US film casts Chinese stage veteran in pivotal role

LOS ANGELES - Actress Zhao Shuzhen, who has captivated audiences with her performance as the grandmother in The Farewell, is essentially unknown to most American audiences.

Go to her IMDB page and it looks as though writer-director Lulu Wang's real-life family drama is her only credit. But that couldn't be further from the truth. In her native China, the 75-year-old is not only a veteran of stage and screen - she's also a big star.

It was a pivotal role for the film and for Wang personally. The Farewell is based on the filmmaker's actual life, in which her family discovers that their beloved grandmother is terminally ill, decides to keep that fact from her and stages a wedding so they have an excuse to gather everyone together to say goodbye. The heart of the film, which is currently available on home video and has awards buzz behind it, is about the relationship between Wang's alter-ego, Billi (Awkwafina), and her grandmother, Nai Nai.