Lori Tan Chinn is a sharp comic presence, especially when an ensemble gives her people to size up and answer back. We value her timing; we would like the scripts to ask for more than another outspoken grandmother.
Fi1m perspective
In Joy Ride (2023), Lori Tan Chinn’s Nai Nai Chen takes one look at four visitors to her flat and says exactly what she thinks. We enjoyed that bluntness because the joke needs so little preparation. She gives the encounter a briskness that suits Adele Lim’s rude road comedy. It is a small supporting role, but a useful introduction to an actor who knows how to make an immediate impression.
Lim has help: Nena Erb cuts the set pieces in short, hard bursts, while Paul Yee keeps faces readable with bright, flat photography. Michael N. Wong’s interiors, including Nai Nai’s flat, establish who lives there and how comfortably. Chinn fits this quick, economical way of telling a joke. We recommend the film with reservations about its late speeches, which slow a comedy whose chief virtue is its speed.
In Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Chinn is credited as Coat Check Girl; years of theatre work had not translated into substantial screen parts. That is James Foley’s gripping ensemble drama, but it is hardly the place to get to know her work. Television gave her more space, first as Mei Chang in Orange Is the New Black (2013), then as the grandmother in Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens (2020). Her improvisational partnership with Awkwafina matters here, giving a performer long used to supporting other people a chance to help shape the comedy.
The caution is that she is so often cast as a grandmother or an older authority figure. Her skill at those parts should encourage writers to give her more to do, not excuse them from doing so. Her voice roles include Granny Boar in Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024), though that brisk, fitfully funny sequel is too thin to recommend. For more than a brief encounter with her, try Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens.
Biography
Lori Tan Chinn is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on Broadway, appearing as Miss Higa Jiga in the 1970 musical Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen. She was a member of the Katherine Dunham Company and performed African dance with Syvilla Fort.
Chinn has appeared in numerous film and television roles. She played Mei Chang in the series Orange Is the New Black and Nora's grandmother in Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens (2020–2023). Her film credits include Nai Nai Chen in Joy Ride (2023) and the voice of Granny Boar in Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024). She also voiced Auntie Chen in Turning Red (2022).
