Rosalie Chiang and family.Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Rosalie Chiangis reflecting on how her work inTurning Redaffected her relationship with her own parents.
In the newest Disney/Pixarfilm, streaming now on Disney+, Rosalie voices Mei Lee, a 13-year-old from Toronto who suddenly starts turning into a giant red panda whenever her emotions get the best of her.
The movie touches on plenty of adolescence-related topics that might make a typical teen wary. For Rosalie, 16,Turning Redhad a positive side effect in her own household because the family dynamic portrayed was “oddly similar” to her own.
When asked whether her relationship with her own mother and father changed between the time beforethe movie came out andnow, she tells PEOPLE, “I’d say maybe slightly because we’re more aware.”
But “the beauty” ofTurning Red, according to Rosalie, “is that there’s no villain. The mom’s not the villain, Mei is not the villain. There’s no bad person. They have conflict, but they all have their flaws and their high points and anyone can relate to it.”
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Turning Red(2022).Disney/Pixar
The actress’s parents have been super supportive about her voice role, congratulating her for a job well done after they saw it, telling Rosalie how “proud” they were of her.
“They’ve supported me in my acting career for so long. And to finally see their work pay off was such a rewarding experience,” she tells PEOPLE.
Eventually, though, her parents realized she was serious about acting — and while her mom “was a little hesitant because it’s a risky business,” Rosalie says, “my dad was like, ‘Just take acting classes and we’ll go from there.’ And then here we are.”
Today, the young star’s biggest hope for anyone seeingTurning Redis that they soak upthe film’s big message that"change is okay."
“I think the red panda encompasses anything. I’ve talked to a lot of reporters and they’ve picked up their own message from the film,” she tells PEOPLE. “I think that’s really interesting, that it’s so universal that anyone can take anything from this film. Because it’s all these different genres combined — coming-of-age, it’s comedy. It’s all that.”
Turning Redis streaming now on Disney+.
source: people.com
