‘3 Body Problem’ Cast And Character Guide: Meet The Actors

Past work: “The Joy and Luck Club”

Character Specialty: Astrophysics

How would you describe this show in 15 words or less?

What happens when a young woman’s actions (her fateful decision) change the course of humanity?

How would you describe your character?

So I would say that Ye is a survivor of extreme trauma and has lost everything. As a result, she has learned a kind of adaptability and she also feels a bit of survivor’s guilt. She is a mother. And at the same time, she believes that she has the power to make change, and I think she does it in the best way she thinks possible.

Inside her, she is still partly young Ye, because she was a prodigy, and that still exists in her. And that belief in herself, that her decisions are the right ones and that she can make changes. Even if everything goes wrong, she can make changes.

Did you read the books before signing up?

I’m here [in the U.S.], and have that American tunnel vision. So, I’m a philistine and hadn’t heard of the ‘Three Body Problem’ until Benny Wong; We were both in London, working on different projects, and he told me that he was working on this. And I said, “What is that?” But then I read the book. I had a Chinese coach who insisted that I read the book before we started filming this, and he was very strict.

But once I read it, I got a lot of copies for other people, because I really feel like it’s accessible. And they have made it even more accessible. I was really drawn to it and I love books, even though I’m not, you know, I’m a nerd, but I’m not a sci-fi fan at all.

And as for what I learned, is that time is elastic.

Do you think humanity will come into contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life?

I believe that everything is possible. You know, definitely before this, someone would say something about aliens, and inside I would roll my eyes and say, “Oh yeah, it could happen.” But now I’m a little more open to the fact that “anything is possible.” We don’t know what’s out there. What we see, feel, hear and touch is not necessarily real. There are many more things that we are not aware of.

How did you work with Zine Tseng to create the character?

Zine had filmed his section first. His last day was my first day, so I got all the pictures from him before we started. I basically lived Zine before I even met her. So when I met her, it was like meeting a celebrity… or getting to know another side of myself. Honestly, she built the structure, laid the foundation.