io9 Meets the Real Hero of the Venom Franchise: Mrs. Chen

As the bizarre and divisive yet always shockingly good-natured Venom trilogy draws to a close (still the “gayest” Marvel franchise, contrary to public opinion), something we can all agree on is the sheer joy of its breakout character: Mrs. Chen, the unflappable bodega proprietor and Eddie Brock’s only human friend. It’s for this reason we were honored to have the opportunity to speak to Peggy Lu, the pharmacist-turned-actor who portrays her.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Gordon Jackson, io9: How did you get involved with Venom?

Peggy Lu: [In 2018] I got an audition notice from my manager. It didn’t look any different than the others—it didn’t specifically say “Venom.” Oh, I think it did, actually, because I had to research Venom.

io9: Do you have much of a history with comic books or sci-fi?

Lu: No, no. My older brother always had comic books around, but I never read them … and I don’t know a lot about them. I just know of some, you know? So, like, Venom was not one of the—well, how should I say this? Venom, it’s not like Spider-Man or Batman, where everyone growing up knows Spider-Man and Batman. So, I had to research Venom.

io9: In this new movie, you have this incredible dance sequence—you’re lifted by tentacle at one point. Were there wires involved in filming?

Lu: What, you missed it? I could actually do that myself. [laughs] That’s what Marvel has done for me. I can now fly. Um, yeah, I did have a harness, and then we practiced, because that was  my first time. This movie was a lot of first-times for me. So, I got to fly on a harness, and that was really cool. And then we had to figure out the turn, you know, how many turns to release the chandelier for me to touch it at the exact right moment.

io9: What was the dress rehearsal for that like, getting to wear the gown for the first time?

Lu: That dress was specifically tailored and made for me. So I had every inch of my body measured for that dress. And they were very thoughtful to give me a little stretch so I could sit down and eat and my stomach wouldn’t just, like, stick out. And I wore two [pairs of] tights to hold everything in. They were telling me that people like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé—you know, the rock stars—they wear like, three pairs of pantyhose or tights. [But] two is enough. I could barely get the second one on. I mean, like, the whole thing was, “I need someone to help me get dressed.”

io9: Is this character the one you’re closest to?

Lu: I think Mrs. Chen is probably closest to me, my family, my mom. And she is so dear to me because she reminds me of my mom. So I think it would have to be her. And then she just comes out naturally. I don’t even need to act. And plus, having Tom [Hardy]Tom is so natural and he’s so into improvising. He’s just so relaxed. But we will definitely do one take with everything on paper. And then we’ll just go play and go to town. I just follow him, so if he skips, then I skip. If he wants to run, then I run. It just makes it so easy when you have a partner like that.

io9: Right. Don’t they say “acting is reacting?”

Lu: Exactly. So I’m reacting to what he’s giving me because he’s so present. There was one line—I was trying to be funny when we were in the casino. And when I said, “Oh, you look—what happened to you, you look hot.” So that was the line. And the way I was trying to be funny, and then he said to me, “Peggy, why are you saying it? I look disgusting.” I thought, “You didn’t think that was funny?” We’re able to talk to each other like that. And then he cracked me up more than I’m cracking him up. I just thought of that because when I saw it the second time, I remembered what he said to me. He thought I thought he was disgusting.

I just never had that type of relationship: working with someone that I could just have fun and be stupid [with]. He’s okay with me being a dork, and he understood my humor, I guess. I don’t really show my stupid humor because sometimes people don’t get your humor. And you might offend someone. He was okay with it. He was just so cool about it.

io9: And it must make you feel very seen, right?

Peggy Lu: Oh my gosh, he shares the spotlight with me, and he doesn’t just make it about him. He’s so good with sharing and I’m so appreciative of that. He’s bringing me up with him. And not everyone that you meet or work with wants to help you get set up, and I feel like that’s what he’s doing for me. Even when we were at the premiere, at the red carpet? He said, “Come on, let’s take a picture!” He was so ahead of me, you know? He stopped for me and we faced the camera [together].

io9: You’re a lot of people’s favorite character—and part of this franchise, I think…

Lu: That’s so nice of you to say that. Tom and Ruben [Fleischer, director of 2018’s Venom]I’m just there to support them, and to tease Tom, to challenge him. And I don’t think of [myself] that way. It’s just been an eye-opening experience when you look back on your life, and you look at who has helped you, and he just makes it even more special.

io9: Well, in that second movie, you proved that you’re symbiote-compatible…

Lu: [Laughs]

io9: So, do you think you could maybe take over the franchise when that Venom sample resurfaces?

