Exclusive Interview: Osric Chau Talks Superhost, Celebrating Emerging Voices, and the Thrill of Independent Filmmaking

For over two decades, Osric Chau has captivated audiences in all areas of his career. From starring in front of the screen to working behind the scenes, Osric’s past credits include projects like Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Supernatural, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Arrow.

His latest film, Superhost, finds Osric stepping into the shoes of a travel vlogger. With their follower count dwindling, Teddy (Osric Chau) and Claire (Sara Canning) pivot to creating viral content around their most recent “superhost,” Rebecca, who wants more from the duo than a great review.

Pop Culturalist had the pleasure of speaking with Osric about Superhost, how he’s made it his mission as a creative to celebrate emerging voices, and the thrill of independent filmmaking.

PC: What was it like filming Superhost?
Osric: This was probably one of the hardest projects I’ve had to do because it’s so not me to be a vlogger. I grew up avoiding the camera, to my mom’s annoyance, since she always wanted to take photos, and here is a character that has to do the opposite of that. It’s hard for me to put my life on display, so it was an additional challenge to do a character that loved it, or at least was pretty damn good at it.

It was the first pandemic project that I jumped into. I was nervous, but it was a small team—we had ten or eleven people…fourteen on our biggest day. So, it was very small and lean. Everyone was great. It was quite an enjoyable experience because the team was so strong.

PC: You shared that there were many firsts on this project. What initially attracted you to this character and script?
Osric: It was definitely a challenge, but it was the filmmakers, Brandon [Christensen] and Kurt [David Harder] that drew me to Superhost. I’d seen some of their work, and I thought they did such a great job with it. I had some reservations with the script at the beginning. I worked through most of them with Brandon. At the end of the day, when they were ready to go, I trusted in their abilities to execute it beyond my understanding of it. I thought they did such a great job, so I was very happy to have done it.

PC: The film does a brilliant job providing commentary on the rise of influencers and social media, which is driven home by the proposal scene that happens halfway through the film. What was your initial reaction when you read that scene?
Osric: That moment is so painful and cringy because I can totally see that happening. There are so many people who are influencers. They want to capture moments like this, but there are probably moments that aren’t caught. People get upset when it’s not captured, but they also consume the content—there’s an incentive for them to capture it. At the same time, you want that authenticity, but what you’re really asking for can be anything but authentic; it’s really not a fair thing to expect.

I had so many thoughts run in my head when I read that scene, like, “How do we approach this? How do we want these characters to come across?” It’s such an impactful moment. We had to find the balance between highlighting what these characters love, and what they love happens to need people’s acknowledgment of it.

PC: You’ve worked on projects of all sizes. What is it about independent filmmaking that excites you as a creative?
Osric: When you’re on a big project, you’re one small cog. You have one job. On an independent film, everyone has to wear multiple hats. There’s a joy in that. For me, having been in the industry for as long as I have, I’ve started to explore the other side of the camera. There’s more room for growth for me in that direction. I want to learn more about the process of putting my own movies together. I’ve done it a couple of times, but I certainly had other people doing most of the leg work. I just want to be around that. I want to absorb it. I want to know what it takes. I want to know all the different ways that it can happen. You only learn that by doing and experiencing it to some degree.

I love doing independent films. I think the biggest draw is for more storytellers to be able to tell their stories, many of which can only do so through independent films. Independent films are slowly dying off, so I want to keep supporting them whenever I can. Hopefully, we’ll see a resurgence so we have new voices that can come into the market.

PC: That’s a perfect segue to this next question: you’re also a producer on this film—how did that come to fruition? Was it a challenge wearing multiple hats?
Osric: I was a creative producer more than anything. I gave some notes on several drafts of the script. It was more about giving creative notes and diving into the script with Brandon. I didn’t actually do any of the heavy lifting—that goes back to Kurt and Brandon. They’re the ones that put this thing together. They’re the ones that carried it to the end; I just supported them wherever they needed me to along the way. I don’t want to take any credit for that. Kurt and Brandon did such a fantastic job. Kudos to them.

PC: Something that’s really resonated with me is that throughout your career, you’ve used your platform to amplify the voices of Asian creatives and worked towards greater representation within the industry. In more recent years, we’ve seen that process being made. Why has it taken so long?
Osric: Why it’s taken so long is because I feel like everyone was waiting for someone else to do it first. This was certainly something that I was guilty of. At the beginning, when I was starting out, I was waiting for someone to do it. I was waiting for people before me to do the thing so that I could jump on it. Then at a certain point, I realized there were people that are after me that were looking to me to do the thing so they could jump on it. I realized that we’re all in the same position. Being the person that initiates and sticks their neck out is a scary, scary thing. It takes a certain type of person to do that.

In an industry that’s very risk adverse, being the first is so daunting. It took us time before we got to the tipping point where there were a few names in the hat. At some point, some of those projects came out. A couple of them became successful. It’s about investing in scripts written by Asian writers. It’s about investing in directors of Asian descent. It’s about hiring someone of that descent to do a job, whether it be an actor, writer, director, creative, or crew member. For a long time, we didn’t have any of that. For a long time, there weren’t executives, agents, and producers in those places. We were waiting on others to write Asian stories. We can’t rely on other people to write our stories—for a long time, we were doing that.

This goes for every minority out there. At the end of the day, if you want change to happen, you have to be the change. You’re certainly swimming against the current because you have to start from scratch, but hopefully, there are enough people who want to be allies and will help people who are actually willing to do the work to get there.

There were a lot of things coinciding together to get us to where we are today. I’m glad it’s happened. I wish it would have happened sooner, but you know, better late than ever. Hopefully, we can all keep working at it and help other minority groups do the same.

PC: Well said. Besides Superhost, what’s next for you?
Osric: I’m working on a couple of projects that I can’t talk about right now. If you’re in Vancouver, I’m opening a restaurant—I’ll be there sometimes! I’m looking into the directing space. I’ve also been writing. I want to direct my first independent feature, so it starts with the script. If I can write a script that I like enough, hopefully, I can find people that will help me make it. Apart from that, I still act every now and again when the right project comes around. I’m starting another one soon, but I can’t talk about it.

To keep up with Osric, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Superhost is out now on VOD, digital HD, and wherever you stream movies.

Photo Credit: Diana Ragland