the photoshoot. "The biggest thing I tell my daughter is to never say sorry," the actress shared with a serious undertone to her words reflecting the deep-rooted Asian social stigmas she aims to redefine. As a mother, her care extended beyond her immediate family to everyone in the room, ensuring the photographer was comfortable and poised, embodying the nurturing spirit that radiated her under the early morning light.

The banter between Chao and Tseng was with playful jests about their styling. “I look like a peacock right now!” Tseng exclaimed, striking a pose, and was met with Chao’s chuckle of agreement. Their interaction was a blend of professionalism and genuine affection. As Tseng effortlessly drew laughter with her infectious goofiness between poses, Chao did so with her light-hearted remarks, like joking that her character gave her “an excuse to be terrible.”

The day was a celebration of uniqueness, cultural identity, and the unspoken ties that bind us. Through our conversation, Chao and Tseng told me to emphasize the value of accepting oneself completely—flaws and all—and creating an environment on our planet in which individuals' understanding of each other could coexist together.