From refugee camp to television star: The inspiring life of Barons’ Jillian Nguyen

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

From refugee camp to television star: The inspiring life of Barons’ Jillian Nguyen

Actor Jillian Nguyen’s career is turning the tide within the industry, and as she tells Genevieve Quigley, she’s happy to go with the flow.

By Genevieve Quigley

Jillian wears Joslin “Hollie” top, $320 and “Anastasia” skirt, $440. Styling by Nadene Duncan, make-up by Mikele Simone using Mecca Cosmetica and hair by Georgia Ramman using Mr Smith/

Jillian wears Joslin “Hollie” top, $320 and “Anastasia” skirt, $440. Styling by Nadene Duncan, make-up by Mikele Simone using Mecca Cosmetica and hair by Georgia Ramman using Mr Smith/Credit:Simon Lekias

After finishing the new ABC surf drama, Barons, lead actor Jillian Nguyen jumped on a plane to Europe. Did she go for a holiday in Positano perhaps, or maybe a job in Prague?

“I’ve been at clown school outside Paris for three months,” she says, as she settles in for her interview with Sunday Life. Seriously? “Yes, I wanted to challenge myself. After Barons, I was like, ‘Okay, why do I love what I do?’ For me, it’s just about having fun.”

This “clown school” is in fact École Philippe Gaulier, a prestigious theatre school in the village of Étampes. Jillian trained under Philippe Gaulier himself, who is regarded as a “master clown”. His teachings are based on the idea that play, or le jeu, is the core of making and performing theatre. Among his famous alumni are Sacha Baron Cohen, Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham-Carter.

“I did ‘pure clown’ in the first week, which I absolutely adored – it’s the art of the clown,” Jillian says. “Then we had vaudeville and bouffon, which I was terrible at. Bouffon is kind of like if Chris Lilley and Sacha Baron Cohen made a subject.

“I was actually okay at ‘pure clown’ but Philippe is notorious with his feedback in a very funny way.” Jillian puts on a growling French accent:
“That was ‘orrible,” she says, breaking into laughter. “So if you get ‘not bad’ or ‘not horrible’, that’s like really good. I even got a ‘good’ once or twice. But with bouffon, he was like, ‘Okay, maybe Jillian, your career won’t be in bouffon.’ ”

What did Jillian Nguyen do after wrapping filming on Barons? Clown school of course. She wears the “Gather the Girls” top by Maggie Marilyn, $636.

What did Jillian Nguyen do after wrapping filming on Barons? Clown school of course. She wears the “Gather the Girls” top by Maggie Marilyn, $636. Credit:Simon Lekias

Fortunately her latest role in Barons didn’t require her to have the hard-to-master bouffon skills. The series is set in 1971 Australia and centres on a group of best friends during a time when surfing counterculture collides with enterprise.

Advertisement
Loading

Jillian plays Tracy Dwyer (nee Chan), a high-school art teacher and partner to Bill “Trotter” Dwyer (Sean Keenan), who is launching his surfwear company, LightWave. The story is fictional but has parallels to the early days of rival surf brands Billabong and Quiksilver. Set in a time of liberation and social change, the series also examines the changing roles between men and women, with Tracy caught in this cultural rip tide.

“She’s a superwoman,” says Jillian of Tracy. “She’s a business owner. She’s a wife. She’s a mother figure to her brother. Besides being creative and resilient, she is generous and maternal.”

Jillian plays Tracy Dwyer (nee Chan), a high-school art teacher and partner to Bill “Trotter” Dwyer (Sean Keenan), who is launching his surfwear company, LightWave.

Jillian plays Tracy Dwyer (nee Chan), a high-school art teacher and partner to Bill “Trotter” Dwyer (Sean Keenan), who is launching his surfwear company, LightWave.

While her character is Chinese-Australian, 29-year-old Jillian’s parents were born in Vietnam with Chinese heritage on her mother’s side. She first arrived in Australia as a baby in 1994, a fact that made her question if women like Tracy truly existed here in the 1970s.

“When I think of the ’70s, I just think of white Australia, to be honest,” she says. “And then when this came along, I was like, ‘Okay, does this woman exist?’ And then, as I was doing my research, it was Jenny Kee who was the beacon. Jenny opened up my whole world.”

“We hear all the time about how important it is to have diversity, being represented, being visible, and it shows it just takes one person to make you feel like you belong. That was Jenny for me, to reassure me that someone like Tracy is a real woman.”

Advertisement

Jillian also started trawling through videos on YouTube from that era and was surprised by what she found. “I was watching footage of the movement for women’s liberation in the ’70s, and amongst the sea of Anglo, white women marching, there were Chinese-Australian women. They were at the marches, too!”

“I saw every woman around me that I grew up with and how they were treated by their male counterparts. And even though these women were also powerful, they made themselves smaller.”

