Are any of us defined by a singular personality trait, or are we more of a complex puzzle with many different sides yet to discover? The answer is truthfully within each of us, and if we allow each level of being a chance to shine, the freedom is anything but endless. Such is the case with Bai Ling; a nonconformist, restless spirit who dares to be herself.
Ling, a Chinese immigrant who has built an international career as an actress, is known for an extensive list of roles; including 1994’s The Crow, 1995’s Nixon, plus her award-winning performance in the 2004 Hong Kong Horror film Dumplings. Highly successful, Ling is also unique thanks to her willingness to work in nearly every genre of films ranging from Drama, Comedy, Thriller, to Horror and beyond.
Limitless and highly talented, she continued to find new and exciting ways to express herself decades into her life with a diverse mix of projects. Creating her own films, but also starring in several made by others, Ling recently starred in the new independent Horror film The Omicron Killer alongside Horror stars like Felissa Rose and Lynn Lowry. Something she embraced with open arms, Bai Ling recently sat down for an in-depth look at her career, what is really important in life, and so much more.
Cryptic Rock – You have been involved in acting for some time now, and you have been involved in a lot of great projects through the years in various different genres. How would you describe your career thus far to this point?
Bai Ling – I think I’m very lucky that I have had a lot of international opportunities; including Oliver Stone, Spike Lee, George Lucas, and all these big directors that hired me to work with them and trusted me. Also worked with Jason Statham, Jodie Foster, Angelina Jolie, Jude Law, Will Smith, Ben Affleck, Richard Gere, etc. I feel very fortunate that I’m part of their career and their journey in different genres like Comedy, Drama, and Science Fiction. I have also worked in TV series such as Lost and Entourage. I think I’m very lucky and very grateful. Still, I feel I’m just beginning, the road is wide open. I’m very excited for my future projects.
Cryptic Rock – You certainly have had a very diverse career, and you have worked with so many people, as you said. That in mind, seeing the broad range of genres you worked in, do you have a favorite, or do you like all the different challenges?
Bai Ling – To me, it’s really not even a challenge, it’s just fun. I never learned acting. To me, it’s very easy acting, because I’m free. I feel like I’m connected to the universe; I just download whatever I need. Also, I feel like my personality has eight little spirits. They have extremely sexy ones, outrageous ones, and very shy ones, intelligent ones, and calm ones. I live very colorfully, like a rainbow, but I satisfy all of them in real life. Why play a role? They’re all different spirits; they are like mini spirits coming to serve me.
For me, it’s very easy because I’m so open. Because with acting, I feel like there’s a true sense of how truly your heart feels the truth. Like children always move you; they always steal the scene, because there’s no thoughts, they’re just pure in an emotional moment and whatever is needed. I feel like I’m like that because I’m wide open. As an actor, I’m like this magic tool that the universe gave to me. I can be anything, anywhere, anytime, and whatever they wanted. To me, it’s not even a genre to me. I just can jump to do anything. I like different ones because it satisfies different needs, different senses of me. That’s Bai Ling.
Cryptic Rock – It seems like you are very passionate about everything. You are also passionate about music as well, correct?
Bai Ling – Yes! Oh my God, how do you know that? I think if I’m not an actress, I’d be a rockstar, because I compose music and I write songs within five hours. I record, write lyrics, produce, and write music, all in five hours; from 12:00 midnight till 5:00 AM, finished.
I’m not good at technology with the computer stuff. When I finish writing, I don’t know how to correct it. It is almost like God tells me that the original, primitive one is the best. You just let it out and I just let it out like that way. It’s almost like I’m not existing. I’m just a tool being used by the universe needed for that moment of whatever for their purpose. Is that funny?
Cryptic Rock – That is a stream of consciousness. Sometimes the best material comes out of you when you are in a stream of consciousness like that.
Bai Ling – You’re totally right. My life becomes simpler and simpler. I don’t read a book, I don’t watch TV, I’m just joyful living life and breathing in real life. My senses are all open, they just serve me. I feel I’m very lucky to live as a core of who I am. It is pure consciousness.
Cryptic Rock – That is truly fascinating. It is great that you have the outlet of music as well as acting. It is special to have two different creative outlets.
Bai Ling – Yes. I’m jumping ahead of whatever you want to ask me, but I am now so excited, because of the COVID, I made my debut as a director. I direct, composed, wrote, produced, and financed. I star in a movie called My Quarantine Romance with Toilet Paper. It’s my love letter dedicated to the world and to the people who suffered during this current time. This is closest to us with what happened; this historical event of we had no toilet paper. We all suffered a quarantine. Also, I wrote 11 songs for it.
