Gossip Girl actress Nan Zhang spoke to GlobalGrind this afternoon in between filming scenes for the hit TV series in New York City.
We were lucky enough to chat with Nan about her life as a student (she’s studying neuroscience at Johns Hopkins), her life in New Orleans while Hurricane Katrina hit, her memories of China (she moved to the states when she was six) and much, much more. Check it out!
GlobalGrind: Congratulations on the new season of Gossip Girl. How does it feel to be back?
Nan Zhang: It feels really good to be back. It is really good to see everyone again because from season one, we were all like a small family.
You will be wearing some amazing clothes this season, no?
Yes, absolutely! We have the most amazing wardrobe from every designer you can think of. My character is one of the mean girls, so I get to wear more outlandish clothing, a little bit more risqué-looking-things than the classic Chanel look, so it’s always fun to play it up and see what they do with the outfits.
When you first started on Gossip Girl many people were excited to see a person of color on the show, but critics also felt your character was there more as decoration. What was your response to that at the time?
It was really nice to represent an Asian-American on the show, but it was weird that we were in every episode but we didn’t have as many lines. And it was hard to answer interview questions about that. Over time, the plot of the show revolved around very few central characters, and even other characters weren’t as evolved [as they are now]. It is hard to say.
I do get asked how I feel to be the Asian token, and that is a harsh term to use, because you want to represent a culture on TV. It is such a privilege to be here, but at the same time you want to represent more. I don’t think the viewers keep that in mind when they are rooting for their nationality, that this is also the plot of the story and the plot of the show and they can’t just make the show revolve around one ethnicity. So I hope, overtime, there is going to be more people of different ethnicities showing up as central characters. If I am paving a small way towards that, that is something that I am proud of. Token or no token, I am proud to be a part of that.
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As far as characters and Gossip Girl go, do you have a favorite?
I really like Leighton’s character, which is Blair. She plays it so well! Aside from that, her character is this really mean girl, but at the same time she has a sincere soft side to her, which is nice to see! She is hilarious, her lines are really funny. The other character I like is Ed’s character Chuck because he is so eccentric and so off the bat. Every word that he delivers is just so on point that it is really memorable and really funny. I like his character.
Is it difficult playing a mean girl? You seem like you’re a really nice young lady.
It actually really is! Outside of dressing up in heels, being really fancy and being mean, I like to chill at home, go surfing, go snowboarding, or be at home and be relaxed. I mean, I am girly, but definitely not mean, so this is fun! It’s definitely fun to play a mean person because I will never be that mean in real life! I try to channel all the mean people I have experienced [and playing that character] is a good way to exude that.
You are in school studying neuroscience. How did you get interested in neuroscience?
My parents are both doctors … and neuroscience is the epitome of what I wanted to learn. I did research when I was 14 and I worked in a very prestigious lab under one of the leading ophthalmologists in the country. I was the only student and I actually wasn’t allowed to work there because I was a high school student. But they qualified me with all my stats and everything. I did a lot of research with grad students, with post docs and professors, and they didn’t cut me any slack. I remembered taking home volumes and volumes of bio chemistry books, biology books and just reading all of these med school level books on my own. It was challenging at first, because it was very daunting. I wanted to be able to accomplish this and not be like, ‘Oh I’m just a little kid, I can’t do it,’ but at the same time it really got me interested in neuroscience.
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You also grew up in New Orleans. Were you in New Orleans when Katrina hit?
Yes, a lot of people don’t know this, but I personally went through Katrina. I rode through the hurricane in a truck with my family trying to evacuate! To see something chaotic to that degree was very eye opening. We were trying to evacuate, but it was overnight because as a native to New Orleans, we don’t think to evacuate unless it’s a Category Four or Five, a Three we will stay because we are used to that, but overnight it went from a Category Three to a Category Five, which is just so little time for people to evacuate. By the time that we had gone, we had moved one foot in three hours so we ended up trying to drive around the hurricane. We drove to the left side of it which was the weaker side, then drove through the hurricane and there was just stuff flying everywhere! I remember every part of that. We were one of the first people back to the city to see the destruction and it was very powerful to realize without communication, without power, without electricity, you are in the woods. It was pitch black everywhere and you are very helpless in that situation, but it was good to see that after Katrina they really rebuilt everything so much better than before, so it is almost like a revamping of the city. Everybody locally chipped in to help and nationally, people came in to help and New Orleans now is much better than before, aesthetically, it is a lot cleaner.
Before moving to New Orleans you lived in China. Do you remember growing up in China?
I came here when I was six years old. I remember China really clearly. It was a very different time then, because this was after the Tiananmen Square and the People’s Revolution. It was a very turbulent time for the Chinese people. It wasn’t modern like right now. I grew up with my grandparents because my parents left to go abroad. I have baby pictures where my friends can’t believe it is me because I am in a wood cot playing in the dirt like an impoverished Third World country child! But China has changed so drastically in the last few decades! It was really nice to see that change and to have grown up in that setting. It is a humbling experience.
How do you balance modeling, TV and school?
A lot of people ask me, ‘Why don’t you pick one, because you cannot give 100 percent of yourself to one or the other?’ and that is entirely true. The best answer I can give is that it is like a crazy family. I have to pick between my spouse, my child and it puts you in a position when you really love one thing that’s entirely different from another thing, but you just love them both so much it is hard to balance it.
I literally come to film, go back the same day for class and then sleep a few hours on the train or flight and then I study any chance I get. I come back to set, I film, I go back, I change in the vans and I don’t get any slack from either side. Professionally, I don’t want to have any special treatment because this is what I am doing, this is my job. For Gossip Girl I am always here on time and with school they don’t really understand this other spectrum! But I don’t have any leniency with that, so I have to perform like the other students. At the end of the day, you have 24 hours and it is just how you utilize it. I am definitely pushing the envelope on how much I can accomplish in 24 hours. I try my best and hopefully I can keep doing that, until one day I have to choose or something, but hopefully I can do both!
