Interview with Katie Leung
Interview with Katie Leung, who plays Mei in BBC Two drama One Child.
Published: 8 February 2016
Having seen some of One Child now, the style is really romantic. The way that it’s shot gives it a sense of hope within such a grim story and the DoP has done a great job of shooting that feeling of hope.
What is One Child about?
One Child is about a girl who is adopted by a British father and American mother from birth and she gets brought up in England. She goes to university to study astrophysics and one day she gets a message from a journalist in China who asks her to go back to China to save her brother from execution as he’s been convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. She goes back to China to meet her birth mother for the first time and also to try to save her brother.
Who is Mei?
Mei is a very typical uni student studying in London. She studies astrophysics, she lives with a couple of flat mates and I’d say she’s quite studious and a bit of a perfectionist, but she’s just your average student really.
Why do you feel it is such a compelling story to tell?
Personally for me it’s a compelling story because it’s just interesting to see the life of an adoptee and of the emotions they go through being brought up by adoptive parents. And also because Mei goes through being an average uni student who’s not really lived a life of trauma, apart from the fact she was adopted, to experience the exceptional circumstances she goes through in the story was really heartbreaking. It was great to feel those emotions.
Is there anything about the style or tone that is notable to you?
Having seen some of it now, the style is really romantic. The way that it’s shot gives it a sense of hope within such a grim story and the DoP has done a great job of shooting that feeling of hope.
What made you want to play the role?
I said yes because the character of Mei is a really determined individual and I did want to experience what it would be like to be adopted, to not have your mother and father by your side because I’ve lived my life being very close to my parents. And also I think it’s important in a bigger picture to be able to experience the life of privilege, living in a democratic society and country and then going to somewhere else where there’s corruption involved and how difficult it is to live a life where nothing goes your way because you don’t have connections and because you’re living in such poverty.
At the start of the story, what does Mei most want to accomplish?
At the beginning, Mei’s sole goal was to meet her birth mother. Towards the end of course she wants to save her brother, having met him and realised the connection they have and what he means to her. But I think, prior to leaving for China, she probably has thought about her birth mother at points in her life and I think out of curiosity she wanted to go over and meet her birth mother and see what she was like.
How is Mei’s relationship with her adoptive parents?
Mei has a great relationship with her adoptive parents. It’s very clear from the story, from what you see in the series and the conversations they have, and I think she does feel bad about the fact that she wants to see her birth mother. She’s very sensitive towards the subject when she brings it up at the house and she has them in the back of her mind the whole time she’s in China. However, cracks start to show once Mei is facing the stress of what she needs to achieve in China and the growing closeness of her relationship with her birth mother.
How does Mei feel when she first meets her birth mother and how does this change as she gets to know her?
It’s not the best start when she first meets her birth mother, I guess because she was expecting maybe an embrace of some sort or apology and she doesn’t get that when she meets her. Instead, her mother is pushing all these documents at her to ask her to save her son. Mei feels very disconnected and disappointed with her mother’s reaction and that develops throughout the story when she meets her brother, but she gets to know her mum and she’s told the reasons why her mother had to give her up due to the One Child policy and her father wanting a son. It’s realising the conditions that her mother’s living under that she does eventually forgive her. It gets better.
How does Mei’s relationship with Ajun evolve?
She’s very sceptical when she first meets Ajun in prison because she isn’t sure if he did commit the crime, but then relying on her instincts she knows pretty much immediately that he is innocent. Sebastian, who plays Ajun, has the most innocent face and wouldn’t hurt a fly, and I think the hope that he has within him whilst in a prison cell gives Mei hope that he will be released as well. It’s a great relationship that they end up having despite only meeting two or three times. It’s a very natural relationship between a brother and a sister.
Are there any aspects in Mei’s character that you can relate to personally?
It’s very difficult for me to say whether there are any similarities between me and Mei because she does go through hell whilst she’s in China. I would like to think that if I were to be in her situation that I would make those same sacrifices that she makes to try to save her brother and have that same determination that she has.
As someone who speaks fluent Cantonese, was it interesting to be part of a production where this came into play?
It was really interesting to be able to speak Cantonese while I was in the production, although not necessarily on set as we had a Hong Kong crew whilst we were filming over there. It was fascinating to swap between one language to the other and experience two different cultures together at the same time. It really came in handy when communications were a bit muddled.
What has been the biggest surprise that you’ve learnt about China whilst filming One Child?
I think the biggest surprise for me has been the scale in which it’s progressing as a country. Seeing pictures now of China and having visited about a decade ago, it’s just a different place. It’s just changing every second so I find that really fascinating.