Who did it in the history of our cinema? Only Charlie Chaplin. In that movie, I turned myself into Charlie Chaplin and was identical to me. How a Chinese woman challenges the most famous figure everybody knows, and look like him, that’s the biggest gap of challenging. It’s a comedy.
Cryptic Rock – That is something everyone will have to check out.
Bai Ling – It’s funny, right? It’s more like a love story. It’s basically this woman trapped in quarantine. She cannot go out and she has no toilet paper. Then she goes online, then 13 guys come visit her to exchange toilet paper for love, sex, and romance.
I have 23 cast members. It’s big, but this project was conceived, produced, and finished all production shooting during the actual quarantine time. It’s amazing.
Cryptic Rock – That sounds very unique.
Bai Ling – I’m an immigrant, I’m a woman, I’m an actress, I’m a foreigner. In the most difficult time of COVID, there’s beauty. When everybody’s suffering, bored, I made My Quarantine Romance with Toilet Paper.
So therefore, in every situation, there’s beauty there. It depends on how you look at it, how you dig it. That’s my love letter to the world. I’m in post-production, so I’m looking forward to dedicating it to the world. I think it’s going to go viral because it’s a fast-paced movie, the comedy is close to the most current situation in the world. I think people will love it.
Cryptic Rock – Fantastic. It sounds like it should be fun. What are some other current projects are you working on?
Bai Ling – I just promoted another movie called The Keepers of the 5 Kingdoms. If you go to my Instagram, this movie is a kid’s fantasy movie. The kids are looking for treasure. It’s like the meaning of life, how you find a treasure. The role I play was actually originally written for a guy. He is the creature of the obstacle against the kids looking for treasure. It was so much fun. It’s a male role played by me. I give so much humor and so much fun. Basically, I play the bad guy, but the most humorous bad guy you’ve ever seen.
Cryptic Rock – Seems like you have a lot of diverse material out now. You also recently starred in the new Horror film The Omicron Killer. This is a very interesting cast where you act alongside Felice Rose and Lynn Lowry. How did The Omicron Killer come about for you?
Bai Ling – I think the producer reached out to me and just wanted me to be in the movie. I like the East Coast, I traveled there, and they put me in this castle… it was a very nice hotel. I look like I’m back in time in a big castle, like a queen.
Also, I always like to support independent film; because I think it’s very hard for them to make. A lot of them are really doing it from their core, their heart, and for the love of it. The director was also very passionate about me and to be involved with. I play a nurse in the film. I think we shot a part of it the COVID time or after, and everybody was in a mask. At that time, it’s something very special that you’re working, actually doing something, which a lot of people really did not do.
Cryptic Rock – Right. The film is very current as far as the context of real life, put into a Horror film.
Bai Ling – Yes. It’s about that time. It’s basically connected to the quarantine. We all experienced the horror of this deadly situation. It had no end and didn’t know how to survive.
Cryptic Rock – As mentioned, you also have a very good cast. Did you enjoy working with everyone?
Bai Ling – Yeah. I enjoy working with everyone, especially with the director. We hit it off very well. He showed me around and we spent the whole day hanging out in the town. He’s very nice and very down to earth. I liked his energy, and we shot something more, and we didn’t use it for the film. He wants to use me for another film.
Sometimes you just go for the energy. Felicia, we met at comic con, and she was always very warm to me and very nice to me. I feel sometimes you make a movie and also you experience life with good people. There was also Richard Bernstein, the producer, financer. He also acts as the doctor, an asshole doctor, but he’s good! Also, Paugh Shadow, he plays the killer. All of them feel like they’re family.
Cryptic Rock – It is those connections that make things special. It is imagined that is the best situation when everyone feels like family.
Bai Ling – Yeah. Also, everybody put me in the castle. Everybody else stayed in the tiny little apartment of the directors. Everybody together, just one next to each other, lived there. They stayed there; because they didn’t have much money. Because of passion, everybody just lived in this small house, just for the art of the film. That’s something I have a lot of admiration for. People are suffering for their own comfortable environment and are dedicated to the art.
Cryptic Rock – That dedication and passion is inspiring. This is one of many independent type Horror films you have worked on in recent years. Do you enjoy the Horror genre?
Bai Ling – I’ll be honest with you, I don’t watch Horror films, because I’m afraid of them. Even though as an actress, I know it’s fake, but I’m scared of it. With Horror there is sort of a challenge with the limitation of human beings or discovering the mystery of life. The Horror film I did Dumplings (2004), won an Asian Academy Award for it. You just never know. A lot of it depends on how you make it.
