Lynn Chen is an actor, a writer, and a body image activist. I met Lynn when I moved to Los Angeles a couple years ago and she reached out through email, we had lunch together, and became quick friends. In addition to her YouTube channel which mostly explores different restaurants around LA, she also hosts a monthly podcast called The Actor’s Diet podcast (listen to my episode here!).

You might recognize her from the award-winning — and groundbreaking — film Saving Face (Vivian) or from her roles on Law and Order (Jenny Wu) or Silicon Valley (Grace Melcher) or All My Children (Regina). In this interview we discuss how she started acting, how she recovered from an eating disorder, Chef Boyardee, and my new favorite deodorant.

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Show Notes:

1. Schmidt’s deodorant
2. Metropolitan Opera House
3. Pagliacci and sugar cones
4. Rudolf Nureyev
5. Saving Face review NYT
6. Lynn Chen is not a ballet dancer
7. National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)
8. Binge-eating
9. Diet soda addiction
10. Food blogging as healing (The Actor’s Diet blog)
11. Avocado toast at Superba (review)
12. Chef Boyardee’s granddaughter, Anna Boiardi
13. Lynn’s dad’s Taiwanese pork chops recipe (So good!)
14. Method-acting with food
15. Call of Duty Black Ops III – Goh Xiulan
16. Ketchup-braised tofu recipe
17. Why open floor plans suck
18. YPOK2 (listen to Winter Games!)

Watch Lynn and me make wieners!