"Lucy Liu knew the instant she watched Lawrence Shou's open-call audition video that the neophyte East Bay actor would be the perfect choice to portray her troubled cinematic son in the wrenching Rosemead, inspired by a real-life Southern California tragedy. The 23-year-old Shou, a lifelong Fremont resident, won out over hundreds of others eager to play 17-year-old Joe, a troubled San Gabriel Valley area high school student with schizophrenia whose distraught mom Irene (Liu, in a transformative performance) is dying of cancer."
"She recalled the audition tape during a November interview along with Shou in San Francisco prior to a SFFILM-sponsored screening of Rosemead. This is his first feature film and it's a very significant performance by a very new person who did not even know where to look for the lens. It's really a phenomenal performance by Lawrence, said Liu, a producer on the film who had been relentlessly trying to get Rosemead made for seven years."
"For the Hollywood newcomer, who started pursuing acting as a career only a few years before landing the role, it's a dream come true. His previous experience had been limited to student films he made while at Chapman University in Orange. Now he's co-starring with Liu, star of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Charlie's Angels among other films. Here's how it all went down. I was back home and I had been auditioning for some projects and I saw this open call online, he said."
Lucy Liu cast Lawrence Shou after seeing his open-call audition video and produced Rosemead after seven years of effort. Shou, 23, a Fremont native and Chapman University alumnus with experience limited to student films, won the role from hundreds to play 17-year-old Joe, a San Gabriel Valley high school student with schizophrenia. Liu portrays Irene, Joe's mother, who is dying of cancer and takes drastic measures as Joe nears his 18th birthday and spirals. Rosemead premiered at an SFFILM screening and opens in Bay Area theaters with Shou attending post-screening conversations at the Metreon.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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