Owning and Occupying Her Space

  Actress Jennifer Cheon Garcia

Jennifer Cheon Garcia transcends the stereotypical sidekick roles often given to people of color. She has found success in bringing to life strong characters like ivory, the vampire turned human, in the TV series Van Helsing and as Leane Sharif in The Wheel of Time, the much-anticipated adaptation of the book series, premiering this month on Amazon.

“Because I don't fit into the stereotype, I couldn't sit in that space at all. It forced me to own who I am and the space that I occupy. And that's definitely, I think, why I've had a home in sci-fi,” explains Jennifer, “So I've managed to find a little, little place for myself and, at the same time, hopefully opening people's minds and hearts to seeing us in a different light.”

Her upcoming place in the sci-fi world will be as Leane Sharif, a member of the powerful all-female Aes Sedai. “What I'm most excited about is to be a part of such a beautiful, diverse, talented cast, our cast [of The Wheel in Time]." she says, "I mean, when I was at that table read and I was looking around and seeing people that did look like me, it just hit me because I was so used to being the one colored person in the room. And it just solidifies that I know that I'm part of this change, and I'm seeing it happen.”

“Representation is so important, especially if you're of multicultural heritage. I didn't have that growing up.” continues Jennifer, who is of Korean and Mexican descent, " I think knowing that I was different, definitely shaped me. And not being able to choose a side really shaped me and taught me to own who I am as a whole and figure out what that is.”

Growing up in British Columbia, Canada, Jennifer was more connected to her Mexican side and her mother would regularly take her to visit relatives in Mexico. Since her Korean father traveled frequently for work, it wasn’t as easy to connect with his side of the family. “The Korean side of myself was all a little bit of a mystery. I knew some of the things, but hadn't met some of my family members. I didn't like that because I'd never felt complete; I never felt like I could own it” says Jennifer.

As it turned out, one way Jennifer was able to connect was through Taekwondo. However, it wasn’t just mastering Taekwondo itself (she has a second degree black belt), but her relationship with her grandmaster, his family, and the Taekwondo community as well. Jennifer even had a trip to Korea planned, but that was put on hold due to the pandemic.

Another unfortunate consequence of the pandemic was the sharp rise in anti-Asian hate. “A lot of race issues were coming to surface in ways that I hadn't experienced in my life yet. I mean, I always experienced racism every single day, but now it was on social media, and it was in the forefront and where everybody was talking about it. And it was a lot it was different,” explains Jennifer, “But it was also happening at the same time that I was sort of coming into this realization of who I was as an Asian person as well.”

In response, Jennifer is using her platform to speak up against anti-Asian hate. "I'm so proud that I can be loud and proud for my Korean brothers and sisters and my Asian brothers and sisters and, and try and also fill in the gaps of segregation within our Asian communities," Jennifer says, "It's sad that that's what brought us together. Yet, on the other hand, it is nice that, hopefully going forward, it will be this thing where set aside some of the differences that we have and just have a stronger voice that way. We're stronger together than we are apart."

Even with her busy schedule, Jennifer continues to speak out against racism and discrimination. "We're still fighting for those changes in those rights and to be equal as women, and then you throw color into that, and the hill just got steeper," she explains, “One day, if I have a child, I'm going to have to teach my child about that fight and how it's not over. And if you stop, if you walk away from it, if you think it's done, the other side is just going to creep back in again. So it's just always staying on guard. It's always being active in your thoughts about equality and about us coming together as a human race as opposed to just one or the other. "

“That unity, I think, is something that we'll always have to work on.”