Sean Lew Is More Than Just a Triple Threat

Mixed Asian Media - March 11, 2022

By Bri Ng Schwartz

 I've always wondered, "Are we born with talent?" That seems to be the case with Sean Lew. Although he's made a splash in The Cleaning Lady on FOX with his character of Chris, the nephew of main character Thony De La Rosa, Sean has been in the spotlight for years, having performed on World Of Dance, The Queen Latifah Show, Glee, and more.

Sean Lew as Chris in The Cleaning Lady

Interview

At what age did you know you wanted to be a performer?

I think the moment that I was able to stand on my own two feet, or the moment I discovered sound, I just wanted to move to it. I would always perform in front of my family every single night at home.

Did you have a go-to performance song?

No, that was the beauty of it. I just loved the idea of putting on a show. It didn't matter what it was about. I pooped in my diaper, let me do a little dance for that! It really helped that my sisters were dancers in the beginning, so I'd always try to replicate their dances when I saw them in competitions.

Talking about childhood, you've had quite the career, starting pretty early, with a lot of time in the spotlight. What kept you grounded growing up?

My family. My parents really kept me grounded. They have a very strict philosophy of education first. I think that it was a combination of that, and my Asian parents not really associating themselves with the entertainment industry. So, living my life in the spotlight, in auditions and in front of the camera, my parents were always just like, "You can't do that unless you have a solid education and you're doing well in school. If not, then you have to sacrifice what you're good at." It was that sort of discipline I learned growing up that really kept me grounded in a sense.

Did you have a favorite subject in school?

Maybe math, and then when I grew, it became a lot less math for sure. I would definitely also say drawing. I loved taking art classes. I don't know why.

I mean, I could guess why.

Well, my mom was an artist when she was younger. So I think I was very influenced by that.

L-R: Faith Bryant, Martha Millan, and Sean Lew in The Cleaning Lady

I want to hear more about your character in The Cleaning Lady, Chris. Tell me who Chris is.

He's someone that you think you'd know, but you don't… you know? Chris himself doesn't even know who he is. I would definitely say at the core, he's definitely your average Filipino teenager who would do anything for his family, but can't live a day without showing a little attitude. Like with every teenager, there comes a little baggage of doing what he wants and not feeling embarrassed by his mom. But the moment that you find out that you've been lied to your whole life, you get a bit uneasy.

I think that's what's really cool about Chris. He has these core philosophies about caring for family, but it becomes really hard sticking to those philosophies when your whole life is flipped upside down because of your family, and you don't know what's right. He's almost mysterious in a sense because he carries a lot of personalities. It's not just like, "Oh, I'm angry all the time," or, "Oh, I'm this all the time." He has soft spots. He has hard spots. He loves listening to hip hop and things like that.

I think it's really exciting to see where he goes in terms of his storyline and seeing if it does interest people. I'm excited for people to get to know Chris a little bit more, besides just being an angsty teenager.

As if teenage years weren't hard enough, you have all of these things involved.

Exactly.

L-R: Sean Lew and Faith Bryant in The Cleaning Lady

Do you see any parallels between your life and your teen years and Chris?

Oh, absolutely.

It's funny because everything I would say as Chris were things that I would maybe say to my mom when I was younger, but never in that tone. If I said it in that tone, I would not be doing this interview right now. But seriously, I think it's just the way he approaches what he says. I get where he's coming from. Being lied to is like the worst thing possible, you know?

I think that I also love to be alone. I love to be in my own head space a lot. I love to stay in my room and listen to loud music as well. I love to wear baggy clothes. I mean, me and the wardrobe kind of connected together where they were like, "What would you wear?" I would wear baggy sweats and a big shirt. And then like the next day on wardrobe, they were like, "Here's an option of baggy sweats and baggy shirts." I was like, "Beautiful."

