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Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Actor Ivan Leung Is Helping To Change Our World

Don’t push so hard. — We push because we want to do well. If we push too hard, we create tension. If we have tension then we can’t express ourselves as freely.

As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ivan Leung.

Known for his distinct comedic point of view, memorable line deliveries, and impeccable timing, Ivan Leung is one of the most sought out upcoming Asian actors to watch.

Ivan has been seen as one of the main cast of AMAZON’s The Tender Bar directed by George Clooney, Sony’s SUPERFLY directed by Director X and Sony’s ALL SAINTS. His upcoming theatrical release “The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu”, Ivan Leung will appear on screen with the legendary Asian-American actress Lisa Lu, Ludi Lin, and Archie Kao.

Some notable TV credits include ALL AMERICAN, ATYPICAL, SUPERSTORE, GREY’S ANATOMY, THE GOLDBERGS, and GOOD GIRLS. Commercially, Ivan Leung has worked with the biggest companies in the world with notable directors such as 2x Oscar winner Angus Wall,Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Dave Green (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Director X, Fred Savage to appearing with A-list celebrities such as TJ Miller, Rob Lowe, Ryan Reynolds, and Jeff Goldblum.

Ivan Leung grew up in a Cantonese-Chinese speaking household with his Dad’s side from Hong Kong and Mom’s side (ethnically from the Fujian province) in Saigon, Vietnam. He was a trained hip-hop dancer for six years before transitioning to working professionally as an Actor. Ivan Leung is known for his unique strong energy, sharpness, and broad range of characters. From his scene stealing moments as the deadpan or whimsically dry outcast, naive virginal man-child to the modern everyman with emotional weight, Ivan Leung is the exciting, refreshing, and wonderfully odd actor you didn’t know you needed.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Thank you for having me! Acting really fell on me. I never thought I would do it, I was a shy kid. I moved up here to Los Angeles to actually take dance classes for the summer. The thing was I never went back after I came up here. I really fell in love with the entertainment industry and tried to find various ways of expressing myself. I worked on a shoot and an actor casually said to me to try out acting. I think that gave me the permission to go and I went full steam ahead.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?

To be able to work with people that I respected and grew up watching would be the most interesting. I remember once during a shoot, an actor I greatly respected came up to me and said “I saw your tape, you’re a really funny guy”. Literally gave me such a great confidence boost.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

My very first audition I had in LA…I was so nervous. I was told that I should make small talk with the casting director so when I went in the room and he asked me “how are you”, I said “great, I just had fried chicken.” He looked at me and furrowed his eyebrows and said “fried chicken” perplexingly and I nodded yes and then he confirmingly said “fried chicken”again…the audition ended and I walked out with him and before I left I said “This is my first audition ever!”. What can we learn from this story? You can always look bad and have a laugh or maybe the lesson is to just be authentically you and not try to try hard and act cool and lie about eating fried chicken when you didn’t.

Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?

I want to make people laugh and smile. Regardless of how significant the impact is, if I can make one person’s day better It would be a win.

Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?

I really credit my acting coaches Aimee DeShayes and Billy O’Leary. They have done everything for me and have helped shape and changed my acting career for the better. I would not be where I am without them.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

Communication, fear of judgment, and saying what you need would be the root of most of my problems I come across. If everyone – including me – could be more open and communicate and stop assuming…I feel like we would be able to live in a more harmonious society.

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?

A leader is someone that is proactive and takes charge. Someone that does not wait around for their opportunities or is passive with their opinions. Someone that listens without judgment or bias.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

  1. Don’t push so hard. – We push because we want to do well. If we push too hard, we create tension. If we have tension then we can’t express ourselves as freely.
  2. Learn to have more fun. – If we try to enjoy what we are trying to do. We might be able to learn more in the process.
  3. Have a life outside your career. – We can’t express ourselves in our work if we don’t go out and actually experience it in the first place.
  4. Don’t take everything so seriously. – We play pretend – It’s not as serious as we make it out to be. Still do your work but at the end of the day – we are here to entertain.
  5. Stop thinking ahead and just be in the moment. – We can’t be with our scene partner if we’re in our head thinking about the next thing we should do.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!


Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Actor Ivan Leung Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.