¶ Intro / Opening
Hi , this is Mitch with Entertain this , a podcast about movies , tv shows and video games , and today we have a guest Miss Peggy Liu from the Venom series . You might know her as Mrs Chin . How are you doing , peggy ?
I'm great . Thank you so much , and thank you so much for having me , mitch .
Well , thank you for joining us . Yeah , of course , normally when we interview people we try to get like a kind of idea about the person themselves . So I was kind of wondering how did you get into acting ?
Well , I got into acting when I was in college , in sophomore , and I met this girl in a cafeteria and she told me that her major was theater . And I didn't even know there was such a major as theater . And I was pre-med , of course , and I thought , wow , that is just so much fun , it's so much better than studying calculus , chemistry , physics .
So I told my parents that there was a major . I call it a new major . I go , there's a new major now called theater , and that's what I wanted to try . Yeah , and then my parents , of course , they weren't going to have it . So they said that after I finished college , if I come out with some kind of doctoral degree , then I could do whatever I want .
And here I am Now I've kind of doctoral degree , then I could do whatever I want . And here I am Now .
I've kind of done a little bit of research on you , but so you speak fluent Mandarin as well . Yes , so I'm assuming your parents are from China or Chinese ?
Yeah , I'm Chinese . Yes , okay and yeah .
So now were you , from what I could find , did your parents come here , or was it their parents that came to America first ?
No , my parents , Okay , my parents came here for better education , okay , and yeah , that's why we came here .
Going kind of looking back at some of the stuff , like what was your , I guess , first role in acting that you can remember ? Wow , Was it more like a stage theater .
No , I think when I first , I started out first in New York , and in New York you could freelance , you could have more than one agent . So I was doing print work and I think I would count that as my very first job . It's when Toys R Us were around . I was their mom in the catalog .
Okay , yeah .
And it was one of those inflatable pools , you know . So I would consider that my first job was Toys R Us , yeah , and then . So I was doing a lot of not a lot . So , yeah , I guess I did a lot of print work and then commercial and then theatrical . You know what . I take that back .
I think I got my equity card , which is an off-Broadway show that I did . So I got my equity card before I got my Screen Actors Guild card .
Okay , Well , looking back through your IMDb , I think the first thing I could find was that you were on the show Wishbone . Yes , I used to watch that when I was younger .
Yeah , yeah , yeah , it was a dog . It was a dog that knows how to do math right . That's how I learned math too .
Yeah , I remember the dog would go and he would would whatever Shakespeare play or whatever he would reenact yes , yes , yes , yes , yes , yeah , god , yes .
Wow , that was long time ago .
Yeah , I totally forgot well , I'm just going through some of the stuff like uh , it says that you were in the Kung Pao Into the Fist movie yes , yes , yeah , I would see it . Me personally . I've never seen that one , so I wasn't sure .
Oh yeah , yeah , it's an old-timer movie .
I know it was like a kind of a parody on all the martial arts movies .
Yes , yes , yes yeah .
What kind of role did you have in that movie ?
It was the lead mom .
Okay . Yeah , the martial artist's mom , yes , and then you said that your parents wanted you to get a doctorate degree . What did you ? You went to University of Colorado .
Yeah , I graduated from . That's where I got my doctor of pharmacy . Yeah , and that's where I graduated Because , well , you know , like the first two years of your college , you don't have to declare a major . And so , as a good Asian daughter , of course I was pre-med , like I said earlier .
Of course I was pre-med , like I said earlier , and then , um , so then , so then , as I was trying to figure out which , like where in medicine , I belong , and then so first I was thinking OBGYN , and then my mom said , oh , no , you're gonna be on call , it's gonna be very hard on you , and uh , so then I go , okay , so then I decided I wanted to be a
dentist , and then my mom mom said , oh , you're going to be looking down all the time , it's going to hurt your neck . Okay , right , like my mom is . So on point . And then I said , what about ? Um ?
Then I thought about being a CPA , and then my mom said well , then you're going to be doing numbers all the time and you're not very good with math , which is very true . I'm probably the only asian that sucks with , you know , in math seriously . And then then my mom said well , why don't you try pharmacy ?
