by KT Leong
Actress and writer. Director and editor. She even plays the piano and violin. Multi-talented and multi-faceted to be sure, but what stood out to me is her passion.
Aimée Kwan is an actress making her Hollywood debut and it’s for a little known franchise you may have heard of, John Wick 4.
Much to our delight, she approached Ipoh Echo to do some publicity in Malaysia, particularly in Ipoh, because her father’s from Ipoh and she has fond memories of Ipoh with her extended family and late grandmother.
Proud of her Malaysian heritage, please join us as we learn a bit more about this ‘Ipoh Mali’ by birthright, if not actually ‘Ipoh Mali’ herself.
1) You said your dad’s Malaysian, but a quick check online says you’re British-Thai, can you clarify? Has Google failed me?
Here Aimée starts off explaining about her citizenship, but soon shares her love for the countries of her parents.
2) Can you tell us about your time in Ipoh and extended family?
Aimée reminisces about her family, particularly her father and grandmother. She also let slip an answer to a question I never knew I had, ‘which place rains more, London or Ipoh (the tropics)?’.
3) Ipoh’s got a bit of a food culture, do you have any favourites from Ipoh?
Aimée really perks up here but starts with an appetiser by giving us some context before diving into the main course. She started off only wanting to eat Western food when she was younger but would eventually have her mind blown by the explosions of flavour that Ipoh food has to offer.
4) On top of acting, you’ve been writing as well? Have you always been into the arts?
She’s been writing longer than she’s been acting, and while acting seemed like an ‘impractical job’ (well, in the eyes of her parents that is), Aimée decided to pursue her dream anyway.
5) How was directing 12? Have you directed before?
Here, we briefly talked about a film she made while at university, a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’.
6) I wanted our readers to get to know you first, you see. But I guess we better tackle the elephant in the room.
What can you let us know about your involvement with John Wick 4?
A lot of John Wick 4 is hush-hush at the moment, but Aimée was able to tell us that her character, Mia, will have some connection to Donnie Yen’s character in the upcoming blockbuster.
When Aimée first approached Ipoh Echo, I thought she was just doing her part for the movie’s press; the actor’s hustle. But as you’ll find as you listen to the clips above, she truly loves her roots and is passionate in her interests.
Let’s support this Ipoh Mali by inheritance and watch John Wick 4 when it comes out this coming March 24.
You can follow Aimée on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/aimeekwan/?hl=en
This is her Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aimee.kwan.712
