Charlyne Yi is a young woman whose name you may have heard in the past year or two, maybe as an actress in Knocked Up or Paper Heart, which she wrote, executive produced, composed music for and starred in with her then boyfriend, Michael Cera. If you watch a lot of YouTube videos, you may know her for her viral Saturday Night Live audition tape or her ongoing video exchanges with SNL star Fred Armisen—and I’ll play a sample of both later.
CHARLENE YI podcast excerpt: “Everyone’s aware that there are things that need to be fixed but we’re immune to it. When I went to the Hunger Banquet, it’s hard to ignore how you’re affected when someone tells you 1 billion people are chronically hungry.”
But the real reason Charlyne is joining me today is talk about her commitment to Oxfam America Hunger Banquet. She did a video for the nonprofit organization that is also viral. It’s a largely wordless demonstration of how she went from not knowing about hunger in America to taking an active stand against it. And, of course, we’ll also talk about movies. And maybe we can get her to sing a little bit, because among her many videos are those in which she sings and plays guitar, including a cover of Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which, of course, was written by Prince.
Charlene Yi Tumblr • MySpace • Twitter • Facebook • YouTube • Oxfam America • The Rangdangs
