CHRISTINE CHANG
GMARO Magazine - Celebrity Edition Vol. 28 February 2023
Actress - CHRISTINE CHANG @CHRISTINESCHANG
IMDb - CHRISTINE S. CHANG
Social Media Live Love Create: Instagram @LIVELOVECREATE
Website - HTTPS://LIVELOVECREATEEVENTS.COM
Facebook - LIVE.LOVE.CREATE
PR - ICON PR @icon_pr
Tell me a little about yourself.
I was born and raised in Koreatown, Los Angeles. After graduating from the University of California, San Diego with a degree in fine arts, I became an Event Director, organizing multiple events at a variety of popular Los Angeles venues. Later, I began developing an interest in wedding planning. What started as merely a passion project, transformed into my career! My event background gave me the experience and knowledge to help my clients get the best out of their venues and vendors. This led to the creation of my company, Live Love Create Events in 2009. Over the last decade, myself and the LLC team have helped execute over 500+ beautiful events. In addition to the role, I play making brides dreams come true, I have now transitioned into the world of acting playing none other than a wedding planner in the upcoming Amazon film “The Wedding Hustler”.
When did you decide that you wanted to become an Actress?
I think the career as an actress found me. As a real-life wedding planner, I was working with a couple re-planning their wedding that got postponed and canceled due to the pandemic. The hustle began immediately since they wanted to get married sooner than later since their family members were waiting years for them to be wed. However, Chris the groom also happened to be a writer, director and producer. He took our real-life experience and was inspired to write a script on the life and process of how Asian American weddings are planned! The wedding planner in the story was based on my character and Chris asked me if I would like to audition for it. Although I didn't have much experience, I gave it a try and got the part! This also happened very organically and being able to be a part of this project was just as creative and fulfilling as planning a wedding. And as soon as I got the part, I diligently went into dissecting the role and script with a coach. We took our lessons extremely seriously and broke it down so I could study the character more in depth. From that was the on-set life that was just as intense but enjoyable, which led me to believe that all of this felt natural and that I wanted to pursue this path full-heartedly.
Do you like something other than acting?
I love anything that has to do with the arts. I was classically trained in the fine arts and studied it in undergrad. However, for me, fine arts were a bit limiting so I spent most of my early twenties dabbling in all kinds of arts and crafts to fulfill my creative curiosity. I eventually ended up LOVING the world of clay. Pottery and sculpting are my favorite mediums and if I can just spend all day in the studio throwing clay, I would die a happy woman. One of my future life goals is to have my own studio in my home where I can spend all day just exploring and playing with clay.
Do you have experience acting in television or film?
Yes! Ten years ago (while in my 20’s) I was a part of a show called “K-town”. A reality TV series about the lives of young Asian Americans living in Los Angeles’ Koreatown. My sister (Jasmine) and I, being native to Koreatown, had a name for ourselves as the “Chang sisters” that ran around town like the mayors, making an appearance to every and any party that was out there. We were cast and we let the cameras into our homes as we navigated our lives and relationships with our friends and families. It was a surreal experience and I never thought that I would be so open to it until I was in it. I wasn’t camera shy at all and was completely myself with no reservation. Although it is not traditional acting, it was an amazing experience being exposed to TV in this form.
What is more important for a person, inner beauty, or an external one?
I think your inner beauty is always going to be reflected on the exterior. Not purely by physical stature or appearance but your aura and vibe. In the years alive, I’ve noticed that the most beautiful people are the ones that have genuine love and beauty inside them which exudes through their skin in forms of graceful gestures, words and appearance. Working out to have a great body or putting on makeup to make your face look flawless is only attractive at first glance. However, we all know that people have many layers to them which would mean it would be unfair to judge beauty based on just one layer. My thoughts are that the purest form of external beauty will derive from inside.
Every industry, including the entertainment industry, is full of competition' what do you do to stand out amidst competition?
I don’t think trying to stand out is my way to compete in the industry. Yes of course, hard work and amazing work ethic is important and that will catch industry professionals' attention, however, I feel like there is a chance and work for everyone. I may be super optimistic about the industry because I’m still new to it, but I truly believe that projects that are right for me will find me. Therefore, I don’t hesitate to worry about the competition because if I didn’t get the part, it was never mine to begin with.
The entertainment industry is said to be full of stress and pressure; what do you do to tackle the pressure that comes with your work?
Take a breather. It may be just that minute where you have to refocus your breath to taking time off from the industry to recharge. However, I think the best way to survive the daily stress is to remind yourself to be grateful for what's in front of you. And remind yourself that it isn’t just you that is taking on this project on your own and that it is a group of artists that are making this thing together. The group effort is to work on this collectively and help each other to do the best in our given roles.
Tell us something about one of the best experiences of your life?
One of my best experiences is going through motherhood. I had my son 3 years ago and am enjoying every moment as he learns and discovers this thing called life. You also don’t really know the feeling of undying love until you have a child. The saying “I can die for you” never resonated with me until him. This type of love is something that has taught me a different type of emotion that is so much greater than what I’ve known. Along with it came the immense feeling of empathy for my fellow humans. All stories and situations are now relatable because this love that I have for my son can now be related to anyone else’s love for each other.
Other than motherly love, runner up was when I went to Cairns, Australia to skydive over the Great barrier reefs then experiencing the reefs snorkeling it the next day. Mother Earth is UNREAL!
Is life always better than a nice movie?
Heck YEAH! Life will always be better than a nice movie. Don’t we all know that nice movies are influenced from real life? We, of course, see these nice movie moments all mashed up into a 2-hour film so it may seem better than what we have in our lives. But those feelings you see from a movie are not completely yours. Your real-life feelings from amazing moments that you experience are completely yours for you to keep forever.
How do you react when you receive a negative review about a performance?
Hear it, evaluate it, resolve it, move on and be better. If the negative review was truly constructive criticism, I welcome it and would love to speak to the reviewer on their thoughts. I would take it more as advice than a negative review if it was coming from a reliable source. However, if it’s just a troll being mean, I’m not bothered by it.
How do you manage your personal and professional life?
Time management is a skillset that needs to be taught to everyone from a young age. However, for me I have a type A personality that lives by a calendar. This is the only way I can survive managing my career as an actress, event planner, small business owner, mother, and wife. But making an effort to schedule in things that matter (big or small) is the most is important! Such as a date night with the husband to buying toothpaste from Costco.
What's something we should know about you that might surprise us?
I can eat the same thing every day, every meal if I like it. For instance, I can eat tacos or nachos everyday till the day I die, and I’ll be ok with it.
I practiced Kumdo (Korean version of Kendo) for the majority of my teenage years. I could whoop someone's butt if you gave me a wooden sword.
And lastly, I’m a real-life wedding planner and have been doing this for over a decade. I don’t see myself stopping either because I absolutely love and enjoy planning weddings for my couples. You can think of me as the Asian J.Lo from the wedding planner planning your real-life wedding. LOL!
