Kelsey Wang on Embracing Chameleonic Adaptability, Surviving Audition Mortification, and Redefining Boundaries

As a part of our series about Inspirational Women In Hollywood, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Kelsey Wang.

Kelsey Wang joined the cast of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS in March 2022 as Allie Nguyen, the granddaughter of Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman).

Kelsey was born in Beijing, China. She lived in Beijing and Singapore before moving to the United States at the age of seven. She is a graduate of Duke University and attended the Yale School of Drama’s YSD Summer Conservatory.

Her theater credits include the role of Liuli in the U.S. Premiere of “Chimerica” (2014 Olivier and Evening Standard Award for Best Play) at the Studio Theater in Washington, D.C. and the lead role of Daiyu in in Pan Asian Repertory Theater’s production of “A Dream of Red Pavilions”.

Television credits include the recurring role of Daisy Kwan on “General Hospital”, Netflix’s “Daredevil” and the dual language pilot, “Journey to the East”.

In her spare time, Kelsey enjoys traveling with her friends & family, skiing, gaming, and contributing toward environmental conservation groups.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

Absolutely! I spent the first half of my childhood in beautiful Singapore. It is still one of my favorite places on Earth because it is such a confluence of cultures, which is especially reflected in its language and food. My parents and I moved to United States when I was 7 years old. To put it simply, Texas was about as different as you could get from Singapore (lol!), and there was just a bitttt of culture shock for the first few years. We then moved several times in Dallas. As a result, I became somewhat of a chameleon, which is part of the reason I naturally felt drawn to acting later in life. I loved Dallas though and still call it home. I went to a boarding school in Indiana for high school, then college in North Carolina, then New York City for my first job. So while I enjoyed my tour of the US, I can say I am very happy to finally be settled in Los Angeles now!

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

I found acting through a series of very fortunate events. As an only child, I always had a big imagination and loved acting out scenes from my favorite TV shows. When I was in 8th grade, I received a postcard in the mail advertising a scholarship to an amazing-looking boarding school. I am a dreamer, and I am ambitious, so, I researched the school & scholarship, and then wrote my application all in a week. Next thing I knew, my parents (who didn’t really know what I did) were taking me to Indiana for final interviews at the school. I am forever grateful to Frank Batten who donated millions to create a comprehensive merit scholarship program. He changed my life and many others. I would never have had the circumstance to explore the arts at that age otherwise. I found theatre there and the scholarship also allowed me to attend Yale Drama School’s summer program, which cemented my passion for acting.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Acting is putting your heart out there every day and it can either be the most invigorating or the most mortifying thing you do. While I was going to conservatory in NYC, I had a wonderful theatrical agent that helped me get my feet wet in auditioning. Musicals are a way of life in the Big Apple, so they are naturally part of the audition circuit. I had made a few fans of casting directors and there was a principal part of a big revival that on paper would have been perfect for me…. except that I cannot sing. At all. But the CDs pushed my agent hard to have me audition.

In a town with so many talented singers, I had no illusions of my singing ability, but I, of course caved and said yes. And with that, I bought myself 72 hours of misery, extreme stress and also spent hundreds of dollars with a vocal coach preparing a song. Well, I am proud to say I did make it into the audition room and sang with the accompanist. As predicted, it was terrible and mortifying. In fact, after I finished, there was a moment of silence, where the room was just in shock. And then I got the classic rejection response — “Thank you, Kelsey.”

The power of saying “no” and passing on a project you are not right for is a very valuable lesson I learned after that day.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Of course! I am grateful to my Los Angeles acting coach. I found him when I was quite blocked creatively and struggling with some insecurities. He has and will always be one of my biggest believers. He creates a space that is free of judgment where I can take risks, be bad, and have the work be a collaboration between him and I. He’s always someone I go to when I need an extra set of eyes. For my fellow actors, I think it’s important to try a lot of different classes, big and small, and find a coach or teacher that really works for YOU and that you connect with.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

Acting is one of the careers that can be difficult given that you’re constantly treading through an opaque world that provides so little feedback on your craft. I’ve found that one of the most important things I am constantly reminding myself of is that everyone has their own approach to acting. Whether it is when you’re working with casting, coaches, in classes, or other actors, it’s critical to remember that what might work for one person may simply not click for another — and you can’t beat yourself up over that. Part of what makes acting a fun challenge is that I find that I am in a constant process of discovering what works for me.

