Love can surprise you: 'Over the Moon' star Phillipa Soo

Actor Phillipa Soo, who voice stars in "Over The Moon", says featuring in the animated film as Goddess Chang'e made her realise how love can heal people struggling with grief. Ang said loving and empathising with each other is the only way people can find joy again and that what Fei Fei discovers in her journey. "Everyone experiences grief differently.

Actor Phillipa Soo, who voice stars in "Over The Moon", says featuring in the animated film as Goddess Chang'e made her realise how love can heal people struggling with grief. Soo is best known for her performance as the socialite-philanthropist Eliza Hamilton in Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical "Hamilton".

Directed by Oscar winner Glen Keane, "Over the Moon" follows Cathy Ang's Fei Fei, who is passionate about science and builds a rocket ship to the moon to prove the existence of Chang'e, the legendary moon goddess in the Chinese mythology. While Fei Fei is mourning the loss of her mother, Chang'e longs for her dead husband, Houyi, the archer.

Losing a loved one brings these two characters together and Soo said it is through their shared experience they are able to start anew. "These two women feel like they are very different but actually are very similar. They learn something about themselves. It's about learning how to move on, learn to love somebody new, learn to find love in different places. What I learnt from taking this journey as this character is that love can surprise you,"the singer-actor told PTI in a Zoom roundtable interview.

Soo said her character Chang'e is looking for this gift, and she has this idea of what it is but "really this gift is right in front of her the whole time, it's in Fei Fei". "That says a lot about how we can look at ourselves all we want but it's not until we reach out and look to other people that we can truly experience change within ourselves," she added. Ang said loving and empathising with each other is the only way people can find joy again and that what Fei Fei discovers in her journey.

"Everyone experiences grief differently. It's only when the two come together is when they find out that the solution is listening to each other... For Fei Fei, we get to see her go through a lot of different journeys because at first when she is looking for Chang'e she is also looking for her mom. "She equates the moon, this faraway place, with her mother. The most joy that she can experience, not only as a science nerd but also as a believer in the impossible to find her mom again," she said.

"Over the Moon" is an American-Chinese fantasy musical adventure which has an all Asian American voice cast, also featuring Ken Jeong, Margaret Cho, John Cho, Ruthie Ann Miles, and Sandra Oh. Soo, who is half Chinese, said she was drawn to the story as she never got the chance to specifically play a character of her ethnicity.

"This story has been taken from this traditional myth that I had been familiar with as a kid. To be able to play goddess Chang'e in this whole new modern take, it was a wonderful and exciting opportunity. It's the moon so you can do anything and it's animation so you can go even further than you can really go." Ang, who appeared in a brief role on the show "Ramy", said she was proud to tell a motivational story like "Over the Moon". "I've never wanted a project more than this one. I've never been more proud to tell a story. When I read it, I instantly fell in love with Fei Fei, she's bright, loves science. I love science and space exploration. "She's motivated more than anything by her love for her family and the idea of finding happiness for her family. The message about these two Asian women coming together and lifting each other up was so powerful," the Chinese-Filipina actor said.

Penned by the late Audrey Wells, the film will start streaming on Netflix Friday..

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