{"id":11663,"date":"2011-12-20T00:12:01","date_gmt":"2011-12-20T00:12:01","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-15T14:16:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:16:10","slug":"julia-ling-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=11663","title":{"rendered":"Julia Ling interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Julia Ling is something of a marvel.<\/strong> That rare combination of brains and beauty wrapped up in a ball of talent, creativity and raw passion for what she does\u2026 and she does a lot\u2026.. Actress, writer, dancer, martial artist and producer. Whatever she does, she does well.<\/em><\/p>\n

Something of a child prodigy, Julia was born \u201cShel Wei\u201d, which means \u201cThe little flower that rises early in the morning.\u201d At age 3, she began to show an aptitude for drawing and in subsequent years won many awards for her sketches and drawings. At age 6, she won \u201cBest Storyteller Award\u201d and at age 9, was performing dance and piano recitals throughout California.<\/p>\n

During her high school years, she became a juggernaut, plowing her way through dance, tennis, and swimming where she maintained a 4.0 GPA. She was president of her school\u2019s German Club, National Honor Society, Amnesty Club, Literature Club and the Chinese Club.<\/p>\n

Julia also entered and won a competition for the Chinese brush stroke and calligraphy; and volunteered over two hundred hours of community service to her local hospital every week. If that was not enough she was selected as a state finalist in the Miss Teen American Pageants Contest at age sixteen.<\/p>\n

After High School, Julia pursued her dream to become a neurosurgeon. She entered UCLA where she majored in Chemical Engineering with a Biomedical focus. She was elected Vice President of the Engineering Society. However, the right side of her brain kicked into overdrive and she found herself wanting to pursue the arts instead. She began studying acting and martial arts. As with everything she does, she absorbed and learned everything she could and people soon took notice.<\/p>\n

In 2003, she landed her first role opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar in \u201cBuffy the Vampire Slayer\u201d. Since then, her body of work reads like a list of the best television has to offer: \u201cHouse\u201d, \u201cThe O.C.\u201d, \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy\u201d and many others. She guest starred in the recurring role of Kim Tao on the critically acclaimed \u201cStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip\u201d then continued on to guest star in another recurring role on the television drama \u201cER\u201d playing Mae Lee Park, a surgical intern. She also starred as Anna Wu on the popular series \u201cChuck\u201d.<\/p>\n

Julia had worked on over sixty films, picking up starring roles in half of them, including the Award-Winning short \u201cWe All Fall Down\u201d by Jake Kennedy and a number of other feature films. She produced a couple of short films, and is currently writing for a new project. For updated news and information, visit www.facebook.com\/lingtime<\/p>\n

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\nI don\u2019t think \u201crigid\u201d is the word for it. My family was very loving and always supportive of me. I mean, there was definitely moral discipline, what was right, what was wrong. Hard work pays off.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Julia Ling<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

ASIANCE: Julia, I recently read an article you wrote about martial arts and dance. You participated in the Jackie Chan Disciples competition. For those not familiar with it, the aim of the program was to find ten new stars skilled in acting and martial arts, to become Chan\u2019s \u201csuccessor\u201d in new feature films. Contests included explosion scenes, high-altitude wire-suspension, gunplay, car stunts, diving, obstacle courses, etc. How was the experience? <\/h3>\n

Julia:<\/b> Explosions and stunts driving?! Well I definitely missed that! Sign me up and I\u2019ll practice drifting and blowing things up any time. I only participated in the wushu performance part of the show.
\nI had never done wushu before this \u201cDisciples\u201d, so it was a real challenge for me.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I was able to train under international champion Woody Wong who was not only a wushu master in his own right, but also a great teacher who cared about my growth as a student and pushed me mentally, physically and emotionally.<\/p>\n

I wanted to do my best, so no matter how much it hurt, I got back up.<\/p>\n

Coach Wong helped me create a story behind our fight choreography. It was packed with gut-wrenching emotion from the loss of a loved one, to despair, to anger and revenge, to hope and eventually to peace and joyful tears.<\/p>\n

I met many amazing martial artists. I admired the discipline they put themselves through, their ability to be so strong and powerful, their movements so precise and quick, and yet their confident personality so peaceful and humble.<\/p>\n

The Disciples show was what inspired me to become the best martial artist I could be. After the competition was over, I started training religiously under Coach Wong, learning the straight sword, the fan, the staff, and some wushu forms.<\/p>\n

I trained all the time, at early sunrise, at the beach, in the mountains. I trained under the full moon in the dark midnight, alone in the park. I remembered I did not want to lie down because I was afraid I would not be able to get back up. It was like a little flame inside me that could not be quenched. I wanted to know what I was capable of. There\u2019s always something to improve, something to work on.<\/p>\n

Behind the Scenes with Julia Ling on the set of Command and Conquer<\/strong>
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