When you were younger, did you ever watch a film and dream about one day growing up to become the hero of the film? That certainly was the case for Maria Tran, who watched and idolized Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh in films. However, unlike most of us, Maria is now living her dream to become a highly sought-after action star.
Maria Tran is an actor, filmmaker and martial artist working across video, performance and action choreography. Her international film credits include Roger Corman’s Hollywood movie Fist of the Dragon, Chinese mixed martial arts movie Death Mist, and Vietnamese blockbuster Tracer. Maria won Breakout Female Performer at the 2013 International Action on Film Festival and Female Action Performer of the Year at MartialCon 2016 for her role as director/producer on female-led action comedy Hit Girls. In Australia, she appeared on ABC’s My Place and Maximum Choppage and Channel 10’s Street Smart, as well working as a stunt actor on Jackie Chan’s movie Bleeding Steel.
At this year’s OzAsia Festival, Maria Tran is bringing her much anticipated production Action Star to the Space Theatre. I was fortunate to have a chat with Maria about the show, what led her to pursuing a career in film and martial arts, and what she loves about artists such as Michelle Yeoh and Jackie Chan.
“When I was a kid growing up in the 90s, knowing that you are looking different, especially in school where it wasn’t as diverse, and getting bullied throughout high school, I was always escaping into a bit of a dream land after watching all of these Jackie Chan films. I always wanted to be the hero. I had this thing where, after I was beaten up at school, I would go home and put in a VHS tape and watch Jackie do his thing. He was always fighting; he was always the underdog. I wanted to be that. I didn’t want to always be the kid that was getting bullied. Growing up I wasn’t comfortable with who I was, so I would create characters. I would always have these alter egos and have this idea of becoming an action star.”
I was keen to find out from Maria what led her to pursue a career in this art form, and what training she undertook to get there.
“After being bullied, I did get some training in different martial arts forms, but what really propelled me was making lots of short films in Cabramatta growing up. I grew up in a suburb in Western Sydney that is very Asian-centric, and lots of my friends wanted to make these types of films. Eventually, years down the track, ABC wanted to do something with us and then we put our works out there internationally. At one stage, even one of Jackie Chan’s producers reached out to try and arrange something with us, but that didn’t quite work out at the time. It was really interesting that I was just this local person with an ambition to make films, and making all of this indie stuff has finally given me the chance to work internationally. From international work to coming back to Australia, my work is still relatively unknown and often met with disbelief. I find that really interesting, especially with all the travel and living and working in different countries. I don’t live in Australia any more; I moved to the USA five months ago because I wanted to travel and see what I could do in the USA. But I landed the big Paramount series Last King On The Cross and they brought me back to film that, and while I’m here I’m doing Action Star as part of the OzAsia Festival.”
Maria has a love of film and stage acting. What is it like combining all of these loves together? It must be a dream job!
“It’s interesting because I had this turning point when I was much younger. I was on Centrelink, trying to get skills and find work and be something in society. I started working for different production companies, and people kept telling me that with my skillset I should be working for SBS doing documentaries. I was also being told by people to not dream about doing ‘this action stuff’ as it would take me nowhere. There was also this other side of me going after doing my own films internationally. People were saying this is the first time that we have seen a woman in front of the camera, behind the camera, producing films, financing the whole thing and not making a big deal about it. It hit me that I am doing something quite special, and the people I work with were doing something special too. Internationally, when you look at Australia, all people think is kangaroos. It’s the perception. People don’t see action; it doesn’t go into their minds. So when people see something like what I do, produced locally and going to international scale, there is almost this sense of ‘what is happening in Australia?’. It gives hope to people, especially in the region where I grew up. There’s lots of young people displaced and at risk there, and this shows them that when you put your mind to something, anything is possible.”
Maria’s show Action Star will be performed as part of this year’s OzAsia Festival. She spoke with me about the creative process in putting together this new show.
“This show has been quite unconventional in the creative process. We are still developing it at the moment. It’s been very fast paced and it’s always been go, go, go. Our amazing director, Kaz Therese, approaches things with a lot of sharing, speaking and movement. We’re recording a lot of that process and our conversations, and that became the script of what you’ll see in terms of the monologues. Movement-wise there was a lot of free movement and free dance and from that our choreographers, Larissa McGowan and Lisa Griffiths, would start shaping the work. The whole process has been a conversation. I do find that sometimes theatre is very ‘I’m an actor; you are the director. You tell me what to do.’ But this process has been different. It has been very facilitative. It’s been approached with such kindness and done in a way that all the elements have just emerged and evolved as we’ve created the show.
“When I first started work on Action Star, I had never thought I would be doing theatre. Kaz came to me and encouraged me to work with her creating this show. At that point of my life I was divorced, I was broke. I came back from Asia to Australia not wanting to have to think about action work. I was at the bottom. But Kaz could see a story and a journey, and together we worked on this show that demystifies this whole terminology: this ‘beefcake’, male dominated, testosterone, guns world of action. I initially laughed at the idea, but I suddenly realised that a lot of what I’m doing with my life has connections to my family and migration as boat people to Australia, and also ways to connect to my mother, because growing up with a tiger mum hasn’t always been easy. As I got older, I realised there is something beyond why your parents or family and friends act a certain way. Action Star, as much as there is the fighting and the cool elements like that, there is something much deeper that I feel will connect with people as they watch it, especially ‘the self’ and feeling comfortable with yourself.”
Action Star will be part of the 2022 OzAsia Festival. Performing at the Space Theatre between October 27 – 29. Tickets can be purchased through https://www.ozasiafestival.com.au/events/action-star/ .
Photo credit: Anna Kucera
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