So, in a way, Chris is definitely like a more amped up version of my teenage life. It's weird because I still consider myself a teenager, even though someone recently mentioned to me, "Oh, you're in your early twenties." I was like… you know, my, my spine kind of went *ughhhhhhhhh.* It's not that big of a deal, but it's weird thinking about how my personality just a few years ago played a huge difference into how I am now. I'm kind of like, wow, it's like reversing my life in a way, playing a completely amped up perversion, you know, where I am yelling at my mom, I am telling her I hate her, things like that.

It sounds like there's a lot of collaboration between you and the team in terms of this character, which is really great.

It's so surprising because I was not expecting that. I did my best to research the sort of core philosophies of who Chris is before even stepping on set. Like what does Filipino culture really mean to teenagers? What does Chris stand for? Why is he really acting the way that he is?

They've said "Let's find a way to transform you into Chris in a way that makes the most sense."

Sean Lew in The Cleaning Lady

So on top of all of this character work, what has been your favorite part about filming The Cleaning Lady?

Everything. Just being with the whole team. It's like a huge family, and it's crazy to me how it reads well on TV. There's not that much of a transformation between our chemistry off camera and on camera, and that's what's so beautiful to me. We constantly care for each other on another level.

I would even visit sets on my off days to cook with the catering company, because even the people in the catering company were like my brothers. They'd teach me a little bit Spanish. It just never feels like you want to leave. I have so much love and respect for every single person on set.

That's awesome. It definitely makes the concept of work a lot easier when we love the people that you're near.

Oh my god, yeah. Like, am I even working?

You touched on something that I wanted to chat with you about, which is cooking and how that's been a part of your path. What is your favorite dish to cook?

I'm such a wild card with cooking. One I recently came up with is clay pot rice. It's a modern take of Hong Kong clay pot rice, And it has a truffle infusion with steak on top, green onions, miso, corn, and seaweed.

Then the other one I love is a little bit more American. It's chicken confit leg with a potato, a pomme purée, kale and like a soy glaze.

You've recently made your directing debut with your short film, II (TWO). Which you also wrote, directed, choreographed, and edited yourself. So tell me more about this process, what inspired you to do this, and what you learned along the way.

To tell you the truth. I didn't really consider II as my directorial debut or my producer debut. I just wanted to create something unique and new for the dance industry. It was also a way of catching directors' eyes, like say John Chu and (I mean, we're reaching for the stars) Steven Spielberg, in a way where they'd watch it and be like, "This is a different, unique way of expressing or representing dance."


What's next for you?

Hopefully season two.

For me, it's hard to be like, "I want to book this, or I want to book that," because it kind of closes your mind off. What can you do where you build your own power and you build your own opportunities yourself?

The long term goal is obviously to pursue acting and to, you know, hopefully get a lead in a feature. I mean, who knows. But I'm really, really grateful for the people that are enjoying The Cleaning Lady. I think about how powerful it can really become and how people don't realize the impact of the messages, the themes, the family, and all that stuff, but also certain things that people are uncomfortable and scared to talk about and open up about.

Yeah. I mean, like even 10 years ago to have a show dealing with all of these things, with people who looked like us, we didn't have them.

It's wild how things develop over the course of a few years. And that's why I can never be like, "Oh, this is going to happen in the next five years." Whatever happens, I will be there. If it's right for me, it's right for me. But at the end of the day, I just want to enjoy people, enjoy the world and create as much as I can.

End of Interview

Bri is a facilitator and curator of artistic community engagement programming based in Brooklyn, New York. As a mixed race, queer identifying Asian American woman, collaborating on & creating programs, performance and digital spaces for & by intersectional communities is at the forefront of her mission. Bri received her BFA in Dramaturgy & Dramatic Criticism and a BA in Women's & Gender Studies from DePaul University. She has held multiple positions at Free Street Theater, Victory Gardens Theater and an internship at StoryCorps Chicago. She is founding producer of Club 2350: Sex Positivity Showcase & Celebration, a benefit event for Sex Workers Outreach Project Chicago. Since moving to New York, she has served as the Research & Advocacy Coordinator at Dance/NYC and currently serves as the Outreach Associate at Pan Asian Repertory Theatre.