An accountant turned superhero drew hundreds of Western students to Alumni Hall Wednesday afternoon, where he shared some of the most wrenching and uplifting times in his life.
Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu, HBA’11, reflected on his experiences managing resilience and reconciliation in the face of cultural and generational barriers, while also infusing humour into the event, dubbed The Power of the Possible.
Psychiatrist and mental health advocate Dr. David Goldbloom facilitated the heartfelt conversation, adding his own levity. The two talked on a set built to resemble Liu’s dorm room at Saugeen-Maitland Hall when he was a student in the late 2000s. Despite his groundbreaking career since then, Liu remains humble – even vulnerable.
“I struggle with imposter syndrome every day of my life,” he said. “I continue to feel the self-doubt. It’s not something that is solved by external accolades or validation.”
Even while struggling, Liu took a significant leap in his career with a role in the CBC comedy series Kim’s Convenience. He later landed a breakthrough role as Shang-Chi, the first Asian superhero in the Marvel universe, helping to redefine how Asian performers are represented in mainstream entertainment. Liu’s hard-fought pursuit of success as an actor brought hard times, high debt and low-paying odd jobs following his failed stint as an accountant at a major firm.
“I was handing out dog food samples on the street when I ran into one of the guys I used to work with. He’d been promoted to senior manager. He was wearing this amazing suit and I was holding a bag of dog food.”
“One of the things I felt most was loneliness, growing up in a household where my parents wouldn’t understand – and I would never tell them – that I wanted a normal college life, I wanted to date and play sports and have the student experience,” he said. “I simply swallowed my feelings and hoped they would go away.”
They didn’t.
After graduation, Liu began working as an accountant but soon came to dread his workdays. He noted the career is a rewarding path for those with a passion for that work, but Liu said he felt trapped in a profession he was unsuited for and in a lifestyle he disliked. He fell into depression.
“It became harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning,” Liu said. “I didn’t know how to talk about it, and I didn’t know what resources were even available to me. I wasn’t doing well.”
“I showed up to work at 3:30 in the morning in the freezing cold in downtown Toronto, and it was the best day of my life,” he said. “I got to see how a movie set worked for the first time. It’s an incredible moving organism where dozens and dozens of people all work with this unified sense of purpose and the joy of creating something special. I was really taken by it.”
Pursuing an uncertain future in gig work was at odds with his parents’ deeply held beliefs forged in their own turbulent youth during China’s Cultural Revolution. Liu shared how, years later, he came to appreciate the hurt and trauma his parents experienced and how it shaped their rigid parenting and demands for high achievement.
“Of course they wanted me to get straight A’s and get the most stable job, because they wanted for their kids the one thing that they could never have – the stability of feeling settled on their own two feet.”
Cultural expectations for stoicism played out in his childhood, Liu said.
“We wouldn’t acknowledge feelings. There was very little mental health awareness,” he said.
“We really want students to know there are supports for them on campus. We want them to succeed and be able to manage and regulate themselves when they struggle,” said Christian Ylagan, EDI coordinator in Student Experience.
Liu enthusiastically backs Western’s commitment to building a culture of care and belonging for students.
“I can’t speak enough on the importance of speaking to a professional or having a strong support system of friends that you can be truly honest and vulnerable with to have open dialog. Be willing to talk and know you have tools and resources available.”
Psychiatrist and mental health advocate Dr. David Goldbloom facilitated a heartfelt conversation with actor Simu Liu during “The Power of the Possible” event. (Nicole Osborne/NEO Image Creations)
“I questioned whether I’d made the right decision, but I was discovering a new version of myself every day when I was pursuing acting. I was finally coming out of this funk, this depression, and feeling a joie de vivre I didn’t even know existed. I knew it was too precious, too important to let go.” – Simu Liu, HBA’11, Canadian actor, writer, producer, investor
Simu Liu shares cultural and generational conflict in immigrant family
Despite Liu’s excitement for living more authentically, this was not the life his parents had wanted for him. Liu clashed with them often beginning in early adolescence as he found himself caught between his own dreams as a Canadian youth and their values rooted in sacrifice, security and achievement. With most students in attendance at Liu’s talk indicating they had parents or grandparents born outside Canada, they could relate. “I grew up straddling two different worlds like many of you. All the upsides and downsides that come with that was my impetus to write a book, to share this immigrant story,” he said, referring to his bestselling memoir, We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story.Simu Liu was treated to a performance from dancers with Hip Hop Western, the same club he joined when he was a Western student. (Nicole Osborne/NEO Image Creations)
Simu Liu’s rocky road to stardom
Desperate to bring joy into his life, Liu didn’t report for work at his Bay Street job. Instead, he took his fledgling steps toward the entertainment industry, as an extra on the set of the film Pacific Rim.Simu Liu acknowledges the audience of Western students, including many who connect deeply with his story of growing up in an immigrant household and chasing unconventional dreams. (Nicole Osborne/NEO Image Creations)
Mental health resources available to Western students
Liu said he feels it’s a gift now to be comfortable talking about what was once taboo, knowing resources are available to help. That message was at the heart of Liu’s event, which kicks off a mental health campaign, hosted by Student Experience and Western Chancellor Kelly Meighen, aimed at fostering students’ well-being. The event concluded with Student Experience staff inviting students to explore the mental health and wellness resources available on campus, including counselling services, wellness and well-being activities and “The Power of the Possible” events.Christian Ylagan and Shasta MacDermid from Student Experience invite students to access mental health resources available at Western during “The Power of the Possible” event with Simu Liu. (Nicole Osborne/NEO Image Creations).
