Linda Chen

Notes

2022 Elizabeth McLennan Actor Scholarship Recipient for the Scottish Universities' International Summer School (SUISS) program. 2021 AAFTA LA Carment Duncan Scholarship finalist. 2021 Australians in Film inaugural UNTAPPED Talent Development Lab fellow. Critics on 'Rear view': 'It was shot in a single take, which is credit to both actors, who not only perform sequences of dialogue borrowed from a variety of road movies but remain in character in the lengthy lacunae between exchanges... the fact that it was clearly taken as a single shot, together with the intensity of the performances, makes it unexpectedly absorbing.' -Christopher Allen, The Australian. '... the film is gripping because you wonder if something is about to happen in the strange intimacy you're witnessing. Enough transpires to keep you in suspense, as the libidinous presence of the women surges around each other's ennui.' -Robert Nelson, The Sydney Morning Herald. '...a feat of endurance coupled with forced voyeurism.' -Julie Shiels, The Conversation. 'With the film being shot in a single 90-minute take, Randall and Chen’s performances couldn’t be controlled in post-production. As a consequence, with its severely restricted scope and constantly present cast of two, the film takes on an increasingly theatrical sensibility as it rolls on.' -Stephanie Convery, The Guardian. From Rear View co-creators, Anna Breckon and Nat Randall: 'As the lead performer, Linda was required to hit various marks, contort her body to fit the film frame, while maintaining the emotional reality of her character. The technical difficulty of the role was immense, and Linda pulled it off with virtuosic precision and perfection, as well as humour and poignancy... Linda was open to experimentation and was able to learn large chunks of text in a short period of time and make adjustments on the fly. Linda regularly offered considered conceptual contributions and took direction extremely well. Linda brings intellect, nuance, specificity, strength and depth of emotion to her work. We would love to work with Linda again in the future.' On 'Fragments': 'The performances by the cast of eight actors are uniformly excellent... The depth of character work... is outstanding and their monologues are presented with skill and confidence.' -Len Power, Canberra Critics' Circle 'The play was deftly performed by a team of young adults, all of who delivered the script with confident and nuanced performances.' -Arne Sjostedt, CityNews. 'The cast delivers the angst-driven script movingly.' -Erin Stewart, ArtsHub. From 'Fragments' director, Shelly Higgs: 'Linda had a very difficult task to fulfill. She had to create a fully fleshed out character from what was described by the writer as a 'script device; to lighten the mood of the play. It was inspiring to meet with Linda week after week to see the progress she had made and what new colour and meaning she had unearthed from the piece; and ultimately to see her beautiful, layered performance of a character that was so much more than ever dreamt of by the (thrilled) playwright. She brought wit, humour and levity to the role, fulfilling the structural need of the piece, whilst also providing a deeply nuanced performance.'