By Katcy Stephan

Lucy Liu has been in Rosemead for years. No, she hasn’t taken up residence in the SoCal city – but the community within L.A. County’s San Gabriel Valley has left an indelible mark on the actor as both the setting and title of her latest film, “Rosemead,” a passion project that’s taken hold of her for over seven years.

The film (which was actually produced largely in New York) dramatizes the tragic true story revealed in a 2017 Los Angeles Times article by Frank Shyong about a terminally ill mother and her schizophrenic teenage son.

“I don’t know that anyone really would believe it if it wasn’t a true story,” Liu, who also serves as a producer, tells Variety over Zoom ahead of the “Rosemead” world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on Friday. “It resonates with me because we’re missing this. We don’t have this story. And I think a lot of the time, people are very excited about action movies, or how wealthy Asians are – but we don’t have a story that talks about our community in a more realistic manner.”

It wasn’t an easy journey bringing the film to the big screen over the last seven years (which “felt like 100 years,” Liu quips with a laugh). “I really think that the reason why it’s taken so long is because it’s not a sexy idea,” she says. “What people want is, ‘What’s going to bring in the money? What’s going to go viral?’ What’s important to me, and has always been important to me, is a true story about something that’s dramatic and emotional. This story resonates on a universal level.”

To read the entire article: https://variety.com/2025/film/features/lucy-liu-rosemead-tribeca-1236421558/

Photo credit: s_bukley/Shutterstock