Jen Van Epps

Actress Jen Van Epps jokes that her family is like the United Nations. With Chinese and Black American roots, a grandmother who was a pioneering actress and singer in China, and formative years spent between Taiwan, California, and New Zealand, Van Epps embodies a global perspective that gives audiences far and wide something to latch on to. In the high-tech, hyper-fictional world of M3GAN and M3GAN 2.0, Van Epps’ performance as Tess naturally brings the storyline in for viewers, especially those who connect with her ambition, multicultural identity or the warmth she brings to her family-centered character.

Fortunately, that sense of rootedness in family is not just an act in M3GAN 2.0 but is foundational to Van Epps herself. Exploring acting early on, Van Epps was supported by her family, many of whom are artists in their own right—her grandmother as an actress and singer, and her maternal aunt, who studied in Paris. “It’s Asian culture to do something that’s more stable,” Van Epps acknowledges; however, the early support of her grandmother, mother and father drew her in.

“They always supported me,” Van Epps unpacks. My mom always said, ‘I believe in you,’ and that's just very powerful no matter what the industry throws at you.”

Like Van Epps' personal life, M3GAN is, at its core, a story about motherhood and the arduous attempts to raise a child in an imperfect world. M3GAN 2.0 continues with these themes as Tess begins to take on a greater role in raising the film’s child protagonist, Cady, alongside Cady’s legal guardian Gemma; however, Van Epps did not have to reach far to portray the sophistication of parenthood.“Since I was young, people would call me Mama Brown,” Van Epps shares. “My grandmother always said, ‘You were always trying to pick up babies even when you were three.’ I've always had this maternal instinct. I'm also a cheerleader. It just felt very natural.”

As a mother to a ten-year-old daughter, Van Epps carries the same nurturing spirit into parenthood. Drawing on her own passion for the performing arts, Van Epps hopes she can act as a role model for her daughter. She practices a tough but unconditional love.

“Sometimes when I have long hours and I'm not home, I tell her that I’m one of the rare people that love my job. I hope that it really sticks with her. No matter what she chooses to do, I hope it comes from joy and stability. I will feed her till’ I die, but no loafing on my watch,” she quips.
Van Epps’ personal philosophy of loving your job but knowing your worth echoes in her portrayal of Tess. Just as she encourages her daughter to follow her passions, Van Epps imagines Tess has a similar realization and confronts Gemma, demanding more emotional and financial power. At least, Van Epps hopes Tess is no longer protecting others’ creations but negotiating her own value at the table.

“The power of advocacy is so underrated,” Van Epps says. “Being able to say that ‘I'm good enough and smart enough.’ Tess very much had that transformation, and I hope that came across.”

It is a shift that Van Epps is quite familiar with. As a Blasian growing up in Arcadia pre-”melting pot,” she navigated her early years not quite fitting in in everyday life. She yearned for representation at an early age, feeling caught between her Black and Asian identities.

“When I was seven, I found myself in a closet coloring my Barbie brown because there wasn't any that looked like me,” Van Epps remembers. “There were definitely no Asian ones. The Black Barbie was too black, and the white Barbie was too white.”

Upon entering the University of Southern California, she connected Hollywood and the lack of multiracial representation around her. Writing her thesis paper on the lack of diversity in the entertainment industry, Van Epps has long championed an inclusive media landscape.

In 2022, Van Epps performed in the poignant family drama Don’t Make Me Go with John Cho and Mia Issac. Playing the film’s “deadbeat” mom, Van Epps describes the experience almost as if she were playing herself as a mixed-race person. “After doing the movie, people were just sliding in my DMs, saying how impactful it was to see someone who's Black and Chinese on their screen.”

The messages were validating, but Van Epps still wrestled with doubts behind the scenes. Long-standing questions about belonging arose as she sought greater representation for herself and others like her. “I think there's a little bit of like, ‘Do I deserve to be here?’” she explains. “In my first film, I struggled with thoughts like, ‘Do they only want me because I’m Black and Chinese?’ In the end, I had to realize that I deserve to be here.”

Like Tess, Van Epps deserves her role through the empathy and nuance she brings to make her characters feel deeply human. And even further, like Tess, whose journey viewers hope won’t end at M3GAN 2.0, Van Epps is certainly not done. Acting is a passion that transcends genre or format for her. Whether joy, grief, or anything in between, she shares that she just wants “to make things that make people feel.”

Storytelling through fictional characters like Tess is more than Van Epps’ personal pleasure. It is her form of connection. As a mixed-race actress who rarely saw herself reflected growing up, she understands the power of visibility on the big screen. This understanding informs every role she takes. From raising her daughter to fighting against artificially intelligent dolls, Van Epps' mission is to reach as many people as possible. For passionate talents like her, screentime alone won’t capture the whole story that fantastical characters are brought to life by relatable humans. And if even one person sees themselves in Van Epps, then she thinks the fight has already been won.