Lu: You know how I got through that? It was Tom. I was just following him to sound like Venom. To make everything easy for me, he gave me an earpiece … usually in the past, when I have to do the earpiece, when someone’s speaking to me, and I have to repeat what they say, it’s usually a paragraph at a time, and five minutes later, I have to repeat that. Tom was so thoughtful that he said, “I’m going to do one sentence at a time, and you repeat after me.” These little nice things that he does for me that it just blows my mind. I mean, imagine you have to repeat somebody—like, a paragraph every time. You have someone say something in your ear, and I have to repeat it and act at the same time.

io9: When was the last time you had to recite a big paragraph of text fed into your ear like that?

Lu: Usually, like, industrials. When you’re explaining a product. Sometimes in the scientific world, I have to explain the mechanism of action of a certain drug. If I’m doing a conference, or I’m working for a drug company, and I’m trying to explain to them the intricate detail, sometimes there will be people in my head while I’m doing it. So I am strict and not talk too much. Because the way we deliver a mechanism of action is very specific on how a drug works. Sometimes, you’ll put ear pieces in, and they’ll be rattling off so fast.

io9: So as a pharmacist and an actor, what do you believe is the best representation of pharmaceutical work in film or television? Have you ever watched a movie and thought, “They did their research here…”

Lu: Can I tell you something? I have auditioned for pharmacist roles. I’ve not got one. Not one. Even commercials. And they don’t want to hire me. And I’m usually like, “Doesn’t matter…”

io9: Looking at your IMDb, you’ve had just a lot of small roles. Like, “Psych Ward Nurse” on an episode of The OAwhich is a great show. And you were on an episode of Passionswhich is really fun…

Peggy Lu: Yeah, you see how they elevated me? I mean, look how Tom Hardy and [Venom series writer and The Last Dance director] Kelly Marcel have helped me. I’m just very appreciative of that. As you can see from my resume, this is the biggest thing I’ve ever done.

io9: I noticed that your very first acting role was in an episode of Wishbonethe one based on The Time Machine? How was that? Did you get to meet Wishbone?

Lu: Oh, yeah, the doggy? Yes, there were a couple dogs on the set. I love dogs. That was my first [acting] experience—I totally forgot, it was so long ago. It was all shot in August, in Dallas. I was at Dallas at that moment in time, and I also have an agent in Dallas, and they said, “Maybe audition for it.” I know a lot of this is luck. First, it’s preparation, and it’s so hard to get a job. I think it’s even harder now; when I first got to LA, like, 15, 20 years ago, it was like one out of 50 auditions lead to jobs. Now, I think it’s gotten harder because we are now auditioning from home, so the casting directors are able to see more people from all over the world.

io9: What would you like to do next, ideally?

Peggy Lu: There’s part of me that wants to be so challenged as an actor when it comes to technique. When it comes to being really good at being an actor. And I think that really the hardest for me right now is to do a multi-cam sitcom with a live audience, where they’re constantly changing lines on the spot. Like, they’ll give you two pages of new lines, and then you gotta do it right then and there in front of the live audience. Then you get to know if your jokes work—that would be an ultimate challenge for an actor.

io9: How did your cameo in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse come about?

Lu: Well, that was—it was one of the clips that was not used by Venom 2.  So I didn’t actually—yeah, so they just lifted a clip that they didn’t use in [Venom: Let There Be Carnage].

io9: Oh, and they— and they just put the Spot in there? That’s—that’s kind of disappointing, actually.

Lu: I don’t really know—I don’t really know what’s public knowledge and what’s not.

io9: Do you have any other upcoming roles you can discuss?

Lu: My next project is with Randall Park from Fresh Off the Boat. We’ve worked together on Always Be My Maybe with Ali Wong on Netflix. I love him. So it’s really funny. And he’s really chill. Because I’m not chill.

io9: And he’s in the MCU, the Marvel Universe. Maybe he can get you over there too.

Lu: He is?! Which one?

io9: He plays a secret agent. He’s a secret agent in the Ant-Man movies and he was also in WandaVision.

Lu: Okay. I’m going to ask him.

Venom: The Last Dance is in theaters now.

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