"Half-Japanese, Half German, 100% Confused "- An Interview With Filmmaker and Actress Katie Malia

Interviewed by Addison Lee

Edited for Clarity

Katie Malia is the co-creator of Almost Asian, a quirky, comedic web series that explores the highs and lows of being Hapa. She is an amazing performer, choreographer, writer, and actress featured in numerous projects from the Mindy Project to HAWAII FIVE-0. Her webseries ALMOST ASIAN is an official selection to thirteen film festivals including the 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2017 Cleveland International Film Festival, and 2016 Raindance Film Festival where she was nominated for 'Outstanding Writing.' ALMOST ASIAN is currently expanding into a half-hour scripted comedy with comedian Margaret Cho serving as Executive-Producer. Katie is an alumni of the 2016 CBS Diversity Comedy Showcase.

Addison Lee: Can you describe Almost Asian in three words?  

Katie Malia: Almost Asian is half Japanese half German one hundred percent confused.  

AL: So walk me through the creation of Almost Asian.  

 KM: I come from a comedy background, where I was creating my own characters and doing sketch comedy and so I had done a couple of those videos. And while they were cool it felt like I was literally playing characters so I was putting on different wigs and trying out other people's voices as opposed to leaning into my own. 

So my brother was like, "well why don't you lean into your own voice and make a couple of videos that explore you being half Japanese?" And he's obviously half Japanese too, so I said well let's do it together. He has directed a lot of the series and it really just started out as something fun and exploratory that grew into a much larger conversation. 

AL: Is there a reason behind why you gave Almost Asian the cool comedic lens it has?  

KM: I think there's power in comedy and laughter is healing right? So much of Almost Asian was self therapy. So for me, my avenue for healing is through laughter. I also think that comedy is more digestible for not just hapas but people outside of that community.

I like to make somebody laugh and then they have a 10 second delay and then they go "oh that's interesting". 

And it also hadn't been explored from the comedic lens, most of all the hapa discussions were academic and documentary. 

So I thought it was a really cool space to explore. 

AL: So I was reading your "about you" about page. You mentioned at the end that you hate the word ethnically ambiguous. Do you want to talk a bit about that?  

KM:  I feel like ethnically ambiguous is a blanket racial statement that erases this identity that should be celebrated as opposed to generalized. And it's a term that's used often in the entertainment industry for actors who aren't able to be racially categorized. And while I understand where they're coming from in putting people as labelling people as ethnically ambiguous I think it does a lot of disservice to anyone who's trying to find themselves. It seems like rather than celebrating who you are, you're just ambiguous. We don't know what you are. It's like you're auditioning next to girls who are half black, half Filipino, half black and don't have any Asian in them and it's like well we're all from very different cultures.  

AL: Well obviously you're an actress and a comedian. What have you really encountered in being mixed as an actress? 

KM:    It seems to be that we have to, as a mixed community, we have to educate people who aren't familiar with what the identity is like which is why I have at the end of my bio "I hate the term ethnically ambiguous" because I hope that the industry will be able to shift their mode of thinking from a place of generalization to specificity. Because when you're mixed you get lumped a lot into the ethnically ambiguous. The other thing is having agents tell me to lean into my Japanese side. I've used my mom's maiden in Japanese name, dye my hair black, taken “Asian headshots”.

 I wore red lipstick. That was horrible. 

But they were like, "can you shoot headshots where you look more Asian?". 

But at that time, I wasn't more evolved in my identity. So I was like, "I'll totally do that". 

Had they asked me now I'd be like "No, Hell no I've no idea what you're talking about. I am who I am."

I have encountered stereotypes and also interestingly in the commercial world ethnically ambiguous is a really good thing because you can play to two different demographics. It starts to feel like, oh they're getting two for one. And also like we're Asian Lite. It’s a reflection of what society is comfortable with. They're not comfortable with seeing a full minority on screen. So they'll cast us because we're more white. 

AL:   What do you think your relationship has been in the past and what is it now with your bi racial identity? 

KM:   I was very confused and I was angry and I had a lot of self hatred for who I was because I so wanted to be part of a community and a culture. I wanted to be like my full Japanese cousins that could go to Japanese Buddhist festivals and wear kimonos and blend in. I wanted to be like my white side of the family that just knew who they were. 

So it evolved from anger, self-hatred to, then I would say the next chapter was assimilation. At first it was like I had an awakening. I was angry then I tried to assimilate and then I confronted who was by creating and exploring then from the confrontation the next step was acceptance and then celebration. We don't all have to be at the same stage as long as there's an awareness and there is an interest and there's a curiosity, that that will spark, eventually it's going to snowball. 

AL: I was wondering if you've ever noticed any difference between your mixed journey and your brother’s? 

KM: I would say being a woman in my experience. The delineation between his and mine is the Asian fetishism that you experience in the dating world and in your love life and also just walking down the street. 

 Getting catcalled getting called "chinita" where I worked at a restaurant right after college and I was like "Well I'm not even Chinese. I mean if you're going to be racist at the very least get it right. " I would say the fetishism for sure was the big difference between my brother and I. But I also played that up, I was super ignorant about reinforcing stereotypes and I played that up because it got attention. But for all the wrong reasons and then I was like maybe I shouldn't do this anymore, this is not helping. But by playing up the stereotype and leaning into the fetishism, was in a twisted way giving me a sense of belonging. It's really gross. You gotta swing the pendulum all the way in the wrong direction in order to hopefully get to the right side. 

AL: What is one thing you've learned in creating Almost-Asian?  

KM:  Well it's been interesting since starting Almost Asian five years ago. Looking back at the first episodes as a time marker and for how far I've I've come. There were some earlier episodes that I posted that I would not have written today. So what I've learned is that the evolution is alive and well. I've learned in the power of community through creating Almost Asian and I encourage anybody that wants to create their own content that by doing so you will be creating your own community and connecting with others who are like minded, hopefully in a positive light. What I've learned is that there is so much power in community and power in numbers. 

AL: What advice do you have for female filmmakers?  

KM: Don't silence your voice. Lean in to it.