Because there will always be , you know , a shortage of pharmacists because it's like , uh , it's mostly women , so women go in and out of the workforce to have family , and so there will always be a shortage and people will always need their meds . So that's what I did , so I went through that , so I became a pharmacist to please my parents .
I actually have a sister-in-law that she's the pharmacist at our local hospital , and when my wife went to have our children she was on top of me . I'm sure my wife had all the medicine she needed yeah , good for her .
Good for her . Good for her . Yeah , it's a . It's not as easy like I thought . Oh , it's gonna be so easy . No , it's not as it . You know , it may appear easy when you go to like a chain store uh-huh and you see the pharmacist back there like relaxing . It's not as easy as slapping on a label is what they call it , you know .
Well , once you got into acting , what kind of roles were you looking to get when you first started ? Was there a certain kind of genre that you liked better , or anything like that ?
I was so clueless .
You know , when you're young and hopeful and you drive across the country to go to New York City in the car that you have had since high school and you drive to New York City , you don't know anyone , and you get into acting class and , as I was figuring out , you know , of course , like I think a lot of people's dreams were oh , I want to get a Tony and
Oscar and an Emmy and a Grammy , but I don't think so , so I won't be getting a Grammy and what else is there ? Golden Globe . And as you age in this industry , it becomes more of a challenge , I guess , and I guess in every profession there's lots of challenges . And I think , as now , I love , I think comedy is harder than drama .
You do really good at it , though I'll tell you that .
Thank you so much , mitch . I think you know I have a great coach , jackie , and she is my comedy go-to coach and then I've been studying with her for seven years and still to this day , and it's a craft , that is a lifetime skill . You know it's a lifetime study and I think .
But then you know you don't see a lot of Oscar-nominated comedy movies , true , right , yeah , but I do love comedy because I think it's harder , in my personal opinion , but for me to get my Oscar I wouldn't need to go into drama . Okay , there's a long answer .
That's okay . Now , when you were doing the Venom movies , your character is a very comedic kind of person in the movie , I guess more sarcastic , comedic in the very beginning . But um , now , are those lines that were strictly written or is that kind of something you got to ?
kind of ad lib with a little bit Great question yeah , tom , tom Hardy drives the ship . He , he , he's very good with improv . So so let me give you an example . For Venom 1 , we I don't know if you remember there's a scene of us improvising in Mandarin . That was his genius idea , so that part was not in the script .
And once we will always do what's on the script and then sometimes he will ask stuff in there . So I just go with him wherever he goes , I just follow him , and because he's so fun and so easy to improvise with and he's always it's just easy to play around with , and he's always it's just easy to play around with , tom Cause he's , he's just so chillax .
He seems like a very laid back person .
Oh , yes , he is , and no ego . And the first time I met him he said hi , I'm Tom Hardy . He said his last name and I go duh , of course I know what your last name is . So that's , that's the kind of person he is , Okay .
Well , looking over here the IMDb again , because I've noticed that you've been in stuff like a lot of like uh , kind of the I guess you'd call it a detective dramas where , like NCIS and Rizzoli and aisles , is that something like you work towards ? Or because you seem to be in several of those ?
Well , ncis is in LA is in Los .
Angeles , yes .
They've been around for so long . It's a blessing to even get called in just to audition . So I don't really , I just go when I go wherever the audition is , wherever the job is , I don't , you know , and it's not , it's not like I get to choose .
Well , I just I mean , I know you've been in a lot of things , so I was just kind of going through some oh , thank you , thank you , and it's just all those things I book is whatever my agent or my manager sends me the audition and then I go and audition and fingers crossed that I get cast because the booking rate is so it's very hard .
It's like one out of 50 by zero , and that was two years ago . That was the statistics and so I think it's a lot harder now . It's probably more , because now after COVID , we are auditioning at home and then we just send in our audition tape , so now they can see people from all over the world competing for one job .
Yeah , Well , speaking of your audition , how did for when you auditioned for your role in Venom ?
what was that like ? Well , okay , so when I , um , when I went into the auditioning room , there were a lot of recognizable faces , working actors that had more extensive resume than I did . And then I got scared because , you know , like I got , yeah , I got insecure and I was thinking why am I even here ?