You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?

I’ve really been enjoying working with CBS and the Y&R team over the last number of weeks to bring Allie to life. I’m still in the process of getting by bearings in the contract role, but I can’t wait to see where this takes me.

We are very interested in looking at diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture and our youth growing up today?

Hollywood uniquely has the special power, through a good story told authentically, to spread empathy. Additionally, media has tremendous influence on our culture, and it helps shape our perception, beliefs, and ideas. Film and TV often reflects our society and what is coming next. By not having diversity represented in film & television, not only is it misrepresenting our world today, but it also subliminally telegraphs that minorities are not important / inferior to the hero or heroine’s narrative, which is especially detrimental, because the audience often put themselves into the hero’s shoes.

It is also extremely important that diversity exists in front and behind the camera. I sometimes see scenes on film & TV that are tonally cringeworthy and I always think those things could easily be caught if there were more POCs as producers, writers, etc. Finally, telling authentic stories can really help our youth because they can see real relatable versions of themselves on TV.

What are your “3 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

1. We are all on our own individual journeys. Even if it doesn’t seem like it and you see the same group of people at your auditions, we are all so different in our experiences, which informs who we are and our personalities in many ways. The way you bring a character to life will be so different than the girl sitting next to you in an audition room. So, trust that; you are not behind or ahead of anyone.
2. You will constantly be learning. I thought that by attending conservatory, I will have my craft somewhat figured out by graduation. That’s only the very beginning. I am so grateful for my current role — I learn so much from these veteran actors every day and they have all been so generous in sharing their experiences.
3. It’s ok to take a break. Rejection is not easy. One of the things I am really proud of is having lived multiple lives — doing an array of different jobs from corporate / Wall Street, to tour guiding, to acting. I did what I needed to for myself at that moment in time.

Can you share with our readers any selfcare routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body, mind or heart to thrive? Please share a story for each one if you can.

I love Los Angeles because I am surrounded by so much beautiful nature. One of the most healing things I do for myself is go on early morning walk / hikes in the canyons or mountains. Hearing the birds chirp, seeing nature in bloom, and breathing in the morning air centers me and gives me a sense of peace. I am a big proponent of solo walks in silence.

While my family wasn’t religious, I went to daycare at a Buddhist temple when I was younger. When I really feel turbulent, I do try to tune into some Dharma talks, and that always gives me some perspective and allows me to step out of my own troubles for a few moments.

And finally, I am lucky to have a small but incredibly supportive group of loved ones.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I love the quote “Don’t let someone else’s opinion of you become your reality”.

I am more introverted and sensitive by nature. In school, I think there’s a certain mold you have to fit into if you are interested in theatre, in business, etc. Often I found myself not quite fitting into any of these molds and the advice given to me, while completely well-intentioned, came from people with very different perspectives / experiences than mine. I think I experienced the same disconnect socially as well. And for a long time, I put all of that on myself. Deep down, I felt like there was something wrong with me.

We manifest what we believe of ourselves. And I wish I had the insight to realize earlier that what others think of you is their business, not yours. We often hold what others tell us about ourselves as the truth, but if it limits us from pursuing our dream, why would we be silly enough to choose that over our own vision of ourselves?

You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

One thing I hope to promote through my story is to inspire others to dream and think with less boundaries. Our society today encourages and rewards people to be singularly focused, and I think most of us have multiple gifts to offer.

Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!

I would love to have lunch with my grandpa. He had a huge role in raising me when I was a child, but sadly passed when I was 10. He was a brilliant mind — a chemistry professor at Peking University who led research on LCDs. He also lived through WWII, Mao, Tiananmen Square, etc., and yet he was so relaxed and jovial. There was always a twinkle in his eyes. His whole approach to life is something I want to learn more about.

Other than that, I honestly would love to meet some of the everyday heroes who put other peoples’ lives ahead of their own every day. Oh, and Mackenzie Scott! For her tremendous philanthropy.

Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?

Yes! Currently I am only on Instagram, my handle is @kelseywang_.

This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!