EFFIE インミャオ

by Sherif Awad
She is a Chinese-Japanese artist/model/actress who was born in Beijing and currently is based in her hometown Tokyo. Effie was an only child because only one child was allowed in China for my generation.

“When I was child, I dreamt of becoming an actress”, remembers Effie who used to watch movies and TV dramas in her teens. This was including ethics, costume dramas, suspense, science fiction, ghost films and action films. “At that time, I imagined the scene of myself appearing on the silver screen and being the main star of the scene, I was watching”, laughs Effie who years later succeeded to land her first job before the camera after her girlfriend, who was a model, asked her to join her during a photo-shooting.  

“When I was cast in a TV role, I stood in front of the camera and felt that everything was ready and everybody was waiting for my performance. I felt that I found my own stage… Everything was so natural like breathing.  It seems like it was not the first time in my life...”, explained Effie about her own feeling at the TV studio. “I didn’t learn from any school. Yet the experience that I bring to me through every live performance. From extra role to leading role, I’ve learned from directors ,from crew members, from my agency and most of all from my past mistakes”.

According to Effie, the silver screen performance is different from the stage performance because one can't get feedback from the audience at that time. “Even if you only in front of the camera, you should consider the feelings of the audience behind the silver screen”, she adds. “keeping serious to play every scene even if some just shooting your back! Just don't push yourself to much… It is best to live in the story as naturally as possible”.

Effie is very grateful for having so many opportunities in a short time. “In the future, I would like to go to the world and try to cooperate with its creators of the world”, she hopes. “However, as an actress, age may be the biggest challenge because the choice of characters may become narrower… But this is only a trend.  As long as you are unique, there is no shortage of choices from people around the world.  For the profession, sometimes things not work every day. In the rest time, you need to enrich yourself for the next challenge. For example, learning a new language, acquiring a new skill, understanding other areas or at least making”.

About Japanese entertainment industry, Effie notes that the strength of Japanese film and television art lies in focusing on one area and describing it in great detail.  For example, TV dramas at the medical scene, Japanese suspense, ethics, and Japanese style ghost films are also unique.  Of course, Japanese animations are very strong in the world. Films like The Third Murder (12.38 million dollars), Kingdom  (50 million dollars), Weathering With You (40 million)… Japanese movies are gradually expanding their position in the world.

Effie is now finishing a Hollywood short film and will fly to Toronto to play the leading rule of a drama series.