Cargo’s Judy Yonemoto on how to look as good as your favorite celebs.
ISSUE: Summer 2011
DEPT: Beauty Kit
Want gorgeous skin like Maggie Q's? Read on.
Makeup artist Judy Yonemoto, a member of cosmetic brand Cargo’s Elite Artist Community, specializes in film and television, and is currently working with the cast of NBC’s hit comedy Outsourced. It’s a perfect fit for the Japanese American because Cargo’s blu-ray High Definition line was specifically designed with photochromatic pigments and micronized minerals to meet the challenges of high definition filming. Here, Judy addresses some of the makeup issues important to Asian women.
Lose the Plastic
ISSUE: Summer 2011
DEPT: Mind and Body
STORY: Anna M. Park
Angela Sun is a plastic guru, and not in the surgical way. An active environmentalist, the host of Yahoo! Sports Minute and co- host for NBC’s 1st Look is all about healthy, clean living. “I collected all the plastic I used in a week and within three days had enough to fill a huge bag of trash,” she says. Sun went to an even bigger dump to film her documentary Plastic Paradise — what’s known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Midway Atoll of the Pacific Ocean.
DATES OF GLORY: Guest columnist Sarah Gim of the blog The Delicious Life says first dates are all about the food (on your plate and not on you, preferably). If you really want to make an impression, Paul Nakayama offers a fantasy scenario worthy of an SNL skit.
ISSUE: Summer 2011
DEPT: The Awful Truth
STORY: Paul Nakayama and Sarah Gim
PHOTO: Audrey Cho
SARAH SAYS:
I never understood why there was such a stigma associated with first dates, since it’s always the second date that stresses me out. See, if you’ve gotten to the second date, that means you did well on your first go. Now you’ve set an expectation of some sort. Now you’ve got to live up to that expectation, and the idea of failing — that is stressful. And the third date? The third date, which means you’ve invested something more that just a wink or an email, gives you a lot to lose. Just thinking about third dates gets me so worked up I almost pass out before getting there.
“Most icons are dead or past their prime. I’m still alive. And still very much actively involved.” — George Takei
ISSUE: Summer 2011
DEPT: Personalities
STORY: Janice Jann
With a resurgence on film and TV, George Takei may be the next Betty White.
George Takei is not a fan of being called an icon. “I take a little umbrage with that,” says the veteran entertainer. “Most icons are dead or past their prime. I’m still alive. And still very much actively involved.”
Indeed, the Japanese American, who is arguably the most famous Asian American actor in Hollywood,
with an entertainment career that spans more than 50 years, across continents, on the small and large screen and on stage, is nowhere near slowing down.
Though Takei is perhaps best known for playing Hikaru Sulu on the ’60s cult classic Star Trek, the star with the deep-baritone voice continues to shine on screen and on stage to this day. Currently, Takei plays a holographic ancestor called Hologramps on the Nickelodeon comedy Supah Ninjas, a show he says will “bring family viewing back together again.” Takei also makes an appearance this summer in the Tom Hanks-Julia Roberts film Larry Crowne, and come 2012, he’ll be on Broadway starring in Allegiance, a musical with Lea Salonga about the Japanese internment during World War II. “It’s a story very close to me,” says Takei. “I lived that life as a child. The parents in the musical are really modeled after my own parents.”
Takei takes the hardships he’s faced in life in stride. Despite the actor’s sometimes stoic reputation, Takei has always been able to combat adversity with a good dose of humor. He’s an outspoken advocate of gay rights (he’s married to long-time partner Brad Altman) and is known for his mock PSAs responding to homo- phobic remarks by public figures. In fact, no one can call this 74-year-old entertainer behind the times in this YouTube age. After his Spider-Man musical spoof video went viral, Takei was dubbed the next Betty White. He’s flattered by the comparison, but what would he rather be called?
“What about George Takei?” he laughs. “I’d like to be that kind of an icon. Working, creative, active and relevant throughout his life.”
— JJ
Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) are back! (And so is Neil Patrick Harris *squeal!) And Audrey Magazine is offering readers free tickets to catch them on the big screen!
To enter for free tickets, click here.
“I’m very blessed. “I think that’s what people’s goals in life should be. Do what you love and get paid for it.” — Jared Eng
ISSUE: Summer 2011
DEPT: Personalities
STORY: Janice Jann
The face and brains behind the beloved Hollywood gossip blog is anything but Just Jared.
Jared Eng doesn’t sleep much. “Hollywood is 24/7. There’s always something going on,” says the 28-year-old Chinese American. “So I go with the flow.” It’s that mentality that earned Eng’s popular celebrity gossip blog, Just Jared, millions of devoted readers, top- ping Yahoo!’s Blogger List.
What sets Just Jared apart is that, in an increasingly mean-spirited Internet age where every celebrity humiliation is documented, Eng refuses to say anything but exuberantly positive things about his site’s subjects. “I don’t really diss people,” says Eng. “I’m just presenting news.” The news may be light fare like Cameron Diaz grabbing Starbucks or Zac Efron’s mustache, but the site is influential enough for shows like Entourage to reference and for publications like The New York Times to profile.
