{"id":493152,"date":"2026-02-20T20:39:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/493152\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T20:39:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:39:16","slug":"gemma-chan-on-josephine-and-her-emotional-connection-to-the-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/493152\/","title":{"rendered":"Gemma Chan on Josephine and Her Emotional Connection to the Film"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFor Gemma Chan<\/a>, making \u201cJosephine<\/a>\u201d was deeply personal.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe British actress, best known for her work in \u201cCrazy Rich Asians\u201d and \u201cEternals,\u201d stars in Beth de Ara\u00fajo\u2019s buzzy drama as Claire, a mother attempting to help her 8-year-old daughter Josephine (played by newcomer Mason Reeves) after she witnesses a brutal rape in a San Francisco park. A court case hinges on the young girl\u2019s testimony, and Claire and her husband Damien (a strikingly vulnerable Channing Tatum<\/a>) struggle with whether they should allow their daughter to take the stand.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe story behind \u201cJosephine\u201d \u2014 which premiered at Sundance last month and became one of its biggest breakouts, winning the grand jury prize and audience award \u2014 is based on a similar experience de Ara\u00fajo had as a child. This resonated strongly with Chan, who in 2012 witnessed a fatal stabbing in London and bravely decided to testify in court.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was a big part of me wanting to be a part of the story and connecting to it emotionally,\u201d Chan tells Variety over the phone two days before \u201cJosephine\u2019s\u201d international premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival<\/a>. \u201cThe world is a very dangerous place. Unfortunately, I know that and many people know that. It just really hit a raw nerve with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tChan was the first person on board the project after de Ara\u00fajo sent her the script in 2019. \u201cI really believed in her vision for the film and it just felt like there was so much truth in every page of the script,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was attempting to tell a story that I didn\u2019t feel had any been told in that way before. This is very challenging, difficult subject matter, but I never felt that she was coming at it from an angle that was exploitative or trying to sensationalize anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the production was delayed, with de Ara\u00fajo gaining more steam for another film that would become her feature debut, the 2022 psychological thriller \u201cSoft & Quiet.\u201d However, \u201cJosephine\u201d stuck in both of their minds. \u201cIt was a bit of a winding road,\u201d Chan admits, but in spring 2024 filming was finally able to commence thanks to support from producer David Kaplan as well as Chan and Tatum signing on to produce. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a small miracle that the film was made and I\u2019m so proud of it,\u201d Chan says. \u201cI wanted to do whatever I could to help the project get off the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGemma Chan, Mason Reeves and Channing Tatum in \u201cJosephine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGreta Zozula<\/p>\n

\n\tChan delivers a quietly powerful performance in \u201cJosephine,\u201d with many heart-wrenching scenes in which she says one thing and communicates an entirely different emotion with her eyes. Chan credits the environment on set with allowing her to be fully vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNothing had to be forced,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was really a place where we could find the truth of the scene and I was able to be just emotionally truthful.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tAnd, Chan and Tatum had a secret weapon: Reeves, who de Ara\u00fajo scouted at a farmer\u2019s market and had never acted before. \u201cShe really brought out the best in Channing and I,\u201d Chan says. \u201cThere was no artifice at all. I\u2019m just in awe of her \u2014 she\u2019s amazing and wise beyond her years.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tBefore \u201cJosephine\u201d premiered at Sundance, Chan says she had no idea how it would be received. But watching it with an audience for the first time, relief washed over her.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was special and I was really moved by the way that people connected with it,\u201d she says. \u201cFor it to have won the awards is just the icing on top.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMore people will get to watch \u201cJosephine\u201d soon, now that it\u2019s been acquired for U.S. release<\/a> by the relatively new distributor Sumerian Pictures. Though it may not be a name most have heard before, Chan is confident that the company will be able to give the movie the rollout it deserves as it sparks early awards buzz.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI feel that they really believe in the film and understand what it is and they are really excited for audiences to see it,\u201d she says. \u201cWe were very much led by what Beth felt was right and it just felt like it was a good match for a whole bunch of different reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the film still has yet to score distribution in Europe, Chan has her \u201cfingers crossed\u201d ahead of its Berlin premiere that buyers will take notice. But she also hopes it can spark important conversations between festivalgoers.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe film asks the question, \u2018How does a young person deal with the violence of the world?\u2019 And really, that can extend to all of us,\u201d she says. \u201cHow do we persevere, how do we respond, how can we overcome fear and hatred and trauma and still hold onto our humanity? And that\u2019s a question that I think is really important for where we are at the moment in the world.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Gemma Chan, making \u201cJosephine\u201d was deeply personal. The British actress, best known for her work in \u201cCrazy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,106561,447,34475,134,86336,225859],"class_list":{"0":"post-493152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-berlin-film-festival","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-channing-tatum","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-gemma-chan","15":"tag-josephine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}