Gemma Chua-Tran’s Film Lesbian Space Princess Is About Queer Joy, Not Pain

Heartbreak High star Gemma Chua-Tran has a new animated film coming out, and it's whimsical, delicious and queer. Lesbian Space Princess is an award-winning Aussie comedy, loved by both audiences and critics alike. It follows Saira (Shabana Azees), the introverted space princess of Clitopolis, who is on a journey to save her ex-girlfriend Kiki (Bernie Van Tiel) from the Straight White Maliens (Aunty Donna). Through her journey through the gay-laxy, she meets singer-songwriter Willow (Gemma Chua-Tran) and other colourful characters. The script is whipsmart, and the animation is unique, and it's such an explosion of pure queer joy.

Chua-Tran tells Refinery29 Australia that when it comes to queer or diverse characters, having characters that aren't solely about their identity is both refreshing and necessary. "Having Asian characters or queer characters just live their lives and not suffer, I think, is so important. I love being able to take on those roles where the culture and background isn't the root and the entire substance of the character, you know, baby steps... it is really hard to drag myself out to watch something that is rooted in trauma," Chua-Tran says. "With the first steps of representation, of any kind of minority, it is the pain that creates community, and people are able to bond over that. But I feel like with queerness becoming a little more accepted in society, we're able to now delve into just the joy of it, and that sort of different aspect of society, which I think is so important."

The animation style — which Chua-Tran says is for the original Tumblr faithfuls — transports you into a world where the straight white males are on the outs and two Queens rule Clitopolis (famously hard to find). And with the state of the world being what it is, who wants to sit in a cinema to watch people suffer? Right now, we need an escape. "I think it's just a refreshing movie to see. I think there's not really many out there like it," they add. "They sent through a little kind of mood board of how the characters were going to be made and a little bit of a brief, and it was just like, I saw my character Willow and I was like, I need to be in this movie... it's just so rogue and it's very unexpected, which I really enjoy."

One of the central themes of Lesbian Space Princess is how Saira deals with her self-doubt and intrusive thoughts. While Chua-Tran is quite similar to their character Willow in that she's bubbly, always wants to help friends and is a positive person, when it came to recording the singing tracks, she channelled a bit of Saira. "Except [with] the singing, I didn't have a great time, because I'm not a singer," the star admits. "I've never been in a professional studio, having to sing in front of people. I'll sing in the shower, that's fine, but having people watch me and film me — I did have to take many a bathroom break to just cry and then recompose myself."

Chua-Tran says the way the film handles themes of anxiety and internal doubt is "abstract", but the animation knocks it out of the park. Saira's anxiety is portrayed as menacing black shadows that convince her she has nothing to offer the world, a feeling that might be all too relatable to many viewers. "With this animation, and it being so absurd and having to be able to have those lows of that internal self-doubt, and then having all of the polarity surrounding it — I think it really hit, and it was done in a really beautiful way," she says. "It's hard to portray that kind of internal doubt and anxiety and all of those negative motions... but they animated it so beautifully."

For the non-binary actor (Chua-Tran goes by she/they pronouns), the fact that she's able to play characters to help people feel seen is one of the "best parts" of the job. "My family [has] never been openly accepting of [my queerness]. I think I said something to my family at some point, and everyone went silent, and then just continued on with the previous conversation. And then I never brought it up ever again," they say. "We have like one gay uncle... I don't know if everyone's deeply accepting, but I feel like with a Chinese or just an Asian family, immigrant family, you learn to kind of separate family as a separate entity [to] whatever your discoveries [are] as a young person." With that in mind, being able to offer both an escape and support in the form of queer media is so meaningful to the actor. "I think being able to put myself in my shoes when I was younger, and be able to know that there was someone who looked like me and had the same experiences as me, and to be able to kind of see myself... is so important," she says.

Chua-Tran's immediate family have never watched anything they've starred in, and she admits they won't be "racing to the cinema" for Lesbian Space Princess. However, with the film being awarded the Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, and being well received at the Karlovy Vary, Frameline and SXSW London Film Festivals, the queer community is not only watching Lesbian Space Princess, but celebrating it.