Interview with ‘Rosemead’s’ screenwriter Marilyn Fu
Tonight, we take a closer look at “Rosemead,” a new film written by Taiwanese-American screenwriter Marilyn Fu. Inspired by a true story from a Los Angeles Times article, the movie explores themes of motherhood, mental illness and the immigrant experience. “Rosemead” has already been acclaimed at various film festivals and has earned Fu a Golden Horse Award nomination for best adapted screenplay, ahead of the awards ceremony this Saturday. FTV reporter Stephany Yang sat down with Fu to find out more.
The new film “Rosemead” tells the story of Irene, a terminally ill Chinese immigrant mother in California’s San Gabriel Valley. She is portrayed by Lucy Liu. She uncovers her schizophrenic teenage son’s obsession with mass shootings and finds ways to protect her son from hurting others. The film was inspired by a true story in an award-winning Los Angeles Times article by Frank Shyong.
Marilyn Fu
Screenwriter
So, the whole movie is what she is able to do to protect her son and the limits for her love. It turns out there are no limits to her love. Rosemead is based on a true story that happened in 2015. An LA Times journalist Frank Shyong knew about the story and was able through his persistence to gain the trust of the living people and created this article that has been so moving. The article came to me and I couldn’t put it down. I was at a point in my life where I really wanted to write a starring role for an Asian woman. Lucy Liu was interested in playing Irene and really embraced the role. It was like the stars aligned.
For Fu, the project was deeply personal. She began writing while pregnant with twin boys and the themes of motherhood resonated strongly.
Marilyn Fu
Screenwriter
When I first wrote this script, I was pregnant with my sons. I didn’t have much hands-on experience with being a mother. I think that a lot of what I put in the script was from my own mom and her relationship with me and my family. Now, when I watch the film, I see so many more things that break my heart because now they really resonate now that my sons are six years old. There is one part of the Chinese translation between Irene and Joe, between and mother and son. It is a moment when Irene says: “Wo teng ni.” When I think about translation, I know there is “teng” and there is “ai.” There isn’t really an English translation for “teng.” It has a specific meaning that is specific to our language. The root of means pain. When I discovered that it is a love that makes you hurt perhaps physically, then that made me think of motherhood in a whole other way and look at the movie differently.
The film took eight years to make, and tackles sensitive subjects and themes such as mental illness, the immigrant struggle and family. Fu says accuracy and empathy were essential in her writing process.
Marilyn Fu
Screenwriter
With “Rosemead,” it is based on a true story. It is a difficult story. It is very challenging. The people involved, Irene and Joe, along with their families really suffered through the tragedy. For me, my responsibility is also to them. I don’t want to hurt any of the living people. I want to be able to tell the story that elevates and brings it to an audience that can have an impact. I am sort of an investigator. I am going through Frank Shyong’s original article and cherry-picking the details of these people and trying to draw a portrait of them.
“Rosemead” has already been recognized at film festivals and earned Fu a Golden Horse Award nomination. She says the film’s themes resonate far beyond the Asian American community.
Marilyn Fu
Screenwriter
Our experience of taking around to film festivals has been very emotional. What we found is that as we were telling the story about a Chinese immigrant family and Asian Americans living in the San Gabriel Valley, we found that the themes really crossed cultural borders. That there were many people who understood this film. Whether they are caregivers who are taking care of somebody with mental illness or if they are someone that has something that they are dealing with throughout their whole lives. They wanted to talk to us after the screening. They wanted to express what they were going through and just connect.
Fu hopes “Rosemead” will spark a broader movement—expanding Asian representation in cinema while confronting stigmatized issues such as mental illness and the immigrant experience.
Marilyn Fu
Screenwriter
A lot of the people together, even on the filmmaking side of the movie, has experiencing of being unable to talk about sort of experiences their family and experiences with mental illness. We want with the film to be able to draw people out. We want the film to be able to draw people out to start these conversations, to expel this undercurrent of shame that might exist so that there is more healing that can exist.
Fu also hopes audiences will not only be moved by the film, but also inspired to share their own stories.
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2025-11-21
