She Auditioned For 2 Roles In Crazy Rich Asians — Now She’s Starring In A Show Being Compared To The Hit Film

Yvonne Chapman once auditioned for not one, but two roles in Crazy Rich Asians.

The Chinese-Canadian actress read for Rachel Chu and Astrid Leong, roles that eventually went to Constance Wu and Gemma Chan.

Looking back, Chapman has no regrets. “They went to the right people," she tells 8days.sg. “They killed it.”

Almost a decade later, Chapman finds herself in a familiar ground.

Chapman is speaking to us from Hong Kong, where she is promoting The Season, a glossy thriller already drawing comparisons to Crazy Rich Asians for its world of old money, social hierarchies and insanely well-dressed elites.

The six-part ensemble drama, now streaming on Viu, is led by Jessie Mei Li (Shadow & Bone) as Cola, a young woman whose arrival in Hong Kong’s upper crust sets off a chain of secrets, rivalries and scandals. Chapman plays socialite Madeline Wong, who may not always make life easy for Cola.

Don’t worry, we won’t spoil anything. But here’s one thing that’s immediately obvious: while Crazy Rich Asians kept things relatively PG-13, The Season is decidedly more adult — the NC16 kind.  

In fact, when Chapman is asked to describe the series, she keeps returning to the same word: “Sexy.” 

Her mother's entire side of the family grew up in Singapore before emigrating to Canada. Chapman, best known for playing the legendary warrior Kyoshi in Avatar: The Last Airbender, only made her first trip to Singapore about two years ago.

During the visit, she saw where her mother had grown up and reunited with Kung Fu co-star Tan Kheng Hua. The reunion was fitting. Tan, of course, played Kerry Chu — Rachel's mother — in Crazy Rich Asians. (The trip was especially surreal because Chapman had previously filmed scenes set in Singapore for Kung Fu — see Season 1’s ‘Silence’ episode — before ever stepping foot here herself.)

While The Season may be set among the wealthy elite, Chapman was drawn to what lay beneath the glamour.

When viewers first meet Madeline, she's still reeling from a tragic incident that left her isolated from her community. Returning to Hong Kong, she’s searching for understanding, love and genuine human connection in a society that places enormous importance on status, wealth and appearances.

"She returns as a rebel and outsider," Chapman says. 

Chapman has said in another interview that her character is someone returning to a place that once felt like home but no longer does, while grappling with what she called “a lot of emotional fracture”.

The connection resonated with Chapman, too. 

Her 99-year-old grandmother, acclaimed Chinese-French soprano Lola Young, is based in Hong Kong. The city is also home to aunts, uncles, cousins and family friends Chapman has known since childhood, while her late grandfather, Chapman Ho, was among the pioneers of Hong Kong cinema.

Having family nearby made the shoot especially meaningful. Between filming days, she was able to spend time with relatives, something she had never previously experienced on a job.

Sadly, Madeline receives a far frostier welcome when she returns to Hong Kong, thanks in no small part to Joan Hext, the Queen Bee of the local social elite, played by Karena Lam (Zinnia Flower).

Off-screen, however, Chapman says the acclaimed Taiwanese-Canadian actress couldn't be more different.

"She is one of the sweetest human beings I have ever met," Chapman says.

Chapman recalls that while their characters frequently clash, the two often checked in on each other the moment cameras stopped rolling.

“When we're doing these scenes and we're being so awful to each other, immediately after the camera says cut, we’re like, ‘Are you okay? How are you doing?'" Chapman recalls. 

On one occasion, when Chapman found herself getting eaten alive by mosquitoes during filming, Lam turned up with mosquito patches and cream.

"She's so kind," Chapman says. 

For all the wealth and glamour depicted in The Season, Chapman insists the lifestyle is far removed from her own. “This is not my day-to-day," she says.

In fact, before becoming an actress, she was headed down a very different path altogether.

The University of Calgary graduate was working in finance when she first turned to acting as a creative outlet and stress reliever. 

Now that acting is her full-time profession, what does she do to decompress?

Try painting. It helps her to switch off from the stresses of everyday life and immerse herself in a world entirely different from showbiz. 

Recently, she fulfilled a long-held dream by spending a week in Florence studying oil painting. “It’s where I found a lot of joy in my life,” she adds.

Next on Chapman’s plate: the second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender (premiering June 25 on Netflix), and Oliver Stone’s White Lies, which boasts a stacked cast that includes Michael Douglas, Willem Dafoe and Josh Hartnett.

Given how spoiler-sensitive these projects are, we won’t put Chapman on the spot and ask to reveal anything she shouldn’t.

We are, however, curious about the most elaborate lie she’s ever told to conceal a secret production.

Chapman bursts out laughing. “I’m such a bad liar,” she says.

She admits she’s never been very good at inventing cover stories. Instead, she usually opts for silence.

It’s an amusing admission from someone currently playing a character navigating a world where everyone keeps their cards to their chest.

“The second I open my mouth, if I’m lying, you’ll know.”

Watch all episodes of The Season now on Viu.

Hero collage: Portrait: Laura Baldwinson, PCCW/Viu, Netflix