Starring Jerry As Himself Subject Jerry Hsu on the Troubles of Being Recruited as an Undercover Agent

Law Chen's familial documentary Starring Jerry as Himself follows retired Florida man Jerry C. Hsu as he's recruited by Chinese police to become an undercover agent. The documentary follows Jerry as he retells his story about how he was recruited, what actions he needed to take to help inform the agents, and, most importantly, the lengths he goes to to hide his recruitment from his family.

Starring Jerry as Himself features Jerry and his family re-enacting Jerry's story, which is frequently tense, but thanks to the optimism and positive outlook of the world that Jerry has, the film is also rather endearing.

In the following interview with Jerry and his son (and the films producer) Jonathan, we delve into the spoilers of the film, and as Jonathan mentions at the start, the two would hope that audiences go into the film knowing as little as possible.

Starring Jerry As Himself was the Grand Jury Prize Winner at the 2023 Slamdance Film Festival, where it also received the award for Best Actor for Jerry, and it was the Audience Award winner.

In the following interview, Jerry talks about his life on screen, what it was like reenacting these moments of his life, while Jonathan talks about what it is like to have Jerry as a father.

This interview was recorded ahead of the films launch at the Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival in June 2024. Keep an eye out for a future release in Australia.

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