Sherlock Holmes is a beloved fictional character in the British pop culture who has been portrayed several times in the showbiz through films and series, with actors like Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr playing the eponymous consulting detective. Recently, the series Young Sherlock gave the audience a new insight into the Sherlock universe as actor Hero Fiennes Tiffin took on the titular role in the show that traces back to the early years of Sherlock Holmes. The show sees the return of many beloved characters like Sherlock’s brother Mycroft Holmes and his nemesis James Moriarty. But it also saw the entrance of a new strong female character played by actor Zine Tseng.
Watch the entire chat with Zine Tseng and Max Irons here:
Essaying the role of Princess Shou’an, Zine Tseng is of Taiwanese descent and she acknowledges how her work is a major step in Asian representation in the West. However, she didn’t start work on the Prime Video series with that mindset. “Actually I wasn’t thinking about representation when I was doing the role. I was just simply enjoying the story but then I felt like ‘oh yeah, that’s right’, because it’s like a singular strong woman force entering the triangle of Sherlock, Mycroft and Moriarty. I’m going there by myself and I felt pretty empowered. So I had to find a way to ground myself,” she says.
The actor, who is known for the sci-fi thriller series 3 Body Problem, also admits that while Sherlock, Mycroft and Moriarty have been portrayed on screen many times before, Shou’an being a new entry in the Sherlock universe did give her a clean slate to begin with. “I am taking that as a privilege because I sensed more freedom in my character. I could play how I wanted it to be, like how I imagine she’d become and how I’d want to see her. Nobody will be the first to do that but me,” she insists.
Moreover, Zine also credits the rest of the cast of Young Sherlock which includes Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Donal Finn, Joseph Fiennes and Colin Firth, for giving her a place amongst themselves. “I feel extremely grateful that I could work with this cast because I do feel it’s a very powerful and top cast in my heart,” she says, parting on a sweet note for the fans of Sherlock Holmes in India: “I want all my 1.2 billion Indian friends to be prepared that their attention is to be stolen.”