Vampires beware—there's a sexy female vigilante on the hunt this summer. Grace Huang stars in Bloodtraffick, premiering on Friday August 5 at GenCon in Indiana and the HollyShorts Film Festival on August 16 in Los Angeles. Huang sat down with Schema Magazine to talk about her starring role as Ava, her blended Australian and Taiwanese roots, and her meteoric rise in Hollywood.

Bloodtraffick: Official Trailer from RockGinger on Vimeo.

Can you tell us a bit about Bloodtraffick and your role in it?

It's a standalone short film, around 11 minutes long. But it's unique in that what we shot can also be a scene extracted from a longer, full length feature film, which we hope to produce later.

I play Ava Chen, a female vigilante in search of her two sisters who have been missing for ten years. And then I come across an evil vampire named Finn who admits to killing and brutalizing one of my sisters. There's a huge fight scene, and you get to hear about Ava's feelings about her search for her sisters for so many years.

What has the response been like to the film?

It's been amazing. It's gotten into a few film festivals: GenCon in Indiana on August 5, and then HollyShorts on August 16. Jennifer Thym (the director) and I will be there at HollyShorts in Los Angeles!

What drew you to this role?

I was flattered when Jen approached me—actually I was really ecstatic. I grew up loving the action genre. I loved Geena Davis in Long Kiss Goodnight, I love Kill Bill, Angelina Jolie and Michelle Yeoh.

I've always been drawn to strong female characters, and I identify with them. When Jen showed me the script, I was drawn to it even more, because it's a really moving story about a character who lost both of her younger sisters. The storyline is amazing, and Jen's a great writer.

How did you prepare for your role as Ava?

I prepped for the role by doing research on families who have had family members go missing, and I started writing a diary in the character of Ava from the first few hours after the disappearance to the day after, the week after, month after, a year after that. What she would've gone through, all the guilt, all the anguish. I got into character in diary form with what she'd gone through.

We had a great stunt coordinator, Phillip Ng, who taught us as much as he could within the time limit and choreographed each move in the action scenes with us.It was really fun and I like kicking ass!

What was the most challenging part of Bloodtraffick ?

This was my first time in a full immersion action role. I had shot romance, comedy and drama before but in this film, I fight and get thrown around a lot; it was very physical. To make things believable, I researched gun fighting on YouTube. The role was a great warm up for The Man With the Iron Fists (2012 Hollywood feature starring Russell Crowe). The physicality was all the more real because we shot for three days around the clock and barely slept! Everyone on the crew worked tirelessly.

Another challenge was that I had a fake tattoo painted onto my back. You don't see much of it, but that took five or six hours to paint on. We did that the day before shooting, and I had to keep it on... for the three-day shoot... so I had to basically shower without showering because I couldn't let it rub off!

Let's talk a little about your personal life. How do you identify yourself?

I was born in Taiwan to Cantonese parents and moved to Sydney when I was seven. I grew up in Australia and most of my memories are from there--I have bits of Taiwan, but my personality is mostly Australian. I'm very patriotic. My birthday is actually Australia Day (the official national day of Australia), January 26. But being that my parents are Asian, my core values are very Asian. So how do I identify? I guess I'm a mix, but I'm Aussie on the inside.

I don't know if people around the world look at me and say, 'You're not Australian, you're Asian?', but they probably do. Australia is a very multicultural country—we have many different nationalities here.

Have you ever been asked where you're really from?

I find Asians ask me that quite often. They always ask me where my parents are from. So that's very interesting.

It's also impressive that you speak three languages fluently- English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

Oh, and I can turn my Aussie accent on and off.

Can I hear your American accent?

(American accent) I call this my semi-American accent, because most of my friends are from America. But when I go back to Australia, or when I'm with Brits or with Aussies (Australian accent) I automatically switch back.

How did you get your break in acting?

I got spotted on the street by a talent agent in Sydney and started modelling in high school for the pocket money. My strength was in TV commercials, which involved acting. I got flown to Asia a lot and during uni (university) I got cast in a lead role for a TV show that was kind of like Friends so that's how I got into acting. I sort of fell into it.

But then I thought I had to 'grow up' and 'get a real job'. I think most Asian people who work in the creative industry would know what I'm talking about. Most parents prefer us to get a 'proper' job--you know what I mean. A nine to five, clock-in, clock-out job. No one in my family is in the entertainment industry, so I wasn't the black sheep, so to speak, but the different sheep. I went to New York and worked as an account exec at an advertising agency for a few months. I was good at it and my boss loved me, but it didn't make me feel alive. That's when I realized that acting is what I really love. So now I'm back in entertainment, pursuing what I love with passion and focus. When you love what you do, the little things don't get you down.

Can you tell me a bit about your upcoming Hollywood film The Man with the Iron Fists ?

I wish I could, but I can't reveal anything right now! But watch out for Osric Chau, who is also in the film!

Follow Grace on her official website at AliveNotDead.com and her tweets at @Grace__Huang.

To find out more about Bloodtraffick, visit the official Facebook page.
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Beth Hong is a freelance journalist and managing editor of InDepth at Schema Magazine. She likes kimchi, poutine, and everything in between. You can follow her on Twitter @metrolens or check out her site BethHong.com.