Thank you for this personal interview @scmppostmagazine
Ankie Beilke was bullied as a child, but she did not let it stop her from becoming a top actor and model
Born in Germany, Ankie Beilke started acting as a child but only learned to love modelling later in life
She credits yoga with making her a healthier person who accepts and appreciates things more
Writing on the wall: I was born in 1980, in Düsseldorf, Germany. I’m mixed race – my dad is German and my mother is Chinese. My father was in advertising and my mother is an actress. My mum (Ankie Lau Heung-ping) travelled a lot for work. Shoots in the 1980s were much longer than they are now, and she was shooting all over the world. Looking back, I understand why she did it, but when I was young, I didn’t like it. I was bullied in kindergarten for being mixed race. My father and a nanny would look after me, and my aunt would come over from Hong Kong. When I was five, my mum showed me a film where she jumped off a roof and died. Even though she told me it was fake, I was so scared. I started acting with her when I was six. I played her daughter in a suspense television show called Derrick. Everyone on the set took good care of me and on the last day they gave me a Barbie, which I thought was amazing. My parents separated when I was seven and I moved with my mum to Munich. I used to write to my father, but it was like writing on a wall. It was hard trying to contact someone when they don’t reply. When I was 14, he got a new wife and a new life and I haven’t had contact with him since.
The Big Apple: In Munich, I first went to a public school. My mother was on TV and playing weird characters – one time she’d be a policewoman, another time she was being raped. Playing different roles is what being an actress is all about, but when you are a kid and people make fun of you in school it’s not really cool.
Read more...
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3116971/ankie-beilke-was-bullied-child-she-did-not-let
🖊 @hongkongkate
