Photo provided to China Daily

"But I was fully prepared for the role," she said, "and acted calm and collected as the role requires. I guess after all it's about how you can deliver the character, the whole package, not just your looks."

Born and raised in Taiwan, Chen said her career in American show business has been a lucky coincidence. Tired of the education system in Taiwan, she moved to the US several years ago to continue her high school education and has lived here ever since.

Talkative, confident and switching comfortably between Mandarin Chinese and English, Chen said she had planned to go back to Taiwan after college and help her mom teach English through theatrical performing. But her music teacher pushed her to pursue a Master's in educational theater at New York University (NYU), which set her on the road to acting.

"At first I couldn't understand a thing because those readings for theater and plays were so difficult," Chen said. To gain more theatrical experience, she studied acting at Michael Howard Studios during graduate school.

"It was tough but very rewarding," said Chen, whose training help land her roles in movies and musicals after graduation.

Last year Chen made her debut as Gigi in the acclaimed Miss Saigon at the Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts in Iowa. Immediately after that she got the role of the wicked witch in Shrek the Musical, produced by the same company.