Francesca Hung on breaking the Miss Universe mould

She’s credited with reinventing what a Miss Universe Australia could look like after becoming our first winner of Asian descent in 2018. Now Francesca Hung is taking on her next challenge.

You landed your dream job as an E! Australia host in December 2019. What has it been like covering the world of entertainment during a pandemic?

We got access to Hollywood stars we wouldn’t normally have had access to because everyone was at home and no-one was doing anything. I was living at home with my family, so I’d kick my parents out of the living room because it had the best lighting.

It was quite funny, though, because Mum would stand in the corridor listening in to all my interviews. I think she loved it because she got to see me working.

“Mum would stand in the corridor listening in.” (Picture: Steven Chee)

You represented Australia in the Miss Universe pageant in 2018 and now host red carpets for a living, but you’ve revealed you were really shy as a child. How did you overcome that fear?

It still doesn’t come completely naturally but I have a really good support network. When I met my partner, he had this unbelievable belief in me and that pushed me forward. My parents have always been pragmatists, so they’d say, “You can do it, but it’s only up to you.”

They never gave me an inflated sense of self and it had to come from maturing and saying, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

You’re on the cusp of your first foray into acting. When did you know this was something you wanted to pursue?

I keep journals and diaries – something my mum always instilled in me – and I was going back and reading diaries from when I was eight, nine, 10, and in all of them, I always say, “One day, I’m going to be an actress.” But when I got into my teenage years, I lost my confidence.

Francesca Hung of Australia competes in the evening gown competition during the 2018 Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok. (Picture: AFP)

I didn’t see people who looked like me on the screens so I just thought, it’s a pipe dream – it’s never going to happen for me. But the way the world is moving and changing, and working in the past few years [has made me go], “Oh my God, I need to be the one who’s that representation.” So I began really pushing for it.

How have you prepared for this new step in your career in between hosting and modelling?

I’ve been taking group acting classes here and there and dipping my toes in. And then I had an opportunity to do a few auditions and castings. About nine months ago, when I found out that I had this role coming up, I started doing one-on-one sessions with acting coaches. I can’t wait to announce what the role is!

You were the first Miss Universe Australia of Asian descent in 2018 and were credited with breaking the mould of what a Miss Universe Australia looks like.

Since then, Priya Serrao (2019) and Maria Thattil (2020), who are both of Indian descent, have won the pageant. Do you think this is representative of wider inclusivity within Australia?

Absolutely. I feel like it took a long time to get there, but you can see from the work that Priya and Maria have done that they’re absolutely breaking that glass ceiling. They’re both doing so much for inclusivity and diversity in Australia.

Francesca Hung features in this Sunday’s Stellar.

If you look at the years after I was Miss Universe Australia, the number of girls who are applying who are of different cultural backgrounds has increased tenfold. So I think the landscape is becoming much more accepting and open to change, which is exciting.

Some people think beauty pageants such as Miss Universe are problematic and outdated. What is your take? Do you think they still have a role to play?

I think that beauty pageants, despite their name, have adapted and changed over the course of many years. I think there’s less emphasis now on the physical attributes of a girl, and it’s now more about what she stands for and what she can speak about. So I think that perhaps the idea of a beauty pageant has changed dramatically, in order to keep its relevancy.

Originally published as Francesca Hung on breaking the Miss Universe mould