New Westminster’s Keira Jang stars alongside acting hero Sandra Oh in new film.
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What would you do to save the planet and help ensure it can sustain future generations? Would you make the ultimate sacrifice?
“It’s a world that I don’t necessarily want to live in … This is not a real future that we want to propose, but it’s an interesting take on a future that we’ve never seen. Just because, normally, it’s all this high-tech things that we envision in the future, but we’ve really stripped it back and gone … to the bare minimum.”
The bare minimum she speaks of is a 2050 that visually looks familiar but is without our current excesses. There are power shortages, no cellphones and collective memory is dying with degrading digital files. The film is quiet. There’s no marauding dystopic violence. Heck, no one even raises their voice. It’s a film that interestingly nudges the viewer toward quiet contemplation amid such loud, precarious times.
“When Ellie is standing out in the field, contemplating leaving this life, and all you hear is her breathing, the theatre is completely silent. You don’t even hear other people breathing. It’s amazing,” said Fleming, who won best director in the Canadian/B.C. film category for Can I Get a Witness at the recent Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards.
For Oh, the conceit of 50-year-olds having to die is fascinating and comes with big questions.
“It’s a concept that is daring and challenging. Because, probably for all of us who are on this call, 50 is a very vital time in your life … I bet you people who are 65 would say the same,” said Oh, speaking over Zoom with Fleming and Postmedia News. “It posits the question; ‘How much would you sacrifice if it meant that the world could continue on in a peaceful and a harmonious and a balanced way?’
“The film talks about the giving up of resources in electricity, power, travel, electronics, a certain type of communication, and just those small things. What would I give up? … I think the question of leaving at 50 just opens up the question of what you would sacrifice in your own daily life now to make it better for the next generation.”
Can I Get a Witness marks the first feature film for Jang. Its success on the festival circuit has put her on the radar and opened doors. And while she is thrilled to now have an agent and has been in front of studio casting people, she is still excited by the fact that she got to work alongside Golden Globe-winner Oh.
“I remember just driving over there (Fleming’s house) thinking like, Oh my God, I better not be weird, like she is a huge hero of mine … Walking up to the door, I was like, ‘OK, Keira, be cool.’ And then the second that I saw her, she gave me a huge hug and all my worries melted away,” said Jang about her first meeting with the star of Killing Eve, The Chair, Grey’s Anatomy and Sideways — to name just a couple of bold-type roles Oh has had.
Jang, 25, explained that, when she was a young theatre kid, she didn’t see a lot of actors that looked like her inhabiting roles that weren’t leaning into Asian stereotypes. Then she saw Oh, and everything changed.
“I remember watching Grey’s Anatomy with my mom, and there’s a moment she turned to me and she said, ‘You know what, maybe, you can be an actor,’ because we saw Sandra as Christina Yang, just kind of being fiery and being herself and being strong,” said Jang adding: “She was always someone I looked up to, just paving the way for the community. And it means so much.”
While shooting Can I Get a Witness in Powell River with Oh, Jang said she learned a couple of valuable lessons from the veteran actor.
“I learned that I can ask for things and not come across in any negative way,” said Jang. “Being a woman, but also being an Asian woman, you don’t want to take up space. You don’t want to cause any inconveniences … Just being able to watch her command a set in such a respectful way … She treats everyone with such respect and kindness that I just really wanted to make sure that that’s something that I keep moving forward. To see her be so respectful, but still stand up for what she needs to have the best experience was really, really eye-opening.”
When asked about Jang, Oh started by saying she was so happy to work with someone so skilled and who was such “an open book.” She added that Jang and Joel Oulette, who plays Daniel the young man who performs the contractual elements of the end-of-life ceremonies, were “really the life energy” in the film.
As for Jang’s evaluation of Oh’s on-set vibe, Oh said: “Learning how to ask for things is a very important skill set as a human being and as a woman, and then there are certain cultural aspects as a Canadian and as someone who grew up in an Asian household,” said Oh, who recently was given the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for best supporting female actor in a Canadian/B.C. film for her role in Can I Get a Witness. “These are the things that you have to learn.”
With the current uncertainty of Donald Trump’s trade war and the constant thrum of American protectionism, all industries including TV and film are feeling some unease. While Oh said it “doesn’t make sense” for her to comment on the tariff situation, she readily acknowledged her continuous connection to Canadian-created TV and film content.
“This is where I come from … I’ve never left, never left the essence of what it is to tell Canadian stories, to work with fellow Canadians and to continue to grow Canadian culture,” said Oh, adding she is hopefully doing another Canadian film this fall. “It’s a part of my DNA. I don’t think it will ever change. And, if anything, it is an opportunity for us Canadians to look at ourselves and our culture and to support it.
“That is what I have never wavered from and will always continue to do.”