I think the Horror film is pretty popular, and also, they’re easy to make. A lot of people want to be scared, because life can be a little bit dull and boring. People want the excitement and I think that’s what the genre of Horror film does to a lot of audiences.
Cryptic Rock – There is a lot more room to work in Horror as far as the suspension of disbelief. It can be fun.
Bai Ling – Yeah. I like The Omicron Killer because there’s a lot of humor, silliness in it. It’s not all horrible, it’s fun in it. Also, the horror film Dumplings, the one I won an Asian Academy Award for, was kind of a Horror Drama. There were a lot of psychological threatening elements. It’s not just scary physically, but there’s a psychological depth and intelligence behind. That I like.
Cryptic Rock – Absolutely. It seems like The Omicron Killer was a fun experience for you.
Bai Ling – Yes. Also, when I was playing the nurse, I think she’s the only one to actually have compassion for the killer. Why do people kill? Partially because they are damaged when their child or when they grow up on their journey. As a human, I put in my character of the nurse, she has compassion and she understood. That’s why she’s the only one who survived, actually.
Cryptic Rock – Yes, that is a different take. Not everything is black and white in life, there are a lot of gray areas.
Bai Ling – Yes. I keep telling people, even a serial killer, if a small child is coming across the street and there’s a car coming, the serial killer will save the life. It’s just human nature. We all have this compassion and kindness in us. Whatever they become, whatever criminals, there’s a reason their past leads them to it. We just don’t know. It’s interesting to discover that.
Nobody has actually done that. Maybe I’ll make a Horror film to discover that part. Even with a serial killer, they’re kind in some ways.
Cryptic Rock – You should consider that. It is an interesting way of looking at things.
Bai Ling – That’s the challenge, to not look at things only black and white and try to have a deep understanding of humanity. We’re different. I think with The Omicron Killer, for people who watch it, there’s a lot of humor to it. It’s just a fun, entertaining film to watch.
Cryptic Rock – Yes, people should check out. You mentioned how you had the opportunity to work with so many people over the years, and you became an international movie star as a result. Knowing what you know, working in different parts of the world, including China, how would you describe the cultural differences?
Bai Ling – I think the cultural differences is Western culture is very much of individuality. Asian culture, with communism, is more like a group culture. For example, with my first American film The Crow (1994), after they finished filming, I started to move the lights and move the furniture trying to help. People said, “What are you doing, Bai Ling?” I said, “I’m trying to help you.” They said, “Mind your business. Why do you touch my lights?” In my country, in China, whatever the biggest star, you’re supposed to help. I was trying to help, but they looked at me like something’s wrong with me. I was trying to move in the lights and help them with the equipment.
It’s just a different culture. Also, the wardrobe, they wanted my underwear because they were going to wash them. I said, “No, it’s my underwear.” He said, “Just leave everything here. It’s our job to wash it.” It’s just different. I’m not used to it. I said, “No, it’s my underwear, don’t take it.” They said, “Come on. It’s a part of a wardrobe.” That’s something I’m learning. That’s the major difference, of course, except the language.
Even when working for an audition, I spend zero time doing acting preparation. I don’t like to prepare. I like to be spontaneous and open. I spend all this time learning my English, because it’s a different language. You have to memorize it.
Cryptic Rock – That is interesting and not some thing may think about.
Bai Ling – With my English, I will say, “Don’t talk to me, I’m in the phone.” They say, “You’re not in the phone. You’re on the phone.” But to me, I’m not sitting on the phone. I’m in the phone. It’s just a concept. A lot of this culture opens different parts of your brain to discover things.
Also, I did a Luc Besson’s Taxi 3 (2003) . It’s a Comedy Action and I learned French. Can you believe it? That’s the toughest challenge. I play the leading role, I worked so hard, and I speak very good French in that movie. You can learn. I feel like we only use 10% of our mind. Now I can do any language film. If we put hard work into it, but we have to work hard, we can do it.
Cryptic Rock – You certainly had a lot of compelling cultural experience. But again, being someone who loves music, would you agree that music is the universal language of the world?
Bai Ling – Yes. I did Howard Stern’s show twice. This was early in the morning, and I started to dance all of that. They said, “Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson.” He said I dance crazy like Michael Jackson. Because my father teaches composition, I learned to play violin professionally. When I was a child, every day I practiced for two hours. I think music is the purest form of art; because there’s no language. It’s just hearing. It’s awareness to be aware of something. It’s opening another space of our intelligence.
