Aimée Kwan - Vulnerability, Creativity & Redefining the Spotlight (Actress - John Wick: Chapter 4, Model, UK)

 

Credits - Omar Mian

“When I create or perform, that’s where I have my voice. That’s when I’m truly myself.”

Q. You began your journey through classical music and have since stepped onto global film sets. Which early experiences made you believe a life in the spotlight was meant for you?

I honestly don’t think of the spotlight at all; if anything, an over-fixation on that is what props up some of the negative issues in our industry. 

Since I can remember I have always loved creating and often through my work, it’s one of the only ways where I can truly be myself and say how I feel or express the things I care deeply about. 

I don’t really talk much apart from with people I’m very close to: I’m very shy and I prefer to listen to others!

But when I create or perform, that is when I am truly expressing what I feel in the moment; that’s where I have my voice! That is why I have always loved pursuing creative things and why I so deeply love the arts. 

I love to connect with people from as earnest and sincere a place as possible. The spotlight is just coincidental, I don’t pursue it deliberately.

Q. You’ve shared that you boarded a flight not knowing you were about to star in John Wick: Chapter 4. What was your reaction when you found out, and how did that moment influence your outlook as an actor?

It was very illuminating when it came to how fast-paced and hectic the industry can be. I had a sense of this before, but it was really quite something experiencing it via one of the biggest franchises in the world.

Yet as an actor, when I’m on a job my focus is just to do my best. That’s the same no matter what role I’m doing. Perhaps there was a little more pressure being on such a big project, but my ethos is still the same, to work hard and do my best to connect with the character and the moment in the time I’m given. 

I like to think that I can roll with the punches, no matter how left field they are! 

Q. If given the chance to design your dream role, what would it look like—and why does that character resonate so deeply with you?

Oh my gosh! That’s a great question. I love roles where I feel like a character is not caricature or a stereotype - though I think this is true for most actors - so that is all I’d ask for. 

Whether a character is a hero or a villain or neither isn’t important to me, I just love to feel like I can explore what it means to be human and alive within these characters. So the more true to life and genuine a character feels, the closer I feel I can get to this.

I am also a nerd at heart, so there are plenty of universes / franchises I grew up loving that I would love to have a role in, simply because it would make my inner child so happy to be a part of it! 

I won’t say what they are so I don’t jinx it, haha!

Credits - Chris Daw

Q. You've been part of fashion campaigns and events and collaborated with leading designers. What do you find in fashion that allows you to express yourself in ways words or scripts sometimes can’t?

Fashion is so important, and can do so much for social mobility and representation. I love to see younger designers and designers that are diverse who have the courage to use the space to push the boundaries of creativity and manufacturing. 

It connects to old traditional modes of craftsmanship that go back from even before we have written records; I find that very beautiful.

One garment can tell a whole story about what the wearer or creator wants to say. Holding a garment is such an intensely intimate, tactile experience, you know? It’s what people feel when they hug you, what you feel against your skin to compliment your mood, whilst the smells that linger in the material can remind you of a loved one or a treasured memory.

Words and scripts float into our minds and marinate there, but fashion and clothing can touch you immediately, even if you don’t know how to describe what the item is or how it makes you feel. Fashion can be such an important way to express so many things when words fail us. 

Q. Your podcast Falling Upwards celebrates growth through vulnerability and creative risk. What inspired its name, and how do you choose the voices you bring on?

My lovely co-host and close friend Maddie and I talk about failure a lot, it’s something we both worry about not even just in a career-sense, just as people. As friends, family members, all those things. 

So I feel sometimes the show is a cathartic place for both of us: it certainly is for me and when we spitballed names, I think I remember that we were looking for something that felt cheerful and yet gentle, that felt like it summed up the fact the podcast would reflect on failure, but not in a stressful manner! 

If I don’t remember incorrectly, it eventually just settled on the title you see and it feels right!

We’ve now become very lucky with guests over the the first two seasons. Sometimes a guest is suggested to us by their team, or sometimes we mention the podcast and they or their team find it’s a perfect fit. 

There’s no precise formula regarding guests, we’ve never valued a guest more than another just because they’re more famous or anything like that. Everyone fails and it’s cool, when listening back to episodes, hearing how diverse all our experiences with failure are. 

Often the most fun feedback is when someone has listened to an episode knowing nothing about the guest we have on, and the listener loves what that they have to say. So we go with the flow somewhat, it’s most important that we both just enjoy connecting with our guests and making sure they feel comfortable with us! 

We already have some wonderful people lined up for the third season!

Q. Whether it’s a scene, a sentence, or a single frame—what do you hope people feel or remember after experiencing your work?

Connection, love, joy, catharsis? (Depending on the work, of course!). I would like them to feel the work is something that pulls them away from any stress or worries that they may have and can take them to a place out of themselves, even if it is just for a moment. 

I am most happiest when someone says they have loved my work and that they enjoyed it. I had a lot of audience feedback for an upcoming project come back to me recently and reading people from all over talk about how they felt understood or that it connected to something within them are the kinds of things that make me bawl like a baby. That’s everything.

Bio

Aimée Kwan is an actor, model, presenter, writer and creator in the UK. Born in London, she is of Thai and Malaysian-Chinese heritage. She is best known for her roles in John Wick: Chapter 4 and Invasion Planet Earth, as well as award-winning global media outlet &ASIAN and the show that she co-hosts, Falling Upwards. 

Her books in both prose and poetry, as well as her screenplays, films and theatrical productions have received acclaim and been seen worldwide. She most recently exhibited her first art piece in London in 2024.

Trained at the Royal College of Music, Oxford University and the Guildford School of Acting, she is also a passionate advocate for wider empathy and representation in the industry, and has walked the runway at London Fashion Week. She is also an Ambassador for Talent Trust in the UK. Season 3 of podcast Falling Upwards, and more upcoming written works, are set to come out later in 2025.

Follow Aimée on Instagram

Interviewed By Irene Elina Eldhose