[...] Marco Polo,’ about the Italian explorer’s years in Asia, is a lavish, $90 million 10-part series filmed in Italy, Kazakhstan and Malaysia that is a collaboration between the Weinstein Co. and Netflix. Chen, a San Francisco resident for a quarter of a century, has a juicy role as Empress Chabi, the wife of Kublai Khan (Benedict Wong), who negotiates her way through court intrigue roiled by the appearance of the Marco (newcomer Lorenzo Richelmy). Last year she co-starred in a 10-part series for Australian television, “Serangoon Road,” a detective noir set in 1960s Singapore (it will be released on DVD in the United States in February). Chabi in 'Marco Polo’ is a supporting character, but I saw it as a 10-hour movie. [...] Chen recently posted about her trip to New York for the “Marco Polo” premiere and reflected on her visit to the Big Apple soon after arriving in America in the 1980s: “It’s only natural that I have disappointed the young self at times, but it’s not over yet; I am still on the adventure that she started, evolving and striving to be who she dreamed of becoming.” Every time I’m out of town I miss my family, of course, but I really miss working on my blog, said Chen, who is also active on Facebook and Twitter. The Sent Down Girl and the Richard Gere-Winona Ryder film “Autumn in New York” in the late 1990s, she figured it would be her ticket to stay in the industry after the acting parts dried up. [...] she is as in demand as ever; her 25-minute short film “Shanghai Strangers” (2012) is the only movie she has directed in the past 15 years. “I’ve been approached by this Chinese company to write and direct a film that would mostly be shot in San Francisco,” Chen said.
Reported by SFGate 1 hour ago.
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