And then I went in the casting director , redirected me three times and that was it . And then I went home you know , of course , I had lots of great ideas , walking to my car , going , oh , I should have done that , I should have done that , blah , blah , blah . And then I got a call back .
And I think a week later I got a call back and they just wanted me to improvise the ending , and that was it . And then the room was packed and I thought , oh , I'm not going to get this . Why am I even here ? The same thing , the insecurity always kicks in . And then so I improvised it and they go okay , thank you , goodbye .
And I go oh , I didn't get that job , I should have done this , should have done that . And then I got it . And then I was like what ?
How long ?
before , like when you finished , to when they finally told you that you had the role , Honey that was 2018 , you know , yeah , 2018 . So , okay , I think the turnaround was kind of fast because I booked another job around the same time , so they did not torture us .
They let us know really kind of fast I think within a couple weeks , maybe that fast yeah well , when you went into audition for this role , did you know what venom was like ?
not everybody reads comics , so what's your ?
you know what you , what you would think , uh-huh well , as a good little actress like myself , I looked . You know I always do my research to see what it was , and then , and then it was a lot bigger than I thought and um . So I study up um Venom and I also study up on how Tom like his style of acting , the director style , and um .
So , yeah , beginning . No , I did not know , but I did do my research before the first audition .
Okay , now I've seen that you've also been in the show Superstore . Yeah , how did that go ? Because that's another one of those comedic roles , I'm sure .
Yeah , that was so much fun . It was the same director . That episode was the same director as Venom 1 . Okay , yeah , and so that was super fun . It was like you know , memory , like memory . Okay , I don't sing . Well , you might want to cut that out .
Well , when you went in for this role , was that after or before Venom 1 ?
It was after , it was way after .
Oh , okay , I was going to say because if we saw you there , maybe that's how you got the role in .
Venom 1 . Oh no , no , I wish , but I think maybe that's how I got Superstore , though , because we worked together . Okay , all right , yeah , ruben .
Well , when you got this role , did you expect it to go on for three to four movies , like it has ?
no , they didn't even tell me . I had no idea and I didn't even know that Tom was like doing three movies and . I mean , I don't know , I don't know his end on my end . It was just one movie . Same with Venom 2 . It was one movie .
I had no idea , but I was just happy every time that they didn't kill me and I go yay , I survived well , I like how they've incorporated you into each movie and it gives a good like kind of it takes away , like a good takeaway from like the main story , where you kind of get just a little bit of comedic reprieve or just to see the daily life that he
goes through as he would walk into the store and one and two .
Right , right , come on . I mean , he lives in San Francisco , right ? There's gotta be some kind of Asian store in San Francisco , right ?
Well , without revealing too much , I like how they incorporated you in this third movie as well . Yeah much . I like how they incorporated you in this third movie as well , yeah it means your character was very successful in their life .
Yeah , yeah . And then they took me out of San Francisco .
Yes , well , alabama , yeah so I don't want to like say exactly what you were doing in this third movie , but for for what your role was , did you have to do a lot of choreography ?
Yes , it's the same choreographer as Barbie . Okay , yeah , jennifer White , yeah .
I mean , had you ever done anything like that before you got to this part ?
Honey , wait till you go If you've seen the movie . Oh , I saw it today . I'm sorry . What did you ?
say I went and saw it today .
Oh , you did , Yay , that's why I was trying not to reveal too much . Well , thank you for seeing the movie . Well , as you can see and for those who will be seeing , you can tell that I am not a professional dancer . I am more of an actor than a dancer . I'm just an actor who moves well .
Yeah , so I was in training for a month , okay , yeah in England , and in doing that , how is it like acting against the CGI of Venom ?
Oh well , I did have a professional dancer with me and then he's a . His name is also Tom and he's a big , tall guy , and then he had to wear a hat with a stick and with a ball on top of the stick to give me where I should be looking .
Kind of like your point of reference there .
Exactly , exactly , yeah , yeah , and so he . So he danced with me and he's kind of , he's kind of like the size of Venom . Okay , yeah , the other , tom , the dancer , tom .