Music is amazing. If somebody understands music it means another intelligent mind that has opened. You can’t describe what that is. That’s why I love music, because I think there are higher levels of intelligence than language, joy, and color. Just in the space, it’s purely awareness. It depends on each individual.
Cryptic Rock – Most certainly. The music brings us together more than anything else.
Bai Ling – Right. The passion, and also it purifies us. We’re not thinking, we’re just feeling in music.
Cryptic Rock – Exactly. Very true.
Bai Ling – I love music. Like I said, I think if not a movie star I would be a rockstar. In Hollywood they think I’m crazy, but every time I hear music, my body starts to dance. It’s just crazy. It’s like I’m just listening to my body and it’s not me. It just moves and I just start to follow. That challenge just excites the deepest part of our passion. You just go. You’re not aware. You just have that vibration. It’s almost like energy. We become part of this vibration of the universe.
Cryptic Rock – It is something that you have to open yourself up to; because most people have their guard up and they cannot let that happen.
Bai Ling – Totally. They will never be able to experience that passion and that space, because they don’t know how to open. They’re so judgmental. They’re so influenced by the mind. In my social media, I am Bai Ling, right? I post nice pictures and all of that, but I give cookies; like fat-free, sugar-free cookies. This quote, this ‘cookie’ for myself, I want to share with you, which is for Bai Ling…. I give it to myself. “When I’m thinking, I’m an idiot. When I’m not thinking, I’m a genius.” That’s true.
Like when I’m acting, when I’m talking, I’m just vibrant. I’m just open. I’m a genius, because my mind is not involved. If I’m thinking, if you gave me all the questions before I was thinking about it, I become stupid because my mind is involved. I become like a lower level of function. All of us are like that, not just me. We’re not used to functioning that way. We’re guarded. We’re scared. We think our mind is most intelligent. Our mind is our enemy. That’s what I believe.
Cryptic Rock – That is an excellent point. It is about letting things happen naturally. There is a mechanism in most of our brains which is very guarded in experience and letting our consciousness flow.
Bai Ling – Right. When you grow up, it is almost like our brain is a computer. They give you software. That’s the way it functions. I don’t have software in my mind. I’m empty and I just download whatever comes. I’m connected to the universe, therefore, I’m a genius. I’m free. I can do magic things because I have no guard. I’m free. Like when you’re a child, you’re literally a genius.
Cryptic Rock – That is something special to celebrate.
Bai Ling – Thank you. I’m so glad that you understand. Some are generally like, “What are you talking about?”
Cryptic Rock – It is difficult for many to think outside the confines of conventional thought. Since you said you would be a rockstar if not an actor, do you like Rock-n-Roll music? What are some of your favorite genres of music?
Bai Ling – I have to share with you, I dated a lot of composers/ rockstars. I remember I was with this composer. He was composing and he’s repeating, he said, “Is this good.” He asked me which tone’s good, which value. “I’m so tired,” I told him. He said, “Choose this, choose that.” To me, silence is music. The pause makes the music. I like silence; because a lot of music sometimes becomes noise. I think you have to have a silence in your mind, the space in order for you to understand, to fulfill, to cooperate with the music.
I drive in LA, and in my car, I put on classical music; because I think there’s something beautiful, powerful. I went to an opera, and I like Opera. I like Classical music, because I think it’s another format of deep culture, I love European culture, they have a lot of depth, and I like that. I like Jazz. I’m not sure I like Hip Hop. I like Classical music, Jazz, something more romantic to me.
I love silence. I’m telling you; silence is music. If somebody in silence, in pause, can hear the magic of music, he is a genius.
Cryptic Rock – There is a lot of validity to what you are saying. This ties into letting your guard down, letting yourself be free, and not letting your mind overrun you. This also is connected to modern culture. With all the technology we have today, people’s attention spans have become so limited. With this, much of modern music is so overwhelming in a lot of ways, because our brains need constant noise.
Bai Ling – You’re totally right. I’m so glad that we are having this conversation. I think this is more than just a movie interview. I think it’s a lot of awakening, a lot of understanding in the broad point of view. Technology is nice of course. Instagram, and all this social media, makes it easy to communicate. On the other hand, I really think they’re not good. For example, in the old times, you wrote a letter. It’s what you’re choosing. You take time to receive a letter. Now everything becomes fast. You get it, and what’s next? It’s all on the surface.
