Sight Star Terry Chen & Subject Dr. Ming Wang On Bringing The Incredible True Story To Life

Sight is a new film detailing an extraordinary actual-life story. The center of the film is Dr. Ming Wang, a Chinese immigrant who lived by way of China’s Cultural Revolution, came to the United States, and became a globe-renowned eye surgeon. The film was directed by Andrew Hyatt, written by Hyatt, John Duigan, and Buzz McLaughlin, and stars Terry Chen as the adult Dr. Wang, Ben Wang as the young Ming Wang, and Greg Kinnear as Dr. Misha Bartnovsky.

As a film primarily based on a actual particular person, Sight benefited from the direct involvement of Dr. Wang, who was on set by way of a lot of the shooting. Dr. Wang served as a continuous resource for Chen and Kinnear, in particular assisting Chen capture the essence of the actual particular person he was portraying. Thanks in component to this collaboration, the story of Dr. Wang rings accurate and is all the a lot more impactful for that.

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Screen Rant interviewed Terry Chen and Dr. Ming Wang about their perform on Sight. Dr. Wang happily verified the truth of essential film moments and Chen discussed bringing out the authenticity of Dr. Wang’s story.

Terry Chen Reveals His Process In Preparing To Play Dr. Wang

Screen Rant: Terry, how did you prepare to play the man sitting subsequent to you?

Terry Chen: Well, this project was brought to me by my agents, and I wasn’t familiar with Dr. Wang’s story just before that. I promptly went on the internet and checked out some YouTube videos of Dr. Wang assisting these young youngsters sufferers regain their sight, and they are miraculous to watch. I was promptly drawn to the script that Andrew Hyatt, our writer-director, had composed, and I felt like it was an vital story to inform.

We shot this film in 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, so we had very a bit of quarantine time and downtime exactly where I was capable to share a lot of stories and speak to the superior medical professional about his life and about what he had gone by way of. So, there was a lot of connection personally in terms of storytelling. Beyond that, setting aside all my apprehensions and worry about playing such an iconic figure in the healthcare globe, there was an vital message and story to be told. We had to get to perform quite fast for the duration of that time, but it was an extraordinary knowledge, with Dr. Wang present all through the entire shoot for the six weeks we had been up in Vancouver.

Dr. Ming Wang Reflects On Seeing His Childhood Brought To Life in Sight

Dr. Wang, had been you at all hesitant to have your early life in China be such a component of the story? I envision it would be incredibly emotional to see it acted out on set, and later on screen.

Dr. Ming Wang: Yes, it was a incredibly emotional knowledge for the reason that I actually saw component of my life in the previous unfold correct in front of me. The production [designer], Chris August, and the entire group did such a lovely job, down to the facts of each and every single Chinese character on the wall and on the set. It is such a distinctive knowledge that I really feel privileged to [have had], for the reason that handful of of us will ever relive component of our previous, be reminded of the blessing we had, and ask ourselves, “What would I have done better? What would I have done differently had the same circumstance occurred?” Which is a privilege.

Authenticity Was Key In Telling Dr. Ming’s Story

Terry, you are playing a actual particular person, but you are also dramatizing the story, operating with Greg Kinnear and a bunch of other amazing actors. What did you, as an actor, want to bring to this on a dramatic level?

Terry Chen:

Authenticity. Just authenticity. When you happen to be playing a actual particular person, and in particular if they are there each and every day on set, it raises the stakes. Everybody wanted to elevate their perform to make confident that the story was told in an genuine way to honor this wonderful figure who’s helped millions of men and women across the globe with [the Wang] Foundation for Sight Restoration. It was undoubtedly a labor of appreciate, and everyone who was involved in the project felt like they had to do their most effective to portray this extraordinary man’s life.

Dr. Wang, there are so numerous heavy subjects in this film. One of my favored moments is a lighter a single, when you met your wife. In the film, you save somebody correct in front of her. Is that the actual story?

Dr. Ming Wang: Yes, that genuinely occurred. It was a person who had no clue about Japanese meals and [put this] major [piece of] wasabi his mouth, and he practically died. I had to virtually do CPR to save him, and then my future wife, Anle, was essentially standing in the corner, saw the entire issue, and was impressed. The other day I was telling a young man, “If you want to impress a young lady, save somebody’s life.” But that is how we initially met, and the rest is history.

Dr. Wang &amp Terry Chen On What They Hope Viewers Get From Sight

Is there a single certain issue you every single would like audiences to take away from the film?

Terry Chen: I consider we have so numerous wonderful central themes to the film. For me, I hope the audience connects with this notion of family members and how vital our connection to our family members is. We reside in a time correct now exactly where these family members values and dynamics are, I consider, gradually eroding away. It’s so inspiring, I think—especially becoming an Asian American—to see the story of immigration and to see the accomplishment that he’s been capable to reach by way of difficult perform, perseverance, and then [in] bringing the rest of his family members more than to North America and the care that he has for his family members. The connection he had with his parents genuinely carved a path for him to attain these extraordinary successes in his life. I consider it really is some thing that everyone will connect to.

Dr. Ming Wang: Yes, agreed. The family—especially an Asian family—is a incredibly robust bonding. But why should really a single see Sight? My answer is, have you skilled setbacks or failures in your life? Have you skilled discomfort? Have you skilled a predicament exactly where you could not see beyond the circumstance at the time you had been in? Sight will assistance you create a vision, enable you to see beyond these challenges in life, and create a new vision about tomorrow—there’s a far better tomorrow. Sight permits us to do what we can, not just for ourselves, but also for these who desires the most assistance. For me, as an eye medical professional, it really is to assistance these blind orphaned youngsters, and not only create research—like the amniotic membrane speak to lens, which has transformed the globe and has helped millions of patients—but also bring these technologies to the bedsides of these who want the most assistance [in] blind, orphaned youngsters.

Terry Chen: It’s an underdog story. Who does not appreciate a superior underdog story, correct?

Terry Chen Reflects On His Time On The Expanse

Terry, we have readers that are incredibly passionate about The Expanse, and I saw a thread on the internet titled ‘What Happened to Prax?’ I am curious how a lot you consider about the answer to that query, and what you consider the odds are that you will get to answer that query?

Terry Chen: I was so fortunate to be a component of that series—The Expanse—a film noir science fiction piece that had extraordinary grit and characters involved. I think Prax ended up going back to his residence planet and major his men and women in developing a biotechnology to feed the planet. But there is a entire series of novels, clearly, that it really is primarily based upon that audiences can tap into and discover out what occurred to him.

About Sight

Sight, starring Greg Kinnear (as Misha Bartnovsky) and Terry Chen (as Dr. Ming Wang), follows the accurate story of Dr. Ming Wang, a Chinese immigrant who defies all odds to grow to be a globe-renowned eye surgeon. Drawing upon the grit and determination he gained from a turbulent uprising in his youth, Dr. Wang sets out to restore the sight of a blind orphan.

Check out our other interview with Sight star Greg Kinnear.

Source: Screen Rant Plus