'Babylon' Actor Li Jun Li Says She'd Be 'Quite Lost' Without Therapy
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Despite the years spent performing Chinese classical dance as a kid and even attending the famed High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts—where she learned tap, jazz, ballet, and hip-hop—actor Li Jun Li (or LiLi, as friends know her) wouldn’t necessarily call herself a dancer today. “I loved it,” she says. “But I haven’t danced in a long time.” Talk with her long enough, however, and you may get the sense that’s not exactly the case.
Because to hear LiLi tell it, dance has always been there when she’s needed it. Take, for instance, the early days of the pandemic, when gyms and studios were shuttered overnight. Like so many of us, LiLi fired up her laptop in order to sweat at home. Her exercises of choice? Yoga, cycling, and—perhaps you guessed it—dance.
9: The age at which Lili moved with her family to New York city and when she began Taking Chinese Classical Dance lessons.
“Lockdown was such an adjustment that I started taking dance classes in my own apartment, like with Broadway Dance Center or live classes from Peridance,” she says of returning to her childhood passion.
Then there’s her role in director Damien Chazelle’s Old Hollywood drama Babylon (in theaters now), in which she stars as a performer named Lady Fay Zhu (inspired by legendary movie star Anna May Wong). Once again, LiLi’s background in movement came in handy.
“It was a full-circle moment,” she says of the film. “It was the dancing I had done as a kid, the singing I had done as a teenager, and then the acting school I had attended as an adult, all coming together.” And so, as it turns out for LiLi: Once a dancer, always a dancer.
Here, some of the other techniques Lili relies on to feel on top of her game:
Set Your Mood with Music
“I can’t meditate because I have a short attention span, but I do enjoy listening to a lot of music. It helps me zone out and distracts my mind from going into a spiral. If I’m feeling a little down, I listen to something upbeat. It works like a charm.”
Talk it Out With a Pro
“I feel like everyone can benefit from therapy. Growing up, it was really difficult for me to find ways to fit in, both with my own parents and socially with American culture. If it weren’t for therapy, I would be quite lost.”
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2023 issue of Women's Health. Sign up for our WH+ memberships program to subscribe, score unlimited site access, and unlock our exclusive guides and fitness challenges.
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