The ‘Hamilton’ star on narrating an Audible Original about a mixed-race Chinese character
Phillipa Soo grew up listening to her family talk amongst themselves in different languages. It was an early lesson in oral storytelling. “I recall many, many, many, many family reunions sitting at the table,” Soo said. “My grandmother would be speaking Chinese to my dad or my aunts … I had no idea what was happening, but there was an inherent learned comfort [in it].” It’s little wonder that this Broadway star would use the same voice – that brought “Hamilton”’s Eliza Schuyler to life in soprano – to narrate the Audible Original, “The Takedown.”
Written by Lily Chu, the audiobook follows Dee Kwan, a young woman struggling with career woes as she falls for Teddy, her online gaming archnemesis. Things take a turn when Teddy turns out to be the heir of her company’s CEO, and he wants her help overthrowing his father for control.
Soo had gotten hooked on Chu’s writing during the pandemic, taken by the author’s voice and humor. She also saw herself in Chu’s characters, who – like Soo herself – are mixed-race women of Chinese descent. The experience of walking between two cultures was “captured perfectly.” When asked about the initial decision to have Soo narrate her story, Chu said in an interview with Audible, “I had no fear because … she has a similar background to mine.”
Author Lily Chu. (Image Credit: Lily Chu)
There are also universal themes in the story that resonate with Soo. “The Takedown” is the third of Lily Chu’s books to be released through Audible, and Dee’s story was much more mature, Soo said. The high-maintenance Dee writes in a gratitude journal, starts each day off with a positive “affirmation” that everything will be all right, and – during her first honest-to-goodness conversation with Teddy over a meal – quickly pivots onto a more “positive” topic when he asks her if she wants to talk about her career woes. It’s a thought that occurs in many Asian Americans who are taught by their families to “save face” – keep up appearances – but in the broader North American culture as well. “[‘The Takedown’ is] a laudable treatment of diversity issues as well as toxic positivity!” user Christopher Wong wrote in a review on Audible. Through Soo, even Dee’s most stressful thoughts can be playful, casual – occurring as realistically as if they are in your own mind.
As Dee simultaneously navigates Teddy’s planned coup against his father and having to share her adorable cozy home with her own family, the challenge lies in setting boundaries. It’s a lesson in compromise and having uncomfortable conversations instead of walking away from them, something that Soo is exploring in her own life. “It takes a certain level of maturity to feel like there’s progress,” Soo said, “even if everything isn’t resolved.”
Put the cultural context clues and universal themes together, and the story becomes one that doesn’t over-explain its cultural nuances, but invites readers of all backgrounds to sit at the dinner table and listen to Dee’s conversations with her mixed-race family. “You get to be in on a way of living and a way of speaking about things, and experience life and culture and food that maybe you’re not familiar with,” Soo said, “but you still have to participate. You may feel a discomfort because you don’t understand it, but that’s where all the listening will happen.”
Soo entered the industry at the beginning of a tonal shift in Asian American representation. “Hamilton” and its cast of mainly actors of color hit the Broadway stage in 2015 – the same year “Fresh Off the Boat,” the first television sitcom to star an Asian American main cast in over 20 years, premiered. In 2020, she soundproofed the walls of her closet with her clothes and for her final recording session as Chang’e in “Over the Moon,” a collaboration between Netflix and the Shanghai-based Pearl Studio. Now, on top of her audio storytelling in “The Takedown,” she’s moved onto a new medium: Writing her own book.
(Image Credit: Penguin Random House)
“Piper Chen Sings” – a picture book “about a girl who turns her performance jitters into confidence when faced with singing a solo at her school concert” – is a labor of love that Soo co-wrote with her sister-in-law, Maris Pasquale Doran.
“She’s sort of like a mini avatar of a younger version of myself,” Soo said of the eponymous Piper Chen. In the book, Piper learns to navigate her feelings by seeking out her Nai Nai – Chinese for “grandmother.” Like Soo herself, who sat comfortably at the table while her grandmother talked, Piper listens to what her Nai Nai has to say.
“It’s really valuable for young people to be outside of your comfort zone and know that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Soo said.
(Image Credit: Audible)
“The Takedown” is available on Audible, and will be available in print in May 2024. You can listen to the audiobook here.
You can read the full Q&A between CineVue and Phillipa Soo here.