The show bending the rules of Australian TV
Such is the historically poor treatment of transgender roles on screen that when Suzy Wrong was handed the script to the SBS drama Hungry Ghosts, she was expecting to read of her character’s brutal demise.
TV
Don't miss out on the headlines from TV. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Miley’s shock sex confession as Cody breaks silence
- Richard Wilkins blows up over monumental mag mistakes
Such is the historically poor treatment of transgender roles on screen that when Suzy Wrong was handed the script to the SBS drama Hungry Ghosts, she was expecting to read of her character’s brutal demise.
The Singapore-born actress, who plays Roxy Ling in the four-part series, was thrilled a trans character was a part of the story, but was initially concerned hers would follow a familiar arc that sees trans men and women either humiliated or overly pitied.
“I was so happy they had included a trans character in such a high-profile program ... but as I was flipping through it I was just waiting for her to be murdered honestly,” she says.
“As a ghost story they’re definitely going to kill her off before they kill anyone else and nothing horrible happens. It was a surprise to me.”
What delighted Wrong was that Roxy was treated as any other character who didn’t need to be explained or given sympathy and she wasn’t victimised.
“We have had a long history of transgender people on screen being humiliated and made fun of in the most hideous fashion,” she says.
MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS FROM DAVID MEDDOWS
Jacki O: I wouldn’t risk my health for a TV show
The Revenge star coming to Summer Bay
“I see Hungry Ghosts as marking the beginning of something that’s much more enlightened, something a lot more progressive and modern.”
Hungry Ghosts is bucking another trend by bringing a uniquely Asian story to the fore. A spirit is released on the eve of the Hungry Ghost Festival, one that brings with it the vengeful spirits of the past to haunt three generations of Vietnamese-Australians in modern day Melbourne, including those still struggling with the memories of a horrific war that forced them from their beloved homeland.
More than 30 Asian-Australian actors were cast in the series with an additional 325 Asian-Australian extras. Hungry Ghosts also stars Bryan Brown, Catherine Van-Davies, Susie Porter and Gareth Yuen.
Despite a large established Asian population, Australian television has long struggled to feature Asian leads or tell Asian stories, a problem that has also plagued Hollywood for decades. But the past few years has seen a subtle shift in this dynamic with money being put behind more diverse storylines and bringing to the surface talented actors who had previously been overlooked.
Jillian Nguyen, who plays Sophie Tran in Hungry Ghosts, hasn’t been in the industry long but always dreamed of being an actor.
Growing up she looked to white actors such as Kate Winslet for inspiration because she didn’t see many Asian faces on the big or small screens.
But Nguyen, who starred alongside Russell Crowe in Justin Kurzel’s True History Of The Kelly Gang, definitely feels a change in the air, even if that change is slow moving.
“Right now we’re going through a time where the pendulum is swinging so we’re seeing things like our show, the first huge Asian Australian cast,” she says.
“I think change is happening but what I have only experienced so far is ... I guess it’s tokenism.”
She says it doesn’t help when the parents of her generation have little enthusiasm for children wanting to chase a dream to be an actor.
Having suffered through unimaginable trauma getting their families out of harm’s way — often, like Nguyen’s parents, spending years in refugee camps on their way to a better life for their family — they see such pursuits as less important than others.
They too have never seen themselves represented on television and fear it is a fruitless endeavour.
“My immigrant parents weren’t exactly saying ‘go follow your dream, take risks, be brave’,” she says.
“For them they didn’t see themselves when they turned on the TV, unless they were watching Hong Kong or Vietnamese dramas, so they weren’t encouraging our generation.”
Nguyen says this combination of factors keep actors of colour, no matter how strong their desire, out of the industry until they finally decide to take the plunge.
“That’s why I guess there are so many Asian kids and other kids of colour who go into this field late because they’ve spent most of their lives not seeing themselves, not being told they can do it,” she says. “Then some of them, like me, are like ‘you know what, I’m just going to give it a red hot go’.”
* Hungry Ghosts, SBS, August 24-27, 9.30pm