First Comics News: What is it about acting that challenges you?
Sarah Chang: I think the thing about acting that challenges me the most is stripping down everything and really putting yourself out there. It makes you so vulnerable.
1st: How has acting enhanced your life?
Sarah: Being an actress has enhanced my life in several ways, it’s really been a road of self-discovery and learning. I feel more self-aware and confident. It really makes me more accountable for my choices, and really influences the way I see things off-camera. I feel I have to commit more to each decision I make because as an actor it’s all about committing to your choices on camera and being able to move with them throughout the scene.
Rich: What is your outlook on life?
Sarah: Live in the moment! Don’t waste time worrying about things you can’t change or things you can’t do or mistakes you made. Live and learn.
1st: What is Gabriella’s part in “Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids”?
Sarah: Gabriella plays and ex-cop avenging the murder of her family. She teams up with a group called the Slayers and an avenging hybrid named Bolo to take down the leader of the Aswangs– Naga.
1st: What exactly is a hybrid as relates to “Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids”?
Sarah: A hybrid is a human that has Aswang blood injected into their body, they are faster and deadlier than normal Aswang.
1st: What is Gabriella’s motivation for battling the Aswang?
Sarah: Gabriella’s son Diego and husband Mario are killed by the Aswang Naga.
1st: You get to fight in “Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids” how did you learn to stunt fight?
Sarah: I began training Chinese Martial Arts, Wushu when I was seven years old. About, five years ago I joined Jimmy Hung’s stunt team in Taiwan and learned about fighting behind the camera. Also for Blood Hunters, we trained Filipino Martial Arts with some of the top Filipino masters and grandmasters for several months.
1st: What did you like best about Gabriella’s character?
Sarah: I really liked how tough and badass Gabriella’s character was, she would stop at nothing to avenge her family, no matter how hard things got.
1st: How did your acting ability grow while filming “Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids”?
Sarah: Blood Hunters was a huge learning curve for me because it was my first lead role in a feature-length movie. Needless to say, I was extremely nervous. But as we shot more days, I really got more comfortable with my character and my surroundings. It helped a lot to have a really supportive cast and crew.
1st: Can you tell us about your roles in “The Teacher” and “Trigonal: Fight For Justice”?
Sarah: In “The Teacher” I played the part of a teacher that was an ex-assassin that tried to leave her crime syndicate to live a quiet life as a teacher. The syndicate discovers where she is and she gets attacked by her fellow assassins. This role was really exciting to play because it was a Wanda Films and DJI production. They had a very talented team behind the production with Jeremy Weiss as the director and Amir Mokri as the cinematographer.
In “The Trigonal” I played the role of “Mei” she is a quirky MIT graduate and Wushu practitioner. She gets mixed up into the lead character, Jacob Casa’s life after we save him from a bar fight. She is fearless, daring, and totally living on another planet. This character was really fun to play because I could take the character in any weird direction and it was okay.
Rich: Besides acting what other aspects of making movies are you involved in or want to be involved in?
Sarah: I’m currently also a producer, action director, and master rigger. I have produced several Chinese productions in the Philippines and also produced the movie “Circle of Bones.” As an action director and master rigger, I worked on several local blockbusters such as “The Revengers” and “Barbi, D’Wonderbeki”
1st: Can you tell us about your part in the “Circle of Bones”?
Sarah: In “Circle of Bones” I played the lead character “Karen Wu” a former FBI agent deemed mentally unstable after taking on a mysterious case about a child-sacrificing cult. This character was particularly interesting because the movie takes place five years after the actual case, so I play Karen Wu investigating the case and also Karen Wu when she later becomes mentally unstable. I actually shot the majority of this film when I was 4.5-5 months pregnant, which was also a challenge because I also produced the film as well.
1st: When did you first start training in Martial Arts and what style do you train in?
Sarah: I began to train wushu when I was seven years old. My coach, Zhang Gui Feng was the teammate of Jet Li.
1st: How important is family in your life?
Sarah: Family first! That’s for sure. After our baby Kali was born, we took some time off just to spend that precious first year watching her grow up. I also moved to Asia 10 years ago just to be closer to my parents as well.
1st: What would you like to say to your fans?
Sarah: This industry can be really tough sometimes, don’t let politics, what other people think, and people who try to bring you down get in the way. Don’t waste your time dwelling on things that don’t matter. It easy to get sidetracked from your goal.
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