In just two years, Natalie Hsu has become one of the fastest rising talents from Hong Kong’s next generation of actors.
Since 2023, she has won roles in a raft of critically acclaimed and commercially successful titles ranging from Sasha Chuk’s family drama Fly Me To The Moon and disaster thriller Cesium Fallout, starring Andy Lau, to Nick Cheung’s psychological horror Peg O’ My Heart, Dante Lam’s action thriller Bursting Point, Chong Keat-Aun’s Pavane For An Infant and fantasy drama Last Song For You, opposite Ekin Cheng.
This extraordinary hit rate earned Hsu the Screen International Rising Star Award, which she accepted at the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) on Monday (July 14). The festival also hosted the North American premieres of Last Song For You and Pavane For An Infant.
Hsu’s meteoric rise began with a chance encounter during the height of the Covid pandemic.
“I had never considered acting as a career,” Hsu tells Screen. “I was applying to university to study dance and realised I didn’t have much work on my resume so I reached out to my now agent, Kim [Chou], who arranged a call with a film director.
“I thought it was to be an extra but they called the next day to offer me the main role. It was terrifying but a once in a lifetime opportunity so I went for it.”
This was Chinese musical The Day We Lit Up The Sky, which was released in July 2021 and gave Hsu her calling card for work back in her native Hong Kong.
“I was very lucky with the projects that were offered when I came back to Hong Kong,” she recalls. “Many of them needed a girl my age and perhaps there aren’t too many actresses my age in Hong Kong right now.”
Despite initially avoiding a career on screen, acting is in the blood. Her mother, Ann Bridgewater, starred in several action thrillers during the golden age of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s and 90s, in the likes of Full Contact opposite Chow Yun-fat. But she quit the business 30 years ago and became a psychologist.
“Alongside my agent, my mom is very involved when I choose roles,” she says. “But I’ve not seen a single one of her films. She didn’t talk about it at all when we were growing up and I would feel awkward watching her in a movie. But I will… one of these days.”
Upcoming projects
Hsu looks set to continue her streak with three projects set for release. My First Of May stars Aaron Kwok as the father of a girl with muscular dystrophy, played by Hsu, and is set for release in Hong Kong on August 22 and China on August 28.
Then comes Girlfriends, an LGBTQ+ film directed by Tracy Choi (Sisterhood) that features an ensemble cast that includes award-winning actress Fish Liew. Shot in Macau last August-September, Hsu says of the upcoming film: “Dealing with LGBT themes on film is really new for me. Her personality is also introverted in a way that none of my previous characters have been. The crew was also female heavy, which was a really nice environment to be in.”
Immediately after filming Girlfriends, Hsu travelled to Malaysia to shoot Mother Bhumi, a family drama that reunites her with Pavane For An Infant director Chong Keat-Aun. Set in a northern Malaysian village in the late 1990s, the story follows a widow farmer – played by Fan Bingbing – who works in the paddy fields by day and as a ritual practitioner healing villagers by night.
“My character is basically a rebellious bitch,” says Hsu with a laugh. “The director kept saying, ‘Go even more bitchy’. It was almost inspired by himself as a kid.”
“Shooting with the same director is something I really want to keep doing in the future,” she adds of reuniting with Chong. “You’re already familiar with each other’s processes and working habits. I feel you can delve even deeper into different possibilities.”
Having already shot throughout Asia, Hsu is open to filming in the US, UK and beyond. She highlights films that are “almost documentary in style” as the kind of work she would like to take on from Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You, to the Dardennes’ The Kid With A Bike, Crystal Moselle’s Skate Kitchen, Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely, Sometimes Always and Lukas Dhont’s Close.
But she is also optimistic about Hong Kong cinema, which has faced an increasing number of challenges in recent years as both budgets and the number of films produced have declined.
“Hong Kong filmmakers need to work hard to make films that will resonate with the audience because people’s tastes are changing so fast,” says Hsu. “We need to find a balance between keeping up with that, but also telling stories that are honest and authentic. We mark how well the industry is doing based on box office or how well films sell but there are so many other things that can be marks of growth. In Hong Kong, there have been so many more female driven films and more depth in female characters. That’s also growth.”
Reflecting on her Screen International Rising Star Award in New York, Hsu adds: “It’s a genuine honour but I don’t think of it as an award, more like an encouragement that tells me I’m going in the right direction.”
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