Well , cause . Then you've also appeared in the across the spider verse when like cause with that CGI . Like what did you have to do ? Because that's just like a I don't want to say just a green screen , but they just put that in after your role . So how do you act with that ? Or they just tell you the line .
They do have somebody in front of me that that talks to me . Yeah , so then . So then , cause I need to have the right eyeline . You know what to look .
And so there was somebody standing in front of me talking to me . Well , with Venom 3 out right now , is there any roles that you're looking for towards the future , Like anything that you would love to do If it was just your choice ? Whatever , is there any kind of certain role or certain genre that you would just love to ?
be in . I would love to continue with the Marvel . Can I tell you a secret ? Sure , well , I mean , no , it's my secret . No , it's like my wish , it's my wish secret , okay . So if you think about Mrs Chen plus Venom equals Chen-um . That's the world I want to go into , chen-um , okay , yeah .
Since your character has done so much comedic stuff and then in other things you've had a lot of comedic roles , have you ever thought about doing like a stand-up ?
oh my gosh , I can't believe . You just said that . Yes , I think you know I think that would be so hard . And , um , I , I will , I did try , I did take a few standup classes and I wrote some stuff myself . I , I'm just not a funny writer and I , yeah , and um , I , I think that would be the biggest challenge for an actor .
And yes , would you come see my show if I do it ?
Sure , I mean it might be a little bit of a drive , but I live out on the East coast . My show if I do it . Sure , I mean it might be a little bit of a drive , but I live out on the East Coast .
That's alright , because I'm going to be touring baby .
I told everybody that we've talked to . I was like , if you do anything in the Georgia area , you let me know and I'll come . I'll be there .
Oh yeah , that's a big Hollywood . It's like that's a big um . That's a big Hollywood . It's like Hollywood of the East right .
Yeah , kind of that , because they have kind of where I live They've built a couple of studios and stuff , probably like in the 30 minute drive and it's like a 15 stage studio kind of thing out there .
So yeah , yeah , I just heard you .
I just heard you twang Drive .
I try to refrain no , I love it .
I love it , drive yes love it so , with your character still being in the Marvel Universe is there hope or is there an idea that you might actually be reappearing later on ?
I don't know . We should call Sony and ask them , Shouldn't we ? You should call them hey . So how did you like the movie today ?
Oh , I loved it . I've been , I'm one of my favorite characters and it's just fun to see him . The only thing I wish I would do different with venom is I wish he could get the spider symbol on him .
That's the only thing different . Yes , yes , yes , yes , right , but I've got I love the venom .
Uh , I love him . I love the story that they're starting they're telling because with what they've started , it could continue to be something bigger with the villain that they had .
So I'm hoping they right keep going with things yes , yes , and then yeah , and then okay , so I'm not giving away anything . It was in the preview when they brought up Gnome right . Were you shocked when ?
they brought up Gnome . Yes , because I've read that . I'm a big comic book fan , so I've read that whole story and he could be the next Thanos . I'm just saying Right .
So I thought I know , because he was so fast , right , and then I wasn't sure if I heard it right I go what , what , what ? I thought I was like yeah , that's it .
I thought that was pretty cool and then I mean I've stuffed you other different , like writers and stuff like that . I saw where they talk about you know he's supposed to possibly be included into the next Spider-Man movie with Tom Holland , so who knows what they're going to do but that would be fun .
I know right , didn Cause they , they , they , they didn't . Didn't he just announce that he's doing spider Spider-Man four right ?
Yeah , I saw something that he's doing Spider-Man four and I think it's supposed to release in like 2026 or something like that .
Yes , yes , yes . So we've read the same article . Yes .
Well , uh , with everyone that you've worked with , is there any like moment that you've worked with a different actor or actress that's kind of left you a little star struck , as far as you know ? Just different people that you've always wanted to meet and then you finally got to work with them or anything like that ?
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I would you know when I first found out about Venom and then it was going to be starring Tom Hardy , right , and I've always , I have always loved him and then and then , and then , you know , with that movie , okay , so I can't remember when he played himself the twins , what is it ? It was on Netflix .
Oh , I think it's Legend .