While the carefree, ’70s-surfer lifestyle in Barons offers a nostalgic view of the times, the series doesn’t shy away from the blatant racism and sexism of the era. Sadly, it’s something Jillian says still exists today. “Times change as time goes by, but human nature is always inherently quite the same. I mean, obviously there’s been so much progress, but there’s still something innately the same.”

Jillian’s parents escaped Vietnam in the ’80s before settling in Melbourne. She wears the Joslin “Diane” dress, $880.

Jillian’s parents escaped Vietnam in the ’80s before settling in Melbourne. She wears the Joslin “Diane” dress, $880.Credit:Simon Lekias

“Although it’s the ’70s, it made me see my parents in the ’90s. I saw every woman around me that I grew up with and how they were treated by their male counterparts. And even though these women were also powerful, they made themselves smaller.”

Jillian’s parents escaped Vietnam in the late ’80s when they were both 19, and met at the Sungai Besi refugee camp in Malaysia. They spent 5½ years there, welcoming their baby daughter (originally named Huyen Dieu) before finally leaving for Australia, where they had Jillian’s brother seven years later.
Her parents applied for asylum in Australia as they’d heard about the warm climate. “They were told, don’t go to Denmark or Japan, it’s really cold and boring,” Jillian says, letting out her infectious laugh, which peppers the interview. “They’re just the most courageous people I know,” she adds, proudly. “At the time, there was a lot of compassion shown towards the Vietnamese refugees. It’s changed since then for other refugees.”

The family settled in the inner west of Melbourne where Jillian says they enjoyed being part of a diverse mix of cultures – Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian, Greek, Ethiopian, and others. “That was my childhood until I was 19, then my world changed,” she reflects.

Advertisement

Jillian began studying for an Arts degree at Melbourne University and felt like a minority among the predominantly white, middle-class students. But it was around this time that she fell in love with acting. “If you’d met me when I was in my teens, I just wanted to be Australian,” she says. “I didn’t care about my heritage. I felt embarrassed to speak Vietnamese. And then, when I was 20, I did an Asian Film subject and was exposed to all these amazing directors, like Wong Kar-wai [who directed] In the Mood for Love – a gorgeous, subtle, beautiful, arty film. And they were Asian! That propelled me on the journey I’ve taken for the past six years.”

“If you’d met me when I was in my teens, I just wanted to be Australian.”

After finishing her degree, Jillian attended the 16th Street Actors Studio in Melbourne, and soon scored a walk-on role in Justin Kurzel’s film The Kelly Gang. Next came key parts in the SBS original drama Hungry Ghosts, and a romantic sci-fi feature, Loveland (aka Expired), alongside Ryan Kwanten and Hugo Weaving.

Jillian Nguyen in romantic sci-fi feature Loveland, where she starred alongside Ryan Kwanten and Hugo Weaving.

Jillian Nguyen in romantic sci-fi feature Loveland, where she starred alongside Ryan Kwanten and Hugo Weaving.Credit:Ivan Sen

As much as Jillian appreciates her rapid-fire success, it has left her with nagging imposter syndrome. “Sometimes I feel like a con artist. Oh, my god, am I a con artist?” she asks.

These feelings are possibly rooted in her parent’s doubts about her chosen profession. She says they would have preferred her to be a doctor, dentist or lawyer. “The classic immigrant stuff – the stereotype is real,” she says, laughing.

Jillian has a philosophical approach to her work: “I can’t be stressed. I need to be calm, be a good person, do good work and hopefully it works out”. Jillian wears the Anna Quan “Charissa” dress, $350.

Jillian has a philosophical approach to her work: “I can’t be stressed. I need to be calm, be a good person, do good work and hopefully it works out”. Jillian wears the Anna Quan “Charissa” dress, $350.Credit:Simon Lekias

Advertisement

“They couldn’t follow their dreams. My dad wanted to be a soccer player. Mum’s dream was to be an artist. But she couldn’t because of the war and she lost both her parents. So with acting, they were like, ‘Why would you want to do that? It’s impossible!’ ” But Jillian adds that after getting a few gigs under her belt, her parents are now her biggest fans and are far more supportive of her career choice, as precarious as it may be.

“Yes it’s terrifying, but life is uncertain anyway,” she says. “I’ve lived in over 30 houses; we were always on the move. It was never traumatic, every house felt like a different character. So I’m pretty used to uncertainty.”

When it comes to the ups and downs of her job, Jillian has learnt to take a philosophical approach. “I can’t be stressed. I need to be calm, be a good person, do good work and hopefully it works out. I think I’ll be fine,” she says, before adding with a smile, “Plus I’ve been to clown school.”

Barons airs on April 24 at 8.30pm on ABC and ABC iview.

To read more from Sunday Life magazine, click here.

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.

Most Viewed in Culture

Loading