Eng’s ascent as the blogosphere’s King of Nice took time. “Growing up, there weren’t any aspirations to be a blogger,” he says. His strict upbringing didn’t help — he wasn’t exposed to pop culture until he entered Columbia University. “I fell in love with stars,” Eng remembers. “Jennifer Garner from Alias. Britney Spears. I would watch her video frame by frame so I could learn her choreography.” Eng started Just Jared simply to share his interests. The blog didn’t have the same initial take-off as some of Just Jared’s more sardonic counterparts, but that didn’t bother Eng. “Personally, I have a very apathetic personality,” Eng laughs. “I don’t really get mad at things. I liked what I was putting out. In the long run, it’s paying off.”
It sure is. Just Jared is now developing a younger sister site, Just Jared Jr., and with more than five full-time staff, including Eng’s older brother who runs the business side, Eng is working on expanding the JJ brand. Though that means even less sleep, you won’t find Eng complaining. “I’m very blessed,” he says. “I think that’s what people’s goals in life should be. Do what you love and get paid for it.”
— Janice Jann
More stories from Audrey Magazine’s Archives here. Jared also posted about Audrey Magazine at JustJared.com!
“When I go to the Wimbledon ball or the Oscars, it’s black tie with tennis shoes,” — Ashok Amritraj
ISSUE: Summer 2011
DEPT: Personalities
STORY: Janice Jann
When it comes to Hollywood producers, Ashok Amritraj is as cool as it gets.
When you imagine a hotshot Hollywood movie producer who’s worked with some of the biggest stars in Tinseltown — from Sandra Bullock to Steve Martin — and raked in billions of dollars in revenue, you may not picture him as a “suit and tennis shoes” kind of a guy. But Hyde Park Entertainment head Ashok Amritraj was never easy to peg. “When I go to the Wimbledon ball or the Oscars, it’s black tie with tennis shoes,” chuckles the easygoing, India-born mega-producer.
A fitting footwear choice given that before conquering Hollywood, Amritraj was recruited in the ’70s to play tennis in the U.S. and reigned as a teenage tennis champ. “Sports is the best way to understand that if you work hard, you’ll do better, and if you slouch off, some guy’s going to beat you,” he says.
Once in the U.S., Amritraj quickly turned his sights to filmmaking. He had grown up watching Ben Hur and The Sound of Music, but had no idea that making a movie was a whole other beast. “I learned a lot in the first five years. Knocked on a lot of doors, had them fall on my face,” Amritraj remembers. It was his perseverance that finally got him in the door. “In this town, 99 percent of movies don’t get made [because there’s] a lack of focus,” he says. “You run around, you go see people. Pretty soon, you’re off trying to cast another movie or writing something else. It takes a single-minded focus.”
That focus has gained Amritraj more than 100 titles under his belt, and now he’s leading Hyde Park’s expansion into the Middle East and Asia. For the mega-producer, it’s all about global synergy. “It’s easier to be a part of the world than it was before,” he says. “If there’s one thing I’d teach my kids, it’s get into business, but do it on a broader basis. Don’t think just L.A. or U.S. There are a lot of balls to play with.”
— JJ
More stories from Audrey Magazine’s Archives here.
Patty Chang Anker and her immigrant family knew one path to success — the academic one. So when she discovered her adopted daughter had special needs, she learned to step back, let go and just breathe.
ISSUE: Summer 2011
DEPT: My Story
STORY: Patty Chang Anker
“I’m not going to college,” G de- clares. She is 9 years old.
“What?” My voice sounds calm, but I’ve stopped breathing. “Why?”
“I’m not going, and I don’t want to talk about it.” She walks away.
“Oh, yes you are!” I want to shout after her. But I don’t. Instead, I let the flood of questions, worries and heartache come.
“We’re here to educate our viewers on what’s going on in this world.” — Olivia Speranza.
ISSUE: Summer 2011
DEPT: Plugged In
STORY: Melody Lee
Olivia Speranza.
MYX-Rated, MYX Channel
“We’re here to educate our viewers on what’s going on in this world,” says Olivia Speranza, co-host of MYX-Rated, a new show on MYX Channel, a music, entertainment and lifestyle channel dedicated to the Asian American community. Indeed, the Japanese-Italian American takes viewers on a wild ride ranging from pop culture to high tech gadgets. Catch the show’s “Undiscovered” segment, showcasing Asian American talent in places others wouldn’t think to look. “There’s so much talent out there and finally people are able to harness that,” says Speranza.
— Melody Lee
More stories from Audrey’s Summer 2011 issue here.
REMAINS OF THE DAY: Reviewer Susan Soon He Stanton finds beauty and sensuality in Uyen Nicole Duong’s Daughters of the River Huong, an epic tale journeying from the ancient Kingdom of Champa to French colonialism to modern day New York City, all told through the eyes of an alluring but flawed heroine.
ISSUE: Summer 2011
DEPT: Plugged In
STORY: Susan Soon He Stanton
Over the course of a tumultuous century, the stories of four generations of Vietnamese women unfold in a historical epic that shifts from Imperial City of Hue, war-torn Saigon, Paris, and ’90s New York City. For such an entertaining read, the amount of history author Uyen Nicole Duong packs into her pages is impressive. Even while painting a larger picture of Vietnamese culture, the focus never strays far from these daughters of the River Huong.
At the heart of the story is Simone, a petulant Indochine Lolita, who reveals the lives of her ancestors tracing back to the extinct Kingdom of Champa. Beginning with the Mystique Concubine, a paddle girl discovered by a king, to her daughters, Madame Cinnamon and Ginseng, and Simone’s mother, these survival stories trace the journey from the last Vietnamese monarchy to French colonialism, revolution and independence.
