You are witnessing a metamorphosis. A process of evolution that has become routine for Clara Lee. The Swiss-born-Korean actress, a citizen of the United Kingdom, with a childhood that was spent in the United States, and whose celebrity roars in China, has some kind of an instinct for the art of reincarnation. She seeks to remold herself but in these attempts to adapt, she can always redefine the boundaries she encounters in different cultures.

As we sit a few flights above the streets of TriBeCa, in a studio no less busy than the streets below us, Clara is completely focused. “I don’t feel like a celebrity at all. I feel comfortable.” For some, it takes a lifetime to make it to New York, but she was just passing through. The way she discusses her life, giving herself up with a relaxing genuineness, she appears frankly unconcerned with the facets of a strict and hardened identity.

She first walked onto the silver screen in “Line Walker” (2016), only being given a modest five minutes to show off her talents. In the role of ‘unnamed assassin,’ those few minutes were all she needed to make herself known in the Chinese film industry.

Some might think it's something of a luxury to own such a thing as an identity. Clara doesn’t think so, expressing, “I’m still learning about myself. That’s what I love about acting….it’s limitless.” Having dawned so many masks; actress, race car driver, decorator, fashionista, and who knows what’s next, an interviewer would hope to peel back these exteriors to get to the original kernel of a person. But the more we spoke the more we came to realize that there are no masks, and, for her, it isn’t about reinvention at all.

“I feel the need to always wear the red dress in China,” she admits before giving way to her own rapturous laugh, “red is an important color in China.” The dress she’s referring to is the trademark article that she wore in Chinese cinema’s “Some Like it Hot” (2016), the movie she maintains was responsible for truly jump-starting her career. In it, she plays the showstopping Yoyo, with a Monroevian skirt fill and all. She feels close to the bubbly character: “To this day I’m recognized as Yoyo.” This is probably not without good reason as the film topped the box office when it showed in theaters.

Clara’s life seems to resemble a flowing river, seen from the surface as an individual body, but, upon descending to the bank and poking a toe in, it reveals its true self: a thing that is always in flux, something with a current and an entire ecosystem. If you look closely, you may be able to detect Clara carving her deeper into the bank and forming a new shape altogether. She is singular because she is not transforming once again by pivoting and throwing her ever-shifting hat into the Hollywood ring. Clara remains herself as she makes the great leap because her identity was never fastened in the first place.

One of her latest projects required something slightly different of her, but once again, different is nothing new for Clara. After a month of intense combat and action training, she was ready to begin shooting for the film epic “The Wandering Earth 2” (2023). In this Science Fiction prequel, Clara plays a villainous hijacker. The portrayal as an antagonist was a departure for her but, ever the one to take on a new venture, she persisted and pulled it off. Her endurance is endless where interest and passion are concerned. “It didn’t feel tiring,” Clara tells us about our day of shooting. As she embarks on the ‘third chapter of her acting career,’ she hopes to strike gold out west. Clara’s wonderment and ceaselessness masquerade as a powerful work ethic. So, whether her next destination is Los Angeles or New York, she’ll have something to offer to everyone.

Photographed by Eric Guillemain
Styled by Romina Herrera Malatesta
Hair by Ayumi Yamamoto
Makeup by Linda Gradin