Yes , yes , yes , legend , I thought , wow , this guy is . I just thought he was a really cool guy , but he seemed so intense , you know , and then , and I've always thought he was , he's such a great actor , I would love to work with him . And I saw him in that Max and I go , wow man , this to work with him . And I saw him in that max and I
¶ (Cont.) Beyond Venom: Peggy Lu's Artistic Journey
go , wow man , this guy is just cool . And and then there was a talk about him being um , the recent talk about him being double , oh seven , right and so . But then this is back in 2018 . When I first found out that , oh my gosh , I'm gonna be working with tom hardy , I was first of all scared because he looked so intense and I was starstruck .
But when I first met him like I was telling you earlier , when I was so I'm going to tell you how we first met , all the details I was just running lines with myself facing a wall and then here comes Tom , he taps me on the shoulder , turns me around , gave me a huge hug and then he said hi , I am Tom Hardy , I'm in your scene .
He called it my scene , my grocery scene , and I and then , of course , peggy Lou had to be cool , just like him . So I said who ? That was . The only word that could come out of my mouth was who , and then and then . This is what Tom did . Then he repeated his name Tom Hardy , and I went . So I was .
So you know , the more , the more I wanted to be cool , the bigger moron I became , and I couldn't get any words out except who , and go , and , and , and then . So I guess , you know , anybody could have sensed that I was just having a nervous breakdown because I was just so nervous I couldn't speak . And then he , he did ask me .
He said do you want to run lines ? And then I said what ? No , I'm cool . I mean , like that's how nice he was . And so from there on I go okay , so I don't have to be scared , I don't have to be starstruck to where I can't even speak myself , and yeah , so I would say that he's my first aid list . I got to be so close to , I got to hug him .
I mean he hugged me and um , I will always remember that . And then , ever since then , he , like every time he speaks to me , he gives me this huge hug , as if , like , we've been friends forever .
Well , that's great . I mean , I would yeah , I'd personally love to meet him too . I'm a big fan of his movies , like , uh , I think besides Inception , I think like the first movie that I'd seen him in was , uh , the movie Warrior back in 2011 , where he plays like a MMA fighter .
Uh , him and his brother have to have like a tournament that they go through and stuff , and it was really good .
And then when I saw him in that , I said he should be , he should be bane , and then he ended up he ended up being bane yes , right , yeah , and she , I mean like , just from seeing him , you know , on the big screen , you , she looks so intense .
Yes , he's like . And then you know , picky , blinder , hello I go .
Oh my god , this guy is that he is in real , in like , one-to-one , even in a group of like , when we're on set , right , he always goes out of his way to greet the background actors and you don't see that very often , and I give kudos to all working actors that acknowledge the background actors , because you know we're all trying to work our way through this
corporate ladder , which is very , very hard , and for him to treat everyone equally , regardless of your position , it's so . I'm just so grateful to be in that environment . You know , because you know in every workforce , no matter what business you're in , there's always like the hierarchy and then like the ones are outside the circle and inside the circle .
There is no circle with Tom and I admire so much about him for being so inclusive , because not everybody is inclusive him for being so inclusive , because not everybody is inclusive , and I think that makes for a better work environment because everybody can be a little more comfortable where they are and what they're doing . So Absolutely .
But but not every set is like that , you know , just like not every work environment is like that . And he makes it so easy to work because he sets the tone , Him , and the director sets the tone on the set , sets the tone of the working environment .
And if he's relaxed and he's willing to try different things and improv , he's all about improv and it just makes it so much more fun .
I've been on a couple of sets working as security and there's times when some know some people . They're just , they're amped up when they get out there and they don't want nobody talking to them . They want to be left alone until it's their time to speak on the on camera .
So I understand yeah , right , yeah , and then and yeah , but like , even in the , even , like when the scene is really intense , he like , as soon as the director yells cut . And then he's trying to make everyone feel relaxed , feel taken care of . And he always asked me do you need anything ?
And I'll be going like , what , like , like , like , what do you mean ? Do I need anything ? Oh , do you need some water ? Do you need some snacks ? No , thank you .
