“My British accent must’ve been s***”: NZ actor Jess Hong on her 3 Body Problem Kiwi character
Jess Hong as Jin Cheng in 3 Body Problem. Photo / Supplied
Before being cast in a lead role in 3 Body Problem, possibly Netflix’s biggest show of the year, Jess Hong’s screen credits looked like someone whose next career step might be Shortland Street or another local Shakespeare production – not a major part of the next big show by the makers of Game of Thrones.
But after a self-recorded audition sent in the Covid days of 2021 impressed GoT makers DB Weiss and David Benioff, Hong eventually found herself in Britain and elsewhere for nine months, playing astrophysicist Jin Cheng.
She’s a composite character from the book the show is based on, the first novel in Chinese sci-fi writer’s Liu Cixin’s hit Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, which tell the story of the planet’s preparations for an alien invasion we know is coming centuries ahead of the advanced extraterrestrials turning up, not exactly uninvited.
For Hong, this has meant scenes involving some big ideas – quantum physics, string theory, nano-fibres, saying goodbye to a mate whose brain is being sent on a nuclear-powered space probe – ones that she possibly didn’t encounter on her guest roles in The Brokenwood Mysteries or Creamerie or during her Palmerston North Girls’ High or Toi Whakaari/NZ Drama School productions.
She’s also part of the show’s unrequited love story, involving “the Oxford Five” – a group of bright young things who have a role to play in saving life on the planet. Oh, and her character is a Chinese-New Zealander with a Kiwi accent.
When the Listener finally gets 15 minutes with Hong after a month of requests, the show is already out and winning decent reviews, though many express caution whether the show – and possibly complicated future seasons – might appeal beyond science-minded Wired subscribers.
But for Hong, well, it’s already been quite a trip. And she is as amused as the Listener is that the Netflix publicity machine has arranged an internationally hosted zoom call for people sitting about 3km apart.
Next month, Hong is part of an Auckland Writers’ festival panel on “The Science Behind Science Fiction” with speculative fiction writer Octavia Cade, physicist Geoff Willmott, and film director Roseanne Liang.
So that’s a panel with some notable people.
I don’t know why I am there. I honestly don’t. I think they made a mistake and maybe I should just pull out now for my own dignity? I think they just wanted a different angle. Someone who’s, literally, been on the far end of the adaptation side. So hopefully. I’ll have some knowledge that I can offer to the group.