Pop-Culturalist.com

Actress-dancer Kallie Hu is an exciting up-and-coming storyteller who has delivered electrifying performances in projects including Disney’s Descendants 2, Yellowjackets, and Motherland: Fort Salem.

This spring, she brings her undeniable talents to Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies where she stars as Peg, a student at Rydell. As a person of color, she must work twice as hard as her peers—an all-too-familiar experience that Kallie knows first-hand.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Kallie about Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, finding her voice as an artist, the parallels she was able to draw with her character, and more.

PC: You got your start as a dancer. What was that transition like going from that discipline into acting?
Kallie: I’d say the transition came at a really great time. I had just graduated from university, so I was freaking out about what to do with the rest of my life. However, a month before I was supposed to move to Barcelona for my master’s degree, I booked my first role as a dancer on Disney’s Descendants 2. While we were filming, I replied to an open call on Facebook for a commercial acting role and the agent who submitted me ended up signing me onto his roster (I’m still with him today, actually—shout out to Aaron Alexander!).

When I started attending auditions, I quickly realized, “Wow, I really suck. I should take some acting classes” (verbatim). I started my training with Deb Podowski, and it soon became apparent to me that I was emotionally blocked as a human being. As a dancer, you aren’t always accustomed to speaking up or having your voice heard. As an Asian female, I wasn’t accustomed to the public displays of vulnerability that the craft required. I was always shy growing up, too, so these classes gave me the safety and space to face the parts of myself I was uncomfortable with. Whenever I found a block in my work, I realized it was because I had a block in my own life. Another acting coach, Aaron Craven, once said, “Acting is not therapy, but it’s therapeutic”.

It’s taken years of hard work to get to this place where I feel comfortable in front of the camera and to feel like my voice matters. Now, looking back, it felt like the universe was telling me, “This is what you’re meant to be doing now. This is for you.”

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Kallie: My family. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without my parents—my dad worked three jobs and my mom worked ridiculously long hours to provide for all my dance classes, piano lessons, extracurriculars, trips for dance conventions, and swim meets…they even showed up for every performance, competition, and recital (my dad would always be snoring in the audience but would be awoken by my mom’s sharp elbow when I was on stage).

They gave me absolutely everything, and I am eternally grateful, so I work hard every day knowing I never want to waste a drop of their love and effort.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success throughout your career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out?
Kallie: Given how much my family means to me, it must be when I booked Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. I had auditioned for the show about thirteen times from November to December 2021. However, it was Christmas Eve when I got the call from my agent, and I had just arrived at my mom’s house. I ran to tell her, and we danced in the kitchen while she waved around the spatula she was cooking dinner with. That’s the kind of memory you never forget.

PC: You’re one of the stars of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. What was it about this particular character that resonated with you?
Kallie: I typically resonate with characters that strive to be seen for more than what they’ve been told to be and do in their lives. They’re usually hard-working, intelligent, and compassionate characters waiting for their moment to grow into their own (a dream role would be to play the type of character that moves from being the ‘assistant’ to the badass assassin).

When it comes to Peg, she’s that loyal and ambitious friend that you want in your corner. However, as a POC in the Socs, she’s had to work even harder than her peers to get to her position and stay there. Though she comes off as a mean girl, she’s coming at it from a mindset of protecting her own and trying to toe the status quo in an era that wouldn’t necessarily be so kind to her.

Throughout the season you might catch her studying or carrying a large amount of books; it’s because she’s always doing the other girls’ homework (working with the props team, we made sure that she was always carrying multiple books between classes). She’s that type of character, but I can guarantee you that she wants more, “more than [she] probably should”. It’s like Jane’s song “I Want More” from Episode 2.

PC: Did you feel any pressure heading into this project and now being a part of the Grease legacy?
Kallie: Heading into the project there was this electrifying energy to it all. We were all super conscious of the original Grease’s legacy and wanted to do it justice. From PAs to producers, there was an outstanding commitment to the story, the craft, and the audience. Each crew and cast member really gave the show their all, and the attention to detail, love, and camaraderie are palpable in the final cut. There was pressure, sure, but there was more of an excitement to it. It was an opportunity to share this story with even more generations to come, and the ability to be that bridge between the ’50s (when the story takes place), the 7’0s (when the original Grease was made), and the 2020s.

It blows my mind that storytelling can have such a profound effect on society and on peoples’ lives. Being a part of something as impactful as this is why I was drawn to acting in the first place; I’ve always wanted to be part of something bigger, something that brings joy to people’s lives, and perhaps even make the world a better place by fostering empathy, illuminating stories, and provoking thought and conversation.

PC: As part of your preparation for a new role, you like to ask yourself a lot of questions. What questions did you ask yourself as you prepared to step into Peg’s shoes?
Kallie: I love that you did your research, Kevin. Yes, I do ask a lot of questions about a character during the development process. My biggest focus for Peg was understanding her “why”. Fun fact: I freelance as a User Experience designer/researcher when I’m not acting, so a lot of what I do is asking people questions to empathetically understand them.

For Peg—or any antagonist, really—it’s crucial to humanize them. I ask myself why they are the way they are, their core motivations, and use that as fuel for the rest of the character’s development and the choices you see on screen (e.g. as someone especially confined by the social norms of her time, she has a bit of a frisky side and goes a little wild at Dot’s party in Episode 2—no thanks to the boy’s spiked punch).

It was also really interesting to develop Peg alongside her Soc twin, Pearl (played by Lola Clare), and the rest of the Socs. We spent a lot of time discussing group dynamics and establishing the relationships between one another.

Before we started shooting, Alethea Jones (director and executive producer) brought us in for a movement exploration workshop and asked, “What animal are your characters?” Rosemary was a shark, and Peg and Pearl ended up being remoras (the kind of fish that sticks onto sharks symbiotically). Alethea also suggested types of rodents such as field mice, bunnies, or ring-tailed possums. We had a blast and got pretty creative with it all.

PC: This is a full-circle moment for you as you get to combine many of your passions. This is also the longest that you’ve lived with a character. Has anything surprised you about this experience? What’s been the biggest takeaway?
Kallie: Full-circle is definitely the word(s). I did my very first musical as a dancer in 2017 with Disney’s Descendants 2. Throughout the next seven years, I’ve had the honor of working as an actor on shows such as Yellowjackets, Charmed, Motherland: Fort Salem, and have even gotten to do musical episodes on The Flash and Once Upon a Time. Now, having worked as an actor-dancer on Grease, what really blew me away was the spirit of the people working on this show.

I knew (or knew of) many of the cast members before the show since a lot of us were members of the Vancouver dance community. Through the many rehearsals, night shoots, and ridiculous shenanigans on set (some of which you can get a glimpse of on Insta or TikTok), we’ve become so much closer with each other and the entire cast and crew.

My biggest takeaway has been fostering such deep and meaningful connections with such kind, talented, and thoughtful individuals, while learning how to best serve the production as a small cog in this giant machine. Acting really is one of the most incredible and craziest jobs in the world, and I am so very grateful I responded to that open call all those years ago.

To keep up with Kallie, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. New episodes of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies drop every Thursday on Paramount+.

Photo Credit: Valantena Sleman