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Acting , Film , Interview , The Daily Roundup

Elizabeth Tan Discusses Her Role in Netflix’s ‘Irish Wish’ and the Importance of Telling the Character’s Story


March 14, 2024

Elizabeth Tan is an easy person to talk to, partly because she is so curious. You think you’re asking her questions about herself, but really what you’re doing is having a conversation and getting to know each other without even realizing it. The English actress asks a lot of questions, and will start asking about you almost before you’ve finished saying hello. It’s charming and disarming, and before you know it, you’re ten minutes in and all you’re both doing is laughing.

Tan has brought that winning charm to hit British shows like Top Boy and Death in Paradise, as well as the Netflix series Emily in Paris. But her biggest role yet is in the new Netflix movie Irish Wish, premiering March 15.

The film stars Lindsay Lohan as a book editor who sees the love of her life get engaged to her best friend. Tan plays Emma, the best friend in question, and steals every scene she’s in. She talked to us from her home in London.

How did you get into acting?

I think I’ve always been a bit of a performer at home. I’ve always tried to do things to entertain people. It wasn’t really attention-seeking, I think I really wanted to engage with people. Even now, I’m not thinking, “I’m doing another press interview.” I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I’m gonna meet another person!” I think I’ve always had that curiosity about people and wanting to engage and be interested.

I realized from a young age there were things I could do [such as] impersonations and cute little character voices that would bring a smile to my mum and dad’s faces, and I got really hooked on it. The fact that you could do something that was maybe a different character, not really yourself, or telling a story. To me, that was just pure magic, and I thought, “Well, you can do the profession.” Now, as an adult, I see there’s a lot more to it than that. You’re not just entertaining and lighting people up, you’re also holding up that mirror, which is so important. As you know, I’m very curious …

I hadn’t caught that.

(Laughs) But I think you can get a lot of insights through film television and theatre. Actors are so key in that part, holding up that mirror and making people understand. Through the arts, we all get a greater understanding of our humanity. You can see how people get affected by stories, so I’m just incredibly passionate and I feel so fortunate that I get to do this as a living.

I talk to a lot of actors, and I think most of them share an innate curiosity with journalists. In both cases, it’s asking a lot of questions.

Yes! That is absolutely the heart of that empathy because in order to understand how someone ticks, you’ve got to understand where they’re coming from. Like, that person did this awful thing, but if you’re embodying that person, you’re going to show why they’re doing it and people are going to have a greater level of understanding of what they’re going through, rather than being judgmental.

Even if you’re playing somebody who’s inherently evil, or just a villainous character, you’re still doing something in a way you want to show the audience that, in this person’s mind. they’re doing the right thing.

Absolutely. Just by inhabiting that character, you’re showing another story that you might not otherwise see. You might not know somebody who has MS and is dealing with it, but if you watch a movie about someone with it, you immediately start to understand what they’re going through.

Going back to the villainous thing, my next role is playing someone who’s a killer. I usually play quite sweet, but everyone has their own point of view, so I really need to get into that headspace. Why are they doing that? And how did they justify it to themselves? Because I don’t think people who are doing those things, a lot of the time, they don’t think they’re doing anything bad. They’re really just doing what they believe. If you can embody that —and this is the beauty of being an actor— if you can embody that and make it sympathetic, create empathy with the audience, that’s very powerful.

The character you play in Irish Wish is sort of an interesting embodiment of what we’re talking about because she’s not a villain. And yet, there’s a bad guy aspect to her because even though she does nothing wrong, she’s still taking the love of the main character’s life.

When I took on the role, I was saying to myself, the Lindsay Lohan fans are gonna hate this character because she’s in the way. You’ve got an actor who’s got a very strong following, and you can’t help it because, again, the way this medium works is that a lot of time people are following the actor. So, I played her quite vulnerable because when you watch a character be vulnerable, it’s hard to hate them. Vulnerability is one of the key things as an actor that you need to bring in. There’s such a sincerity about Emma.

It’s interesting that, after the titular wish happens, and Emma is on the outside, you can see how much pain she’s in, so it’s genuinely impossible to root against her. That the love she feels is even bigger than magic.

I love that. That is actually, in my opinion, one of the themes of the show: what’s meant to be is meant to be. It’s like being an actor. Even if you think, “Oh, I can’t be an actor, because I can’t move or be able to make enough money or whatever it is.” I went through that. But at the end of the day, it still draws you in and I’m so happy doing it. I think a lot of times we try to overthink things or we meddle in our own affairs, much more than we need to. I mean, if you’re passionate about something, pursue it.

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