It is a great honor that I can have the opportunity to do an interview with Way Chen, who is an actor, influencer and also feature in several commercials both TV and digital. Due to Way Chen is more comfortable to talk in Mandarin, so I will do the translate part.
He says that he grew up in the southern Taiwan, which is a much more conservative area in Taiwan. And from time to time, he knows that his parents would not be accept his sexuality from several occasions, such as giving passive feedback towards the male as a feminine character when watching a TV show. So, from that period of time, he was a repressed gay and he was also didn’t want any of his friends know that his sexuality.
But after he moved to Taipei, without surveillance from his hometown, he became more and more open and accept what he is. He can finally feel the freedom and he also let his friends to know his identity. After all, he still thinks that the background of where was he come from and who was he grow up with do leave an impact on him and affect his thoughts.
He discovered his sexuality when he was in junior high, but at that time, he wasn’t sure about that. However, when he went on senior high school, he, gradually, assured that he is a gay. But at that time, he was not having an open mind towards sex. Then there was a change on him when he moved to Taipei, he found out that his friends around him and the atmosphere of the society he reckon were actually pretty open when talking about sex. He says that he do think it’s ok to have a sex relationship and also, he starts to accept himself as a gay and stop to refuse everything about his sexuality.
At last, I showed my picture to him to see his reaction, and he says that he considered this as a documentary photography. He says that this picture is quite artistic without erotic touch. He knows that some of the fashion magazines feature this kind of picture, and he thinks that it is not a pornography.
It was such a pleasure to have Way Chen with me for this interview. I found out that his living background was pretty similar to mine and also to live in a conservative family. But there’s one difference is that he moved to Taipei for work, and from that time he became more and more accept for who he is. But for me, I didn’t have the chance to become the real me, the gay side of me, until I moved to London when I was quite old. He suggests me not to set the boundary and keeping going for searching of the real me.
I truly appreciate Way Chen to do the interview with me, also I wish him the best of the best and looking forward to see he has more works to come.