And then he does that for everybody and it's just so cool and because you know the craft service is kind of far from the stage , like he , literally he walks in himself Because he doesn't travel with a posse , you know , he travels with his makeup one girl and one guy for his hair , and that's it and his dog .
That's like yeah , that's it , and of course , there's a production assistant around to help him , but he does a lot of stuff himself , which I found amazing .
Well , we're kind of getting to the end of our interview here . I had one more question for you . Sure , so you do carpentry as well ?
yeah , so how did you get into that ? Okay , well , okay , because , um , I started , um , I started , I started rescuing dogs and then , um , and I needed a doggy gate . But it's not a regular size store . It's like from the transition from the living room into the kitchen , so the opening is big .
It's bigger than a regular size store , so I was looking for a doggie gate that's extra wide . It was over $100 .
Yes , they're expensive .
I said to myself I am not paying $100 for a doggie door , right ? Yes , I mean , how hard could it be to make a doggy door ? And so then I got to , and I also go to Home Depot and Lowe's . I go to those what is that called ? I don't want to use their name , it's a self-help store , do-it-yourself store . So I go to those do-it-yourself stores .
So I go to those do-it-yourself stores a lot to pick . And then , you know , when they start stacking their inventory they close off the aisle and there's that accordion gate that they put up so customers don't go through that aisle . So I was looking at the accordion gate and I thought I could do that . How hard could it be ?
A couple door hinges and then some wood , and then wood was very expensive . So then I thought I'll just do it with a PVC pipe like $2 . A pipe that's like 10 feet long . That's how we got started Because of a doggie gate , yeah , and then get this . So then , in order to make all this stuff , I had to buy tools . And guess how much I spent on tools ?
$200 . Yeah , that's how smart I am . See , I told you I was good with math .
But see , now you got the tools so you can make more .
Yes , so , yeah , so that's how it all got started , because of the doggie gate with the PVC pipe . Yeah , and now I have graduated to actual solid wood , because now I got me a table saw and I still have all my fingers .
Yes , You've got all your fingers . That's impressive , because I've known several people that have gotten it nicked or cut .
Oh yeah , I know , but then every time I use that table saw I like scream , I got to make sure I don't cut myself , cause that really helps me when I scream .
My granddad he's he's very into like woodworking stuff , and then my dad and then I used to I helped work laying like hardwood kind of floor . So we always had to cut with like those different saws and stuff . And you got to make sure you're paying attention to what you're doing .
Yes , yes , it's so funny how you should say that , Cause I was just thinking about hardwood floor . I was thinking about you know , it's like on YouTube it looks . It looks kind of like not so hard I could do that . I would love to learn how to do that I am studying .
It takes a lot of glue and it's like putting together puzzle pieces .
Yeah , exactly , but then you just have to have that spacer and then you have to use the hammer or the soft hammer , the rubber hammer . Yeah , see , I mean I've been studying about wood floors . Yeah , I mean I've been studying about wood floors .
Well , is there anything that you have coming out besides venom that just came out yesterday ? Is there anything you have coming forward that you're you know looking , you know to have come out on , either on streaming or , you know , do you have any like a book or anything like that ?
the book . Yes , I'm gonna be writing a book about carpentry . No , I'm just kidding , just kidding . Well , my next project is I'm going to be working with Rendell Park from Fresh Off the Boat . So we're working on a movie together that we start shooting next month . And I do have a movie . You know , ellie Wong right now is doing a comedy on Netflix .
Yes , I play her mom , called Always Seems Like Maybe on Netflix . Okay , yeah , so go see my daughter , ali Wong , I mean my TV daughter . She's hilarious .
Well , everyone that's listening , make sure that you , if you haven't seen venom yet , make sure you go out and see it . Um , you know it , it's one of my personal favorites because it's one of my favorite characters in the comics .
So , uh , you can see miss peggy lou there and her her reoccurring role of mrs chin yay , yes , yes , yes , yes , please yeah and I just want to thank you for taking the time to speak with me today . Even though though it's not us , it's me speaking with me .
I love it . Thank you so much for having me , mitch . Thank you , it's an honor .
That's all we have for today . So you know , make sure you tune in , let's see . We have shows every Monday and Thursday , so check us out .