It becomes a fast surface culture. Nobody goes to the concert. Nobody reads books. They’re just on social media. On the other hand, it also takes away from these nuances of life, the subtlety of life, of the real intelligence of our world, the richness of different levels, different layers of our conscience, and different layers of food for our soul. We don’t have that anymore. Unfortunately, a lot of young people don’t know what’s a book, what’s a composer, what’s a museum. They only know brand names and social media. That’s all. It’s very shallow. It’s really bad in essence.
Cryptic Rock – Yes. Do you think that we have hope for maybe a renaissance of free-thinking and a simpler life perspective?
Bai Ling – I think unfortunately, or fortunately, humans have a short attention span. After a while, they get bored. They’re going to discover new things. After all the social media changes, they’re going to get rid of it. Even with Marvel movies, people are going to get bored. They’re going to go back to the very simple things. Maybe they will start to pick up writing like calligraphy. Chinese calligraphy, it’s art. People are probably going to discover something that’s simpler. Hopefully, that will happen.
Some people will understand our interview in the same language. If they’re open to it, we can promote that deep culture. Then we can change and make a change.
Cryptic Rock – That is a very positive outlook. We can only hope.
Bai Ling – For example, with American culture, with McDonald’s and all of the fast food, the chicken is fast. Asian food, European food, like wine, the older the better, it takes time to make anything good. Now it’s too easy to give to you and you don’t care. You don’t value it, because it’s too easy. Even Instagram, it is too easy, you don’t care. You pass by, because there’s no time. They don’t give you time to long for it, to wait for it. That’s part of it. It’s our hunger in that it’s a romance. We don’t have a romance anymore. You fuck, you move on. What’s the romance, right? There’s no romance.
Cryptic Rock – It is true. It is like the music; it is that silence in between that makes the climax of the music that much better. It is that yearning and wanting for it.
Bai Ling – Right! If everything is, “Bong, bong, boom,” how long can you take it, it’s boring, right? You’ve got to have pause. You’ve got to have a gentleness to hit that powerfulness. If you don’t have gentleness, power is no power.
Each individual can only do what we understand. Hopefully when people read this, they can see things from a different perspective, maybe open to understand about ourselves a little more. We have other parts of our sense of hunger, for gentleness, for depth, for nuances, except the fast food. Hopefully, that will wake people up, make them discover, or at least open to it.
Cryptic Rock – Being patient in life is extremely important and it seems like many are just rushing through life for what is next and it has created a lot of vacuous personalities.
Bai Ling – I hope more people are patient about things. Also, I want to share something. I think this world is driven by success, the numbers, all of that. But think, 100 years from now, or even 20 years from now, none of us are going to be here. All this achievement, all this success doesn’t mean anything. People are going to forget about whoever the famous people are. We’re on earth for the experience of every step we’re taking… it’s not to achieve anything. We achieve a bunch of things to satisfy society.
For example, Oscars, are great and it gives us motivation, but don’t hold this as a goal. The experience is the goal. Making movie after movie, I don’t even watch it, it’s the experience I’m when going through it. We forgot how to taste the food. When you’re satisfied, you don’t care, you’re done. It’s how you taste it when you’re hungry, how you taste the tea, the wine, and when you meet somebody, you start a romance. It’s the experience that is the most precious in life. That’s the purpose of life.
Cryptic Rock – That is exactly true. Like you said, 100 years from now, most living people will not even know that we existed.
Bai Ling – Right, who cares. But why do we spend time achieving instead of tasting, experience every moment of life? That’s why I take projects. I do things very spontaneously. Whatever comes to me, I feel good, I’ll do it. I don’t care about what it is exactly. I just want to experience life. There’s no better or worse.
Cryptic Rock – Most certainly. You experience life and not worry about what the endgame is.
Bai Ling – Right. The sad part is the hunger for achievement. All these rich people, to be honest, how many billion or million do you need? In my house, the sofa, I never sit there. How big a sofa, a house, a big bed do you need? How much money do you need for food? You get fat! For me, there’s wisdom, and I don’t know if people realize – whatever you possess, you own, it owns you too.
Cryptic Rock – The things that you own end up owning you many times.
Bai Ling – Absolutely. With your money, you’re afraid people are going to steal the big house. You’re afraid somebody will break in. Just live a simple life and want less, experience more, give joy and love more. That’s what I think the meaning of life is, joy, love, and goodness. Another cookie I want to give with what to do, how you live life, it’s the perfect way to give good and bring good to you – when you have love in your heart, nothing can go wrong. When you have love, if love is your core, whatever you do and say, it’s all going to be loving, all is going to be correct.
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