about
Hello! My name's Rebecca (she/her) and just as it says on the tin, I'm an actor, voice actor, writer and sensitivity reader, and an occasional translator. I’m openly queer and Taiwanese of Hakka Chinese descent (more on that below), so regardless of the position I take on, I make a point of working on projects that prioritise marginalised voices. My specialties lie in Asia/Asian diaspora, queerness, and mental illness.
I grew up mostly in Taipei, Taiwan, but I was also raised in the U.S. and Australia before attending Wesleyan University, where I got my BA in theatre and Italian.
You'll also find that the only images that have been retouched are the headshots under the 'actor' tab. Apparently, people love 'authenticity', and there really isn't anything more 'authentically Rebecca' than aggressive fly-aways, acne and the attempts at quirkiness to hide how camera-shy I actually am. This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I'm poor and bad at photoshop.
Wei is a given name, and is pronounced 'way'. Hsieh is my surname, and is pronounced 'shee-eh' as one syllable, kinda like shushing someone and saying 'yeah'.
If you are listing credits by surname etc, please make sure to put me under the H section!
Wee? Wye? Heesh?
So you’re Chinese, right?
Short answer: Nope.
Long answer: It depends on what you mean by Chinese! In Mandarin, we have a bunch of different words with different meanings, all of which are commonly translated to ‘Chinese’.
Do you mean an ethnic Han Chinese person (華人 Huaren)? Yep, that’s me; I’m of Hakka descent, which is a subgroup of Han Chinese!
Do you mean Chinese as in the nationality (中國人 Zhongguoren)? Nope, I’m Taiwanese.
What's Up With Your Social Media Handle?
Fresh out of college, I was going through Backstage, feeling like a real pro, when I came aross the worst casting calls. Aside from the usual fare--delicate lotus blossoms and hypersexualised dragon ladies--one casting call stood out to me:
It asked for a 'Japanese or Asian American' who could 'effect a general Asian inflection'.
As a joke, I began using the handle GeneralAsian for my social media, thinking it would just be temporary. Turns out, it's kinda catchy, and depressingly, easier for the average English-speaker to remember than Rebecca Wei Hsieh.
can i cast you in chinese roles or is that offensive?
Short answer: Sure, if you want to! As an actor, I’m aware that my background won’t always match a character’s completely.
Long answer: Again, it depends on what you’re looking for. Are you casting for a Chinese-inspired project that is not really Chinese? Are you open to diaspora? Are you looking for Chinese as in the ethnic group? Or are you looking for Chinese nationality? I’m personally okay with all of the above.
Tl;dr: It’s up to you!