Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Han.
Hi Lauren, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Seoul, South Korea. Then I moved to the US when I was nine years old. I’ve always shown interest in performing in some way or another, whether it was playing instruments or singing and acting silly in front of a camera. Even though my parents don’t really do anything artistic, I was heavily influenced by both of my parents early on. My dad had always made it a point to have classical music or film scores playing throughout the house. My mom captured every single moment of our lives in her camcorder. I was the main subject most of the time since I was the only one in the family who enjoyed getting recorded. These two things really solidified my already existing passion for music and acting. Outside of my family, I also had the privilege of growing up with K-drama and K-pop. I started taking acting, singing and dancing lessons officially around 12-13 years old. I’ve only taken instrument lessons until then. I performed in small community theaters around my area. I never performed with the high school drama department because I thought they were drama queens/kings, and I had no interest in drama except on stage!
Instead, I performed with the high school chamber choir. In college, I continued taking acting and dancing classes but I went further away from musical theater and delved more into classical/opera singing. I was in an extremely competitive elite choir, who was ranked 8th in the world. I sang at the Carnegie Hall, went to Italy to sing in the Bel Canto program, won numerous awards, and traveled the world with my singing. I was praised for it and was encouraged in that field, but after a while, I realized there was something missing. Even though opera has acting, it really focuses more on the perfection of the voice. I felt I was more of an actor who sings, not a singer who just sings well. I’d rather sing a line imperfectly because I was getting into the emotion of the character than be absolutely flawless on a bel canto phrase and sacrifice the acting. I also was OBSESSED with acting and movies. I realized I couldn’t be happy without these elements in my life. This was the moment where I sort of dropped classical singing and went back into more musical theater and film/tv. Of course, the training for classical singing is invaluable. I am such a strong singer in musical theater because of my classical background.
Since my switch, I’ve worked in many musicals and small film/tv roles. I still try to keep up with my classical voice by taking lessons or when I’m invited to perform in concerts or operas. The more notable roles I’ve gotten was being a vocalist for Disneyland as MULAN in their musical show, MICKEY AND THE MAGICAL MAP. Unfortunately, they closed down due to the pandemic, which devastated me because I truly loved that job. Then I performed for the first time since the pandemic in TARANTINO LIVE, as O-Ren Ishii from Kill Bill and Pussycat from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I loved performing in this because it truly combined my passion for movies and live theater. Recently, I was a part of a horror film with Tracie Thoms (Rent, Devil Wears Prada, Deathproof) and was in a national commercial for JOLLIBEE. When I am not acting, singing or dancing, I do a lot of voice-over work. My voice can be heard in Netflix K-drama shows EXTRACURRICULAR and SO NOT WORTH IT as an English dubber, Navy commercials, and narrating videos for Like Nastya, one of the biggest kids channels on Youtube. I plan on doing this until I’m old and gray, so you’ll see more of me, I’m sure!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The major obstacles I had were regarding paperwork. This year I became a green card holder so I feel comfortable sharing this, but it was quite an intense journey to get to where I am now. I was a DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipient. I came to the US legally, then while applying for a green card, my lawyer made a mistake and wrote down the wrong dates and information. She had hidden this fact from us, and we carried on with our lives without knowing the truth. Then one day, we realized how grave the situation had become for both my sister and me because we both became illegal immigrants. We had lost all of our rights in this country: no way of earning income, getting a driver’s license, traveling, going to college, no future. Since my parents were legal, we waited for our paperwork to be resolved through them. However, one thing I learned through all of this is that the US immigration system takes a long long long time to get anything done. A decade or two would pass and my paperwork still would not be resolved. When DACA was created in 2012, it was the biggest relief of my life. Now, I can work and contribute to society, drive, and possibly travel. Until then, I was mentally unstable, depressed, and suicidal. Can you imagine living your life and having dreams and then someone tells you, you can’t fulfill your dreams? Worse yet, you can’t do anything at all? Not because you did anything wrong, but because the system has failed you? Can you imagine living your life like that for decades?
As described in my story, I started acting quite young. However, because of my paperwork, I couldn’t work in anything that required social security. I had to find creative ways to work towards my dreams. In some ways, this is why I have a crazy work ethic. I don’t take anything for granted. I have to try four times harder than everyone else just to get to be on the equal playing field. I wish my life were easier growing up but sometimes I am grateful for it because it made me become who I am.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I’m pretty much an open book, but I guess one thing that is surprising to some of my followers and friends is that I’m also a voice teacher on the side. I have been teaching for over 11 years. I do try to keep a small roster of students now because I am so busy, but during the pandemic, it was a lifesaver. You can contact me for voice lessons!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.lauren-han.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenhanward
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/laurenhan1215
Image Credits:
MULAN – Emmanuel Elefante (Instagram: dl05elefante) TARANTINO – Abel Armas Photography (Instagram: abelarmasphotography) Headshot – Sean Kara (Instagra: